Thought leadership has helped super-majors, like Shell Oil, refashion their image from producer to high-tech energy solutions guru. And it enabled DrillingInfo to shed the "data company" label and be seen as an industry intelligence leader. Saudi Aramco sponsors an annual global thought leadership forum; news source PennEnergy has launched a Global Thought Leaders Series ...
December 8, 2016 READ MORE
Penny for Your Thoughts: How to Sell Thought Leadership to Your Team
You’ve seen the light; you know thought leadership is essential to get your business to the next level. How do you get everyone else onboard? Let’s look at some tools to help you measure thought leadership. Then we’ll talk about leveraging thought leadership, as well as how to promote thought leadership within your team. How to Measure Thought Leadership Altimeter...
November 30, 2016 READ MORE
Celebrating 15 Years in Business
When Wintress Odom started writing 15 years ago, she never imagined that The Writers For Hire would become a full-fledged business with dozens of employees. Even five years after the article below was published in The Houston Chronicle, she still marvels at the growth and changes the business has been through. Join us as we reminisce over the next few weeks about the journ...
October 24, 2016 READ MORE
Interview: Simplifying the RFP Response Process
Regardless of the size of your business, you will likely have to answer a Request for Proposal (RFP) at some point, in order to secure larger, more lucrative contracts. But with so many RFPs containing 100 pages or more, the proposal writing process can be overwhelming for many companies. In this interview, writing expert Wintress Odom breaks down the response process into...
October 14, 2016 READ MORE
Can you spot the 10 errors in the paragraph below? Click here to view the answers!...
September 24, 2016 READ MORE
Interview: Answering Your Questions About Thought Leadership
“Thought Leadership” is a hot topic among marketing departments looking for content and companies looking to make a name for themselves within their industry. But what is it and how do you do it? In this interview on The Price of Business, Wintress Odom, editor-in-chief of The Writers For Hire, answers the basics about who should engage in thought leadership and why, w...
September 9, 2016 READ MORE
RFP Response Roundtable: Procurement Experts Divulge Best Practice Tips
Have you landed the world’s largest customer? The U.S. government is the largest single purchaser of goods and services in the world, awarding approximately $500 billion in contracts every year. And the government isn’t only interested in contracting with big corporations. Most government agencies set aside a percentage of their acquisitions for small businesses, some...
September 2, 2016 READ MORE
The Metropolis Model: How to Use the Sharing Economy to Create Standout Thought Leadership Content
“It’s easy to admire a thought leader; it’s much harder to become one.” —Adam Grant, Wharton professor and author of Give and Take Content creation in the sharing economy The sharing economy continues to transform nearly every sector of the global economy. A recent McKinsey report projects that sharing economy revenues will reach $335 billion globally by 2025....
August 26, 2016 READ MORE
Writing a Book for Your Business
Thinking of writing a book? Writing expert Wintress Odom, owner of The Writers for Hire, says you need to answer a few essential questions before you get started. In her interview with the host of The Price of Business, Wintress discusses how to determine whether writing a book would be beneficial to your business. Specifically, she talks about: • The different reasons f...
August 19, 2016 READ MORE
Take a Stroll Down the Customer’s Journey
Recent studies done by Word Stream show that the average conversion rate for pay-per-click advertisers is 2.35%, which is about the same chance some have of becoming a millionaire. What happens between the click and the customer being converted or not? What sort of journey does the customer go through, and how can companies make sure that each customer stays on the path t...
July 25, 2016 READ MORE
Thought Leadership: How To Do It You’ve made a decision to take your business game to the next level. You know a thought leadership campaign will get you there. So, how do you do it? How to Develop a Thought Leadership Campaign If it’s a sales pitch, it’s not thought leadership. “True thought leadership starts with empathy,” said Brian Solis, a principal analy...
June 16, 2016 READ MORE
Social Selling Her Way to $250,000
It’s often said, “If you’re not online, then you essentially don’t exist.” According to a recent survey by Enquiro, 85.3 percent of buyers use the Internet before making a purchasing decision, and 77.7 percent of buyers say their research starts with Google. With the ever-growing population of businesses online, more specifically on social media, it can be hard t...
