Archive for July, 2007
July 30, 2007 at 5:39 pm
· Filed under ads, advertising, aussie, branding, business, copy, copywriting, marketing, sales, stand out, taglines, women, writing ·Tagged aussie, branding, conversation, copy, stand out, target market, writing
This week’s adventure brings us Down Under with Aussie’s revamped branding. You may recognize their mascot – the iconic kangaroo and their signature purple bottle. But what catches my eye is the overwhelming personality of the product descriptions.
I’ve been an Aussie fan for years and on my list this weekend was to pick up more product for my personal stash. Since the brand rollout, Aussie has introduced new products, which gave me a perfect excuse to take some time to read each description. (Yes, I do enjoy reading the backs of shampoo bottles in my spare time – when they’re well written.) You know the copywriter has done a good job when I’m laughing out loud in the middle of the aisle.
My favorite description comes from their “Clense & Mend” line:
Front:
“Sometimes your roots are greasy, your ends are frazzled and your car won’t start. This helps two of those problems.”
Back:
“Listen…we’ve all got problems. If yours include greasy roots and frazzled ends, Cleanse & Mend shampoo can cease the crease and quench the tips. If your problems include greasy tips and frazzled roots, you’re in deep trouble.”
Directions:
Work through your other problems as you work this through your clean, damp hair. Rinse well and prosper.”
And I’m also a fan of their new “sprunch” spray:
Description:
“Combine a kickin styling spray with a little scrunch and what do you get? That’s right – Sprunch”
Directions:
“Spray into your hair as you style. Pretty clever, huh? Spray it all over to set your style, which is even more clever. Clever-er, if you will.”
Tagline:
Add some Roo to your do.
Why this works:
1. Understand Your Target Market. Aussie understands their target market which, I’m guessing is 16 to 35 year old women who are hip, thrifty and down to earth. This style of copywriting might not resonate with everyone, but that’s okay. The quirky conversation tugs at the heartstrings (and pursestrings) of the people who matter most.
2. Conversational Copy Creates Emotion. The overall goal of any copywriting is to sell. When a product or service uses a conversational and descriptive style, an emotional connection is made with the consumer. This emotional connection leads to increased brand loyalty which adds to a customer’s lifetime value.
3. Stand Out. Let’s face it, facts, figures and features are BORING! As a consumer, I have far to much information to filter out already, so to make me notice you – you’ll need to stand out from the crowd. Conversational copy can help you do just that.
Related Links
Dawud Miracle – “Maybe The Best Copywriting Tip Ever”
Scott H Young – “Ten Skills Everyone Should Have”
Open IT Strategies – “Finding a voice people can understand”
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July 25, 2007 at 7:56 pm
· Filed under blog, blogging, blogs, burnout, culture, marketing, new media, social media, social networking
There’s a lot of buzz around the blogosphere about social media burnout. I blogged about this in April when I first started feeling the fatigue. Heck, if Steve Rubel is starting to see the strain – we know this is for real.
I feel like the pressure comes from several places:
1. So many tools, so little time. Let’s dissect the time it takes to effectively use just one channel of new media: blogs. To make a blog effective, you need quality content. That means time to: 1) come up with a creative & original topic 2) research it properly and 3) write and edit. And that’s just building the content of your blog. Then you compile marketing efforts – such as reading your daily feeds (I have 96 blogs in my reader) commenting on other blogs, tracking stats and reaching out to your readers. Now, add the 18,000 other social networking tools and gizmos we’re supposed to use at an equally engaging level and *poof* – burnout.
2. The need to please. Because social networking involves interaction with others, there is a need to meet their expectations. The best bloggers write for their readers, not for themselves – and knowing that people are depending on you to come up with profound and original content on a daily basis can wear you down.
