4 Reasons Why Written Comments Beat Oral Ones

Marketing communication writing projects live and die on review loops. Marketers like talking about what needs to be changed, but writers would rather see it in print. Bigglehole, our staff writer, would like to weigh in on this topic, and respectfully directs these four reasons to clients, in the spirit of delivering to them the [...]

Hire a Writer, Get a Project Manager in the Bargain

Even after you’ve hired the writer, writing projects don’t just happen. Somebody needs to move them along, and it’s usually your writer (if you’ve picked a good one). Nothing works because you want it to. You have to make the damned thing work. -Thomas Edison (I think) I saw that several years ago in a [...]

4 Elements of a White Paper Outline

White papers – or any long pieces – need structure, and you need to agree on the structure before you write the paper. Be sure your writer includes these elements in an outline. How often do you get started down a path in your work, only to realize you have to backtrack and go down [...]

“It’s a Good Outline, But I Hate It.” – Making Outlines Work

You and your marketing communications writer should agree on an outline for larger projects. It’s helpful for business purposes, but sometimes it’s a creative pothole. Have you ever watched somebody hang a picture or organize a workbench in a way that worked, but was alien to you? “It would never have occurred to me to [...]

5 Steps Your Marketing Writer Should Follow

When you hire a marketing communications writer, you should expect a description of her method. Ask for it, and be sure it makes  sense to you. You’re evaluating a marketing communications writer to do a white paper or a case study for you. “So, how do you do this?” you ask her. “What’s your writing [...]

5 Business Instruments Your Marketing Writer Should Have

When you hire a marketing communications writer, you’ll need to put some paperwork in place. Professional writers have these items ready and are prepared to send them promptly. “Send me a contract,” you tell the marketing communications writer, once you’ve decided you like the cut of his jib. It should be a bit more granular [...]

Your Marketing Writer Takes One Final Look

When you hire a marketing communications writer, her responsibilities should include a final, pre-publication look at the piece, just before the train leaves the station. Your responsibilities should should include giving her that opportunity. Marketing writers don’t write; they suggest. You don’t need to apologize for changes you make to drafts, but you owe it [...]

Thought Leadership, and Other Outdated Concepts

“We want to position ourselves as a thought leader,” your boss decides. “We need a white paper that will help set us apart from our competitors so that prospects and existing customers will really want to work with us.” It starts with The Event. Maybe you’ve undergone an internal transformation, and you now have a [...]

Dear Editor/Writer: The Beginning is Awful, and the Rest is Even Worse

What kind of criticism do you give your editor-writer? What does he do with it? This paper starts out awful and goes downhill from there. I’ve never said that to a marketing writer, but it has a funny, ironical ring to it. I would chuckle as I clicked on “Send” to deliver news like that, [...]

“It’s Time to Feed the Blog Again”

It’s not easy to keep your content machine fed, is it? You’re finding out that providing valuable content to your readers really does take some work, doesn’t it? When you were a kid, responsible for the family dog, your mom would holler up the staircase, “Timmy! It’s time to feed the dog again!” You remember [...]