April 21, 2016 READ MORE
Think It Through: Why You Need Thought Leadership Now
You’re thinking about retirement. You pick up a magazine, read some articles, and then call an investor. You’re looking for ways to better manage your team at work. You get an email about team management with a link to a blog post. It has some great ideas that will work for your situation. You are researching IT solutions for your company. You find plenty of articles...
April 13, 2016 READ MORE
6 Communication Tips for Recruiting Millennials to Oil and Gas
By Barb Adams In a recent editorial entitled Whither the Gold Watch?, a pipeline services company executive lamented the tendency of millennials — those 20- and 30-somethings expected to represent 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025 — to “job hop” rather than put in long, loyal careers with a single firm. But the capricious nature of millennials...
January 5, 2016 READ MORE
Getting Your Book on the Shelf
It’s the critical question all would-be authors keep asking: How do I get my book published? Dino Price has been the managing director of John M. Hardy Publishing in Houston for three years, but his background is in business development and marketing strategies. That combination of experiences makes him a very useful resource for up-and-coming authors who are looking fo...
December 9, 2015 READ MORE
By Tina M. Liljedahl Tina Liljedahl is a marketing and business consultant who has over 10 years of experience in leadership development with an emphasis on improving communication in the workplace. Open door policies are designed to increase communication by providing a safe and secure way for employees to voice concerns, resolve issues, and provide new ideas. In my wor...
November 2, 2015 READ MORE
There’s a New “Master” in the House
Earlier this year, our owner Wintress Odom was awarded with Copyblogger’s Certified Content Marketer-Master level designation. This certification was awarded after completing advanced coursework on online content strategy, then submitting three pieces of content for the Copyblogger editorial team to review. The Certified Content Marketer designation is only given to peo...
October 27, 2015 READ MORE
Doctors: Take These Words to Heart
By Victoria Cayce Linda was feeling bad. Really bad. She had been overly tired for a week, but since her kids had just gotten over a bug they picked up at school she assumed that the nausea and fatigue were related and went back to plowing through her busy day. Then her upper back began to ache. The dull pain in her chest was making it hard to breathe and she was sweati...
September 25, 2015 READ MORE
Six Tips for Repurposing Your Copy
By Tom Schek Creating a steady stream of informative, engaging materials to fuel a content marketing program takes a great deal of time and effort. However, you can get more out of that resource investment by repurposing content. Some observers might consider that “cheating,” and if you simply swap out a few words or rewrite a few sentences and call the p...
September 25, 2015 READ MORE
Crafting Tourism Industry Content
By Jennifer Babisak The award-winning television drama “Mad Men” fed viewers much more than a weekly dose of suspense and eye-candy. Though the focus sometimes drifted more to Don Draper’s sexcapades than his creative mind, the show still gave an intriguing peek into the inner workings of an advertising agency. The Art of Emotional Appeal The tourism industry w...
September 24, 2015 READ MORE
Ghostwriter, Publisher Insights
By Katherine Adams It’s not easy to build a reputation in the field of ghostwriting. After all, when a ghostwriter authors books, articles, reports, and the like, the work is officially credited to another person. Still, Wintress Odom, owner of The Writers For Hire, manages to lead one of the most sought-after teams of ghostwriters in Houston — and the U.S. Odom rece...
September 10, 2015 READ MORE
In today’s rapidly moving day and age, business arenas change and evolve all the time. And with all of those transformations and progressions come the want and need for the exchange of ideas, concepts and solutions. The oil and gas industry is no exception. That’s why many companies are incorporating, thought leadership into their business practices. They engage a targ...
August 28, 2015 READ MORE
Everything About Wikipedia, Part 2: Notability
In our previous post, we talked about Wikipedia in general – we explained a bit about what Wiki is (a reference) and isn’t (a blog, a soapbox, or a vehicle for free advertising), and we promised that we’d get more into specifics about what makes a topic Wiki-eligible. As we mentioned last time, determining whether a topic is eligible for Wikipedia really boils down ...