3. The perpetuation (instead of distillation) of swill. Blogs gain popularity through “link love” which ultimately means people are consistently regurgitating other people’s original ideas. This regurgitation process tends to create a big fat game of telephone tag through the internet. The result is that then, in my research process, I am forced to backtrack through numerous links to track down the original source. These blogs that simply rely on supplying links without providing a thought provoking stance fall out quickly because readers see right through it. This relates back to reason #2 and importance of original and thought-provoking content.
So how do you battle this social networking fatigue? How do you stay plugged in while still creating original and thought provoking content? Why not allow yourself a daily vacation from all forms of media to allow your ideas to percolate?
Dictionary.com defines “vacation” as:
va·ca·tion 
/veɪˈkeɪʃən, və-/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[vey-key-shuhn, vuh-] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation –noun
| 1. |
a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday: |
I can say from personal experience that this has been my saving grace. Since April when I began to feel the burnout, I decided to invest at least an hour every day to suspend all forms of communication. This time allows my ideas to mature and the quality of my work has dramatically improved over the past few months.
So what does a communication vacation look like? Silence. That’s right – none of the following:
- cell phone
- radio
- television (I don’t own one anyway)
- internet
- computer
- gaming system
- e-mail
Instead, I do something like:
- sit in traffic with the radio off (I live in DC – so I do this a lot. Not my favorite activity, but it works)
- go for a run outside (without an mp3 player!)
- meditate
- sit at Founder’s Park right by the water and people/duck watch
As a recovering work-a-holic I can attest that as with any addiction, fighting the first urges were overwhelmingly difficult. Similar to when I quit smoking, I found myself having “communication fits” whenever I would try to sit still. But over time, I found that these times are critical to my creative process.
And I’m not alone. A recent article in Inc. Magazine highlighted several entrepreneurs who attribute their innovation to maintaining structured think time. “CEOs who curtail creativity may do so at a cost to their happiness and their businesses” author Allison Stein Wellner states. “Leaders can miss out on innovations as long as they view running a company as the hard stuff and coming up with new ideas as the fun stuff – and sacrifice the fun for the good of the business.”
Similarly, individuals can suffer from being too tied in to social media – feeling all that pressure. That can lead to health issues, family problems, and all the other icky stuff that we hate to talk about. So allow yourself a daily communication vacation. Be at peace in the silence. Allow your ideas to mature. And then come back armed with intelligent ammunition to make your work even better. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go for a run. 
Related Links
Steven Aitchison – Hypnogigia: The bridge to the unconscious
Shel Holtz – Social Media Burnout? Where Have I Heard This Before?
Future Lab – Facebook, Myspace & Social Burnout
Valeria Maltoni – Facebook Ain’t Face Time
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July 20, 2007 at 2:35 pm
· Filed under ad copy, advertising, blog, blogging, blogs, business, copy, copywriting, marketing, work, writing ·Tagged copy, copywriter, copywriting, writer, writing
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July 17, 2007 at 8:03 am
· Filed under blog, blogging, blogs, business, diva, diva marketing blog, marketing, networking events, new media, new media nouveaux, small business, social media, social networking, toby bloomberg, viral marketing, washinton dc, women, work
Transparency, passion and lessons learned – all presented in a clear and entertaining fashion. How could you have a better keynote?
Toby Bloomberg is the author of the top-ranked blog Diva Marketing Blog (in the top 2,000 of Technorati), and is a self professed “Atlanta gal who is a Yankee from Boston.” She believes new media, “is a credible marketing strategy – even an industry. It can help you with branding, marketing research and public relations. But the most powerful part is building relationships with customers.” Diva Marketing Blog has literally changed her life.
It all began when she wanted a way to make marketing “not boring” so she began writing in a sassy and pithy style that maintained professional credibility while tossing in fun references to appletinis & pink boas.
To her surprise, days after launching the blog e-mails started coming in from people saying people liked what she had to say. Her website never got comments, but her blog did – this was the first sign that something was different. Weeks after launching the blog, search engines began indexing Diva Marketing Blog where it took seemingly months for Google to find her traditional website – obviously this “blog thing” was a powerful marketing tool.