August 26, 2015 READ MORE
Everything You Wanted To Know About Wikipedia, Part 1
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Wikipedia (...and probably some stuff you never thought to ask), Part 1 Wikipedia has become a standard, go-to resource for all kinds of facts: Want to know everything there is to know about the giant squid? Need a list of every Nobel Prize winner, organized by country? Interested in the history of Microsoft? Ever wondered about t...
August 25, 2015 READ MORE
Everything About Wikipedia, Part 4: Neutrality
Now that we’ve discussed notability and sources, it’s time to take a look at another major component of Wikipedia policy: neutrality. You probably know what neutrality means: Basically, a neutral point of view is one that doesn’t promote a particular opinion or take a side on a controversial issue. An article written in a neutral point of view will give equal voice ...
November 12, 2014 READ MORE
Everything About Wikipedia, Part 3: Sources
As you probably remember from our last post, Wikipedia eligibility is (mostly) based on the answers to two important questions: Question 1: Is your topic notable? Question 2: Has your topic received significant coverage by neutral, reputable third-party sources? Last week, we took an in-depth look at notability. This week, we’re going to discuss sources. What is a �...
October 2, 2014 READ MORE
So you’re considering a Wikipedia article for your company. But how do you know if you’re eligible? The first question is whether your organization been covered in-depth in the media. This media needs to be produced by a neutral, verifiable third party – not a press release, your own website, or social media that you control (like LinkedIn or Facebook). Blogs usuall...
August 28, 2014 READ MORE
"Vigorous writing is concise." -William Strunk Jr. The writing tips resource section covers an abundant amount of information on clear and concise writing, but this "cheat sheet" proves useful when you need an answer quickly. The following guidelines serve as a concise-writing overview. Print out our printer friendly version to keep on your desk or carry in your b...
September 10, 2013 READ MORE
What is a Preposition? A preposition is a word or phrase typically placed before a noun and indicates the relation of that noun to a verb, adjective, or other noun. Richard Lanham's "Paramedic Method" consists of six steps to create clear and concise copy. The first step is to find and eradicate unnecessary prepositions. But, if you don't know how to spot a preposition, h...
September 10, 2013 READ MORE
Sales Emails: They’re Not About Selling (Really!)
Want to improve the click-through rate on your sales emails? Stop trying so hard. Well, there's a little more to it than that -- but the bottom line is, if you want to make sure that your sales emails don't end up in the spam folder, you need to make sure that you're not striking the wrong tone with an overly salesy email (studies show that people get more anxious and app...
March 1, 2013 READ MORE
Is Your Company Ready for Wikipedia?
Hot off the (virtual) presses! If you enjoyed our six-part miniseries on Wikipedia, you'll definitely want to check out our Wiki eBook. Is Your Company Ready for Wikipediacontains everything you ever wanted to know about Wiki for business.This 36-page free eBook includes expanded versions of all six original posts -- plus loads of new info that you won't find on our blog. ...
February 11, 2013 READ MORE
How to Make Your Small Business Blog Work For You
Thank you to Shelley Roth for allowing Socialot and Jessica Scheider (from The Writers For Hire) to host this Webinar on small business blogging. It's really got some GREAT info in it. Jessica answers questions for beginners and advanced bloggers. How can I use my blog to increase my search engine results? What is a guest blogging program and why would I need one? How l...
January 9, 2013 READ MORE
Converting your Facebook Pages into Sales
Anyone can take a Facebook page and pay for likes with ads. You can run a coupon and drive a few sales, or make a few interesting posts asking for feedback and get responses. The trick is figuring out how to actually use your Facebook page to drive sales without having to do any work, being able to measure them and also provide value to keep people interested. Here is a q...
January 9, 2013 READ MORE
Brand Yourself as an Industry Expert Using AuthorRank
This fall, Google rolled out a major change to search rankings: Google Authorship, also known as Author Rank. Basically, Google wants to make it easy for users to find content by a specific writer, and use those authors as elements for ranking websites and pages. Google search will interpret which authors are relevant sources with good content, and give them better SEO. I...
December 12, 2012 READ MORE
Everything You Wanted To Know About Wikipedia, Part 6: FAQs
Here it is: the very last in our Wikipedia blog series. We’re wrapping things up this week with a few odds and ends, random tidbits, and FAQs that didn’t quite fit in any of our other posts in the series. Enjoy! Frequently Asked Questions Q: I want to write a Wikipedia article about my company – but we were sued for discrimination last year and it was all over the...
November 21, 2012 READ MORE
Everything About Wikipedia, Part 5: Content
At this point, if you’ve been following our Wikipedia series you’ve got a pretty good grip on the rules: You know how to determine a topic’s Wiki-appropriateness. You also know how to find good, third-party sources, and you understand how to keep things neutral. So, now what? Now, we talk about content. Determining Length Wikipedia is funny: You could practically...
November 15, 2012 READ MORE
Finding the Right Blog Partner
So you’ve decided to initiate a content building campaign, wrote a few posts, and now have set out in search of links to send back towards your site. You’ve found a few blogs and sent out offers to write for them. And now you’re waiting for a response—and waiting, and waiting… Why won’t anyone accept your guest blog posts? Your own blog posts are solid, well-w...
August 17, 2012 READ MORE
Software That Helps Small Biz Owners Use Social Media To Stay Connected With Clients
Created by Sean and Wintress Odom, Socialot is web-based software built specifically for small-business owners who are struggling to efficiently use social media to engage their customers. Sean Odom notes, "You don't have to be a social media marketing guru to use it. You don't even need a marketing department. All you need is a computer and an Internet connection." The ...
July 19, 2012 READ MORE
Check Out Socialot: The New Social Media Marketing Software for Small Business
After years of trying to get into the groove of social media marketing, I decided to try a different tactic: I gave up. Well, not exactly. But I did get frustrated and decide that there had to be a better way to keep up with social media efforts. My husband and I started brainstorming ways to streamline our social media marketing. Enter Socialot -- our solution for small b...
December 12, 2011 READ MORE
Secrets for a Successful Blogger Outreach Campaign
by Isabella Woods The internet is packed with information on a whole host of topics, much of which comes from the countless bloggers across the world. Blogging has now become a genuine source of news, information and entertainment, and there is an almost limitless supply of blogs out there. But with this saturation comes a certain difficulty: namely being able to generate...
November 23, 2011 READ MORE
Example of a successful blogger outreach campaign
A couple of months ago, I received an email from a writer looking to promote her client. It started something like this: Hope you're keeping well. I'm just getting in touch to ask if you're open to accepting content from freelance writers at The Writers For Hire - if so, I'd love to put together a high-quality article written specifically for the site. I'm sharing this h...
November 23, 2011 READ MORE
Is Your Company Making this Mistake on Facebook?
If you’re reading this, you probably already know that your company should have a Facebook page. This isn’t another post about why you should use social media marketing. Instead, I want you to try something: Take a second, go to your Facebook business page, and stare at the Wall. Go ahead, I’ll wait. Here’s what you want to see: Informative, engaging posts R...
August 26, 2011 READ MORE
Help for New Wikipedia Articles
Image via Wikipedia Thinking about starting a new Wikipedia article for yourself or your business – but you just don’t know where to start? As we’ve mentioned before, not every article idea or subject is appropriate for Wikipedia (go here for a few pointers). So your first step is to determine if your personal/business/product/other Wikipedia article will p...
January 28, 2011 READ MORE
Stop Brandjacking: Help with Online Brand & Identity Management
Part of protecting your brand, your business, and even your personal online reputation is making sure that others don’t claim your name or try to impersonate you. So here’s a hint: sign up your name, brand, and business on every social media site – even if you don’t use it, even if you don’t have plans to ever use it. Here’s the point: Until you claim yo...
November 22, 2010 READ MORE
Grammar-Fail Tiebreaker: The Votes are in!
Thanks to everyone who voted for a second-place winner. The votes are in, and we'd like to congratulate Charlotte P. for taking second place (and for scoring a $25 Amazon.com gift card)! Charlotte submitted this photo of a wearable grammar fail ("Free hugs for qualifed candidates"): So, this brings our first-ever grammar-fail photo contest to an end. Congrats again to our...