Toby’s keynote was delightful because she expertly weaved in personal stories and shared her lessons learned. It was simply awe-inspiring to sit back and listen to her experience.
While I was furiously taking notes, typing as fast as my little fingers could, I was unable to capture all of the details of the stories, which are the real juice to her keynote. I was however, able to jot down a few of her lessons learned:
- Social media can be used as a credible marketing strategy that supports branding, public relations, customer service, research and other marketing and business initiatives.
- The heart of social media marketing, and the real power is in establishing relationships. Successful blogging does not occur in a vacuum.
- If the passion about a topic doesn’t exist – the blog will die on the vine.
- People interact with you. You can carry on a conversation on a blog and then take that conversation off-line if you want to pursue it further.
- Search engines and blogs go together.
- Check your blog stats. Create an ego search using key words that include: your blog title, your name, your company name. Consider adding competitors and industry trends.
- Bloggers care. Bloggers are people.
- With the ease of using blogs, podcasts, vlogs, you can’t contraol the message, but you can manage the conversation.
- You can manage user generated media conversations by listening, participating, engaging and caring.
- Social media is built on culture.
- The voice of one turns into the voices of many and changes how a company conducts business.
- Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to ensure your posts are accurate. Credibility builds trust, builds readership which can lead to relationships and community.
- It wasn’t the voice of one blogger who influenced a major research company to change their business practices – it was the community.
- Bloggers take blogger relations very seriously and believe they have a role to play in communication and information dissemination
- Mainstream media is looking at blogs and they may just look at yours.
- Blogging is not a silver bullet.
- Social Media is not like any other marketing strategy
- Do something great and you’ll be cheered.
- The culture is very demanding. Break the trust by being disingenuous and you might harm you brand…and your reputations.
- Social Media Mantra: transparency, authenticity, honesty and passion.
- You have to put something of yourself in this game.
- The rules are still being defined. No one has all the answers or all the questions.
- There is no going back – social media is here to stay.
I can’t wait to see her live in action again soon!
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July 16, 2007 at 11:41 am
· Filed under Public relations, alexandria times, blog, blogging, blogs, branding, business, copywriting, entrepreneur, internet, interviews, journalists, life, marketing, new media, newspapers, old media, pr, reporters, small business, social networking, stand out, washinton dc, web copy, websites, word of mouth, work, writing
Ever wondered how people are chosen for feature articles in the newspaper? Here’s how it worked for me.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my “satellite office” at Market Square in Alexandria, VA. I go here on warm summer days because the granite benches surrounding the water fountain have power outlets right next to them. With my Sprint Broadband service and my power outlet, I have everything I need to work productively. And, might I add, the scenery calms me down and makes me appreciate my life as an entrepreneur.
During the lunch-hour, this place gets pretty packed, and strangers pass by, look at me and remark, “You look like you’re actually working – wow, I wish I had your job!” On this particular afternoon, a gentleman sat down on the bench next to me. He inquired as to the nature of my job and I replied that I was a “freelance writer and marketing consultant and I focused on Online writing like websites and blogs.”
Turns out this gentleman was a reporter with the Alexandria Times. We carried on for a bit with a conversation about the difference between “old media” and “new media”, I mentioned my involvement with the New Media Nouveaux Conference and we casually exchanged business cards.
Fast forward two weeks and I see in my inbox the following e-mail:
“Hi Andrea, it was nice meeting you the other day. I want to write an article about you and blogging – what do you think? Let me know when is a good time to sit down and interview you – maybe at Starbucks or out on the market square like when we met the first time.”
So, if you want to get your name in print, be prepared to:
1. Do something different. Reporters need an angle – something actually worth reading about. If you’re doing the same-ol-thing as everyone else your chances for an interview are slim.
2. Have a tight elevator pitch. Be prepared to explain exactly what you do, how it is different from everyone else, in bulleted benefits and in less than 15 seconds.