November 15, 2010 READ MORE
First of all, we'd like to congratulate Chris for taking first place! We've emailed him his $50 Amazon.com gift certificate! Also, be sure to check out Chris' website, Part Time Writer. We'd also like to congratulate Ms. Very Married and Charlotte P. They're tied for second place ($25 gift certificate). We're kicking off a tiebreaker to determine the winner. Tiebreaker: ...
November 4, 2010 READ MORE
5 Copywriting Rules that Haven’t Changed
How to Write Web Copy that Sells Stuff and Engages People #4: 5 Copywriting Rules that Haven't Changed It’s our last installment of our blog series on web writing, and we’re ending it by revisiting classic copywriting rules that still apply to creating great online content. 1. Be concise. Snip unnecessary items. To quote the infamous Strunk and White: ”A sentence ...
November 3, 2010 READ MORE
Our grammar-fail photo contest is officially closed, and we've selected our five finalists. Thanks to everyone who submitted photos! Voting will close on Thursday, October 28, and we'll notify first and second-prize winners on our blog and via email. The five finalists are: 1. "Your Sexy": College grammar fail from Kevin: 2. "Grils" wallet from Jere...
October 21, 2010 READ MORE
In this third installment on writing web copy, we’re touching on some of the most important topics: the most common mistakes we see (often) that kill websites. Here’s what to look for (and what to avoid) to boost conversion rates and inspire readers to act. Let’s get started. 1. Not realizing that the navigation and layout must come before design....
September 20, 2010 READ MORE
Congratulations to our first official (in other words, doesn't work for us and is therefore qualified to win free stuff) grammar-fail photo entry. Thanks to Very Married for this awesome example of unnecessary quotation marks. Very Married says: "Two reasons this is awful: First, if this is "water" then where is the real stuff? Second, I found this...
September 15, 2010 READ MORE
Good copywriters know that there are lots of different online visitors, each with unique reading and learning styles. In order to connect with the greatest number of visitors, your website should give your readers the information they need in the way they want it. Below is a brief profile of the 5 online personalities, with best practice Web writing suggestions to get the...
September 13, 2010 READ MORE
The Write Blog’s Grammar-Fail Contest: Win a $50 Amazon Gift Certificate
Are you a grammar Nazi? A stickler for punctuation? Do you want a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate? Do you want a free link back to your website? The Write Blog is happy to announce our first-ever bad grammar photo contest. We’re inviting all of our fellow readers, writers, word lovers, and grammar geeks to get out there and find the best examples of p...
September 10, 2010 READ MORE
“Poring” vs. “Pouring”: What’s the Difference?
This question came up during a round of in-house editing this week, so – of course –I wanted to share: Complete this sentence: I spent hours _______ over the pages of the magazine. A.) poring B.) pouring The correct answer is A, “poring.” “Pore” means to study or read something with great care. You’d pore over a ...
September 6, 2010 READ MORE
How To Write Copy That Sells & Engages Customers #1
Web writing is a particular kind of beast unlike other types of copywriting – you didn’t learn how to write for the Web in school, and you won’t learn how to do it without some solid groundwork first. It actually takes a lot of skill to write good Web copy: it needs to be clear, concise, engaging, persuasive, and informative all at the same time. It also...
August 30, 2010 READ MORE
PronUnciation or PronOUnciation?
The mysteries of pronunciation are solved! Not sure how to pronounce boson, dais, belfry, duchy, or denigrated? Check out the talking dictionary at howjsay.com. Sooo cool....
August 18, 2010 READ MORE
Surprise! It's both. Login is the noun. Log in is the verb. So, you log in to your website using your login. Got it? Have some more helpful writing tips? We always love to hear them....
July 31, 2010 READ MORE
What Makes A Good Wikipedia Topic?
Before you rush to start a new Wikipedia article, there are a couple of things to consider. Wikipedia has a huge gamut of guidelines for writing, uploading, and editing Wiki articles. But before you begin any of those tasks, you first need to know what types of subjects are appropriate for Wikipedia. Wikipedia’s notability policy lays out the guidelines for good ...
July 26, 2010 READ MORE
Six Quick Tips for Better Conversion Rates: Direct Mail and Marketing Emails
Unsolicited marketing materials – direct mail and sales emails targeting new customers – generally have low conversion rates. Your artfully crafted letters may end up in the trash unopened, andyour emails might go ignored for weeks. Image via Wikipedia Before shelling out money on postage or spending time on an email to drum up new business, consider t...
July 15, 2010 READ MORE
Some punctuation rules are pretty clear. You know that a period belongs at the end of a sentence. Quotation marks go around direct quotes. Exclamation points, in general, don’t belong anywhere in your copy. But hyphen rules are not so clear cut (or is it clear-cut?). It seems that everybody has their own in-house “rules” for hyphen use – and usually, those rules ...
June 24, 2010 READ MORE
Using Facebook as a Tool for Writers
It’s no secret that Facebook is a social networking tool that most of us use to keep up with personal contacts. And we’ve seen over and over again how businesses are using Facebook as a social media tool to successfully network with clients and customers. Which got me thinking – how can writers harness the power of Facebook? So I went searching for the best Facebook...
June 24, 2010 READ MORE
Find Acronyms in MS Word Documents
A great tip from our friends at Shae Writing: This is a quick and easy way to find all the acronyms in an MS Word document. Remember that this command searches for consecutive capital letters, so it cannot distinguish between 'SCBA' and 'DO NOT.' For Word 2003: 1. Open the 'Find' window (Ctrl + F). 2. Check the box labeled 'Use Wildcards.' 3. In the 'Find what' field, ...
June 16, 2010 READ MORE
More Cool Social Media Marketing Stuff
So Redbox may not be the first company to bribe their customer base into fanning their Facebook page. And they definitely won't be last. But hey, it works. I'm going to get my free movie tonight....
June 15, 2010 READ MORE
Google Places Listings: Free Online Small Business Marketing
Is your business listed on Google Places? If not, you’re missing out on a free, easy marketing opportunity that can help drive customers to your door. A Google Places listing means that your business can show up in this familiar list for local customers who do a Google search for keywords that match your business, service, or product. To get your listing, go to Google ...
June 3, 2010 READ MORE
Making Confirmation Emails Fun – No, Really!
I had to share this. So, I bought some shoes from Zappos.com last month, and the day after I placed my order, this fun little confirmation email landed in my inbox: “Yay” is right. Zappos took something that could have been bone-dry and made it fun and funky. Especially when compared to this sturdy, functional-not-fashionable confirmation email from another (Probl...
May 27, 2010 READ MORE
56 Google Search Tricks for Students
This article is courtesy of OnlineDegree.net A great list of tips for anyone who does research online. Google has been around for ages, and if you're just starting college, you've probably used the search engine for most of your academic life. But there's more to the powerful search tool than just typing in keywords. Here are 56 Google search tricks for all types of stude...
May 26, 2010 READ MORE
AP: Goodbye “Web site;” Hello “Website”
Good news for all word nerds: The Associated Press has finally made the switch from the old-fashioned "Web site" to the simpler, more natural-looking "website." Yay! To me, "Web site" has always seemed a little stuffy and English teacher-ish. Good for AP to know when it’s time to change things up. According to the AP’s Web site – er, website – the change will be i...
April 29, 2010 READ MORE
The Money Question: Should You Include Prices in Your Marketing Materials?
Should businesses include prices on their marketing materials, landing pages, websites, etc? One school of thought says no – get customers in the door with free offers or discounted pricing, then, once they understand the value of the product or service, hit them up with the prices. That theory can work … sometimes. But hiding prices can often have the opposite effect...
March 12, 2010 READ MORE
Last week, we kicked off a mini-series of Associated Press Stylebook-themed blog posts. This week, we’re sharing a few more gems of wisdom from The AP Stylebook Online. Q: What’s the rule for capitalizing a person’s title? A: It’s complicated, but here are the basics: AP defines a formal title as “one that denotes a scope of authority, professional activity or ...
March 8, 2010 READ MORE
Screenwriters and Web 2.0: Talentville.com
Since the very beginning of blogging (I’m talking Livejournal and DiaryLand days), writers have been using the web to showcase their talent and get their names out into the world. Then came socialnetworking: The now-obsolete Makeout Club and Friendster. Myspace. And the most popular kid on the block, Facebook. Now entrepreneurs are extending social networks to writers. ...