3. Don’t be afraid to talk to strangers. You never know who you are going to meet. Networking is not reserved for places with nametags and an open bar.
4. Be yourself. Reporters (make that most people) can tell when you’re being authentic vs. when you’re being a flack. People like to work with people who are genuine.
5. Follow up immediately. If the media calls to ask you for an interview, drop everything you’re doing and reply right away. Otherwise, they will move on to somebody else.
Related Links:
Execupundit.com – Make it Pithy
Modern Magellans – Elevator Pitching
Scott Ginsberg – 10 Different approaches for your 10 second commercial
PR Squared – Pitching in Public
Toby Bloomberg – Relationships are the New Currency
Conversation Agent – Media as Connectors of Ideas and People
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July 13, 2007 at 8:10 am
· Filed under blog, business, conference, entrepreneur, marketing, networking events, new media, social networking, success in the city, viral marketing, washinton dc, web 2.0, women, work
I’m sitting at the New Media Nouveaux conference in Tyson’s Corner, VA – ready to learn more about the crazy world of blogging and new media culture.
The conference is sponsored by Success In the City, founded by Cynthia De Lorenzi – an influential networking organization geared to C-level executive women.
Up as our opening and closing keynoters, we have Geoff Livingston, from the Buzz Bin whom The Washington Post called a blogging “guru.” Later this afternoon we’ll hear from blogger extraordinaire Toby Bloomberg from the Diva’s Marketing Blog – ranked in the top 2,000 blogs in the world by Technorati.
I’ll be moderating a “Specialists” panel later this afternoon on specific techniques, tips and tools on using blogs, wikis, social networking, social bookmarking, vlogs and podcasts. Jen Sterling will be leading the “Businesses” panel discussing why social media is important. (The picture is of myself and Jen) And Jody Roth will be moderating the “Futurists” panel to explore what’s coming next and how we can keep ahead of the rapidly moving social media curve.
We’ll also be having a working lunch where each table will discuss various topics of new media and participants will share their ideas and lessons learned.
It’s sure to be a fun-filled day. Stay tuned for more.
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July 12, 2007 at 1:00 pm
· Filed under blog, blogs, business, cool websites, entrepreneur, influential websites, internet, linked in, linkedin, marketing, networking events, new media, online, small business, social networking, viral marketing, work
I’m on a mission.
I love LinkedIn – it’s by far the most effective social media tool I use for my business. But I have one big issue and I want to get it resolved. Why isn’t there a place to put your picture on your LinkedIn profile?
The other day, someone contacted me through LinkedIn referencing our meeting over a year ago at a networking event. I can’t remember her. The name sounds familiar and I know I had a conversation with her, but if I had her picture it sure would help me spark my memory.
Adding a picture to your professional profile would also help when you’re sending new invites. People remember faces easier than names or titles. If I had an invite with a face I recognized, it would increase my feeling of connection with that person.
So, in an effort to make this request known, I’m starting a petition to gain support for LinkedIn adding the option to upload pictures to their service.
To sign the petition, simply leave a comment below.
If you’re curious as to what LinkedIn is, or how to use it – check out these blogs:
LinkedIntelligence
LinkedInBlog
BuzzNetworker
LinkedIn Business Discussion Index
Boost Your Career With LinkedIn
LinkedIn Notes
LinkedIn User Manual
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July 12, 2007 at 4:54 am
· Filed under ad copy, ads, advertising, branding, business, copy, copywriting, marketing, small business, stand out, target market, techniques, work, writing
I’m about to share a secret with you. It may sound far-fetched, but it’s true. Ready?
The key to great copywriting is not writing – it’s about intimately understanding the motives, beliefs and emotions of your audience. Don’t worry, you read that sentence correctly. The key to great copywriting is not writing.
So then, what is the secret to stellar copy?