March 2, 2010 READ MORE
Does “city-wide” need a hyphen? If you’re writing about a sculpture, should you italicize the title, or put it in quotation marks? The truth is, there’s no right answer. In most cases, style choices like this can vary from client to client. But what do you do when your client has no clear preference? Or when the graphic designer and the proofreader clash on where ...
March 1, 2010 READ MORE
Daily Lit-erary Therapy in Your Inbox
Good writers are generally voracious readers (feel free to challenge me on that claim if you want!). For a writer, reading is just like warming up and stretching your brain before you sprint into a new project. Here’s my favorite way to get a little reading time in throughout the day (which also doubles as a convenient 5-minute afternoon break): Daily Lit. With Daily Li...
February 17, 2010 READ MORE
Positive vs. Negative Marketing . . . and Gamefly’s “Bad Game” TV Spot
So, Gamefly.com has been running this ad lately. Check it out: People buy bad video games. They freak out, realizing that they’ve purchased bad video games. They continue to freak out, ostensibly because they’re stuck with their bad video games (and out the 50 to 60 bucks they paid for them). The ad ends with a line that says something like, “Never buy bad games ...
February 8, 2010 READ MORE
Simple Proofreading Process with a Big Name: Ratiocination
Thanks to Alise Isbell for contributing this wonderful post on a very interesting proofreading method. You're bound to catch more errors if you do this! Ratiocination is a miracle that changed the way I write and edit. While not a professional writer, my company trains people how to write more effectively, and ratiocination helps. Webster’s Dictionary defines ratiocina...
January 29, 2010 READ MORE
Eight Proofreading Mistakes that Count!
How’s this for a proofreading horror story: Because of a teeny little typo, people calling for a free cab service on New Year’s Eve ended up connecting with an “adult” chat line instead. Oops. That’s the kind of mistake that most likely ends in a lost client and a very, very unhappy boss. Proofreading is about more than making sure you’ve caught spelling and p...
January 26, 2010 READ MORE
Why You Should Be Googling Yourself: 3 Tips for Online Reputation Management
Image via Wikipedia A lot of marketers will tout the benefits of social media marketing for businesses: You’ve probably heard that businesses actually have two different reputations, online and offline. The same goes for individuals – everyone who’s a member of a social networking site has an online presence. When dealing with the Internet, you have to be proacti...
January 23, 2010 READ MORE
Ten Words to Learn How to Spell in 2010
Make any resolutions this year? I’m going to propose you make one more: Polish your emails. Write flawless notes. Look smarter. Check out this hilarious cartoon on The Oatmeal’s site, Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. It outlines some of the most commonly misspelled words (and yes, even the best of us make these mistakes sometimes) in a fun, entertaining way. St...
January 11, 2010 READ MORE
Putting the Kibosh on Chillaxing, Czars, and More
I don’t know about you, but I gag just a little when someone talks about a ‘teachable moment’ – and, evidently, so do the folks at Lake Superior State University. Teachable moment is just one of the entries on LSSU’s 2010 list of words that should be banned from our vocabulary due to “mis-use, over-use, and general uselessness.” LSSU’s tongue-in-cheek list ...
January 8, 2010 READ MORE
Books for Writers: Six Books to Inspire and Inform
Need a creative boost? A good laugh? A few style pointers? Maybe you’re into science fiction or mysteries. Perhaps you prefer nonfiction or graphic novels or biographies. Or fantasy novels. But whatever you’re into, if you’re a writer, you probably love books about writing. This week, I thought I’d share a few of my recent favorites. I’ve put together a list of...
January 7, 2010 READ MORE
How Retailers Are Grabbing The Reins On Social Media Marketing
Social media keeps getting better and better. These days, lots of retailers are jumping on the social media bandwagon to keep up with the times – and, to get consumers in their doors and to jumpstart sales, they’re offering some great deals. If you're a retail store and want to get some great ideas on how to use social media in your marketing strategy, check out some o...