The interview. That’s right – 90% of the work happens before you even stroke a key, write a sentence, or open a word processor. If you ask the right questions, you will intimately understand your audience and the writing will be easy. Once you completely comprehend your purpose the words will flow like water down a steep incline.
Here are 10 types of questions to help you write stellar copy:
1. Facts – These are the “who”, “what”, “when”, “where” questions. They give you just the facts and not much more. Most of these can be answered with a bit of research prior to your interview, so if you want to be professional, come prepared to confirm instead of collect answers to factual questions.
2. Reasons - Why, why, why, why, why? What is the reason or motive behind an action, decision, or response? Try channeling the spirit of your 4-year-old niece and inquire “why” almost more often than is comfortable.
3. Problem/Solution - What was/is the problem and how does the product/service solve it? The answers to these questions are key to producing clear benefits in your copy.
4. Descriptors - Adjectives turn words into a picture. They describe a scene so readers can connect via their imagination. One trick to drawing these words out in an interview is to get your interviewee to describe their product or service in the third person. For example: “Imagine your best client is referring you to their best friend. What would they say?”
5. Feelings - Understanding feelings is important for establishing the proper tone for your copy. Should your tone be happy and upbeat or calm and subdued? When in the interview, be sure to ask about how the reader feels both before and after the product/service experience.
6. Actions – Verbs are the most important words in your copy because they inspire readers to take action. One method for drawing out action words is the question, “What does your product/service help people do?”
7. Typical Customer - The more detail you can gather about the customer you are writing for, the more easily you can put yourself in their character. Go deeper than traditional demographic info and get creative with your assessment. Where do they shop? What’s their favorite food? What are they doing on the weekends? What kind of clothes are they wearing? Although your interviewee may be thrown off by these types of questions, the detailed descriptions will help you visualize your audience when you are writing and get in their mind.
8. Personification – Particularly useful if you are selling an intangible, such as a service. Try using questions like, “If your service was a person, how would you… fix them up on a date? recommend them for a job? introduce them to your mother?” Again, you may have to warn your interviewee to simply trust the process.
9. Competition - With so much noise on the market today, a thorough understanding of the competition is key to standing out. Ask the tough questions like “What advantages does your competition have over you?” Knowing what you’re up against can help you focus on which benefits to feature.
10. Analogies/Metaphors - A master copywriter will craftily weave in analogies and metaphors. Doing so solidifies the brand awareness of the product/service to an existing object or experience in the reader’s mind. Try testing analogies and metaphors throughout your interview and see if any resonate with the interviewee. If you get a resounding “YES!!” you know you’re on to something.
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July 9, 2007 at 11:54 am
· Filed under advertising, branding, business, copy, copywriting, marketing, promotions, restaurant, small business, stand out, work, writing
Today’s adventure comes to us from Eggspectation – a theme restaurant where the egg is front and center. Just look at their mission statement:
We are a company committed to innovation and eggcellence. Meeting your “eggspectations” is part of our everyday eggsperience, striving to surpass them is what makes us “eggstraordinary.” On this notion, we strive to achieve the best possible in food quality & service while maintaining an overall relaxed & pleasant atmosphere. Welcome to what we call “le cirque des oeufs” an all-day eggsperience.
Looking around at the eclectic decor you can see how the egg theme is all around you through sculptures, paintings & knick-knacks. Even the backs of the chairs bear a familiar oval shape.
The menu is chocked full of continued creative copy with items such as:
- Muffin Eggplosion
- Egg-Chilada
- Eggcitement (French Toast)
- Eggsuberant (Breakfast Combination Platter)
- Uneggspected (Steak & Eggs)
Why this works:
1. Consistency – Using the same word over and over and over again helps solidify your brand in the minds of your customer. Repetition leads to recognition which leads to referrals.
2. Creativity – Clever copy causes clients to stop and think (and maybe even chuckle). Using words in a new way is a great way to help you stand out from the crowd.
3. Capitalize – Creating your own words gives you terms that you can trademark.
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