December 30, 2009 READ MORE
New Ways for Writers to Think About Creativity … and Why You Should Give Yourself a Break
It’s sometimes hard for clients and copywriters alike to remember the writing process: It’s one part hard work (sweat on the keyboard), one part art. And sometimes, the “art” part can be hard to pin down. You’re blocked, distracted. You’ve had a bad morning, you’re stressed out about something … but you still need to make your deadlines. You’ll find that...
December 21, 2009 READ MORE
Here’s just one more example of two words that are often used interchangeably – and incorrectly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen something like: Our IT department is comprised of five full-time experts The book is comprised of three sections Image via Wikipedia It’s a widespread assumption that “compose” and “comprise” basically mean...
December 15, 2009 READ MORE
Bring vs. Take. You only think you know how to use these.
So, here's the thing. You probably think you know how to use bring and take. I bring books here. I take books there. Right? Easy smeasy. You "take baby wipes with you" to the store, because you are at the house and you are going to go to the store. Now, if your wife is already at the store, she would say "bring the baby wipes with you to the store," because she is at the ...
December 5, 2009 READ MORE
We Are Not Hiring And We Do Not Employ Missy Herb – Job Application Scam Report.
There is someone who is "spoofing" our email address (or at least that's what my website host tells me). They are pretending to be us, sending out emails saying that we're hiring and then asking people to fill out a rather suspicious form. My host tells me that the emails are not coming from our server. Therefore there is -- to my utmost frustration - apparently nothing we...
December 4, 2009 READ MORE
Personal Brands: Be Yourself or Create Yourself?
Marketing is about image – and in this world of social media marketing, personal branding is paramount. But how do you walk the line between being yourself and creating yourself? It’s a question that’s been plaguing marketers (check out this blog on businessgrow.com). And you know what? No one wants to buy into another slick marketing campaign – there’s real val...
December 2, 2009 READ MORE
How to Remember to Compliment or Complement
Ok, so I admit. I always have to look this one up. I finally figured out a way to remember it. When you complEment something, you are complEting it. As in, your bracelet complements your blouse. When you compliment someone, you're just saying something nice about them. Now, if I can just figure out a way to remember principle vs. principal.... Got any good tricks to sh...
December 1, 2009 READ MORE
So, turns out there are more than one of us: The Write Blog -- by Jeffrey Berman. Great info about the writing business and lots of great interviews with scriptwriters. Do you have a Write Blog? Tell us about it!...
December 1, 2009 READ MORE
New Words for 2009: “Frenemy,” “Staycation” and “Green-Collar”
Okay, so if you’re like me (read: if you’re a big word geek), you kind of look forward to finding out which of this year’s “it” terms make the transition from blogs and pop culture to bona fide dictionary entries. Merriam-Webster just released their list of words that will be included in the updated 2009 edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Her...
November 25, 2009 READ MORE
Today, one of our most grammar-savvy clients emailed us with a question. She asked: If a sentence says, ‘A policy (that/which) protects the merchant against penalties... ’ should you use 'that' or 'which'? And why? I wasn’t 100 percent sure I knew the right answer. I was pretty sure. Mostly sure. But not totally sure. And, truthfully, I couldn’t have explained my...
November 19, 2009 READ MORE
Your Paycheck vs. Your Conscience: Should you Turn Down Unethical Projects?
You’ve probably seen those documentary-style anti-tobacco ads – the ones where a slick and smiling executive grills a series of job applicants about their qualifications. The questions start innocently enough – there’s usually a discussion about the applicant’s previous advertising work or basic office skills like typing or filing -- and then the interview takes ...
November 9, 2009 READ MORE
Stay in Focus: Remembering Your Audience and Message
When you’re in the middle of a copywriting job, there’s an age-old marketing maxim that can be hard to remember – and it can sometimes be hard to convey to clients: You can’t be all things to all people. Good copy does two things: It speaks to a specific, targeted audience AND it has a specific, focused message. The two go hand in hand. If you try to talk to sever...
November 1, 2009 READ MORE
Twitter has apparently been down since about 04:53:18 US Eastern Time, and it's amazing how riled people can get about a FREE service being down. Some people are calling their service providers to make sure that Twitter hasn't been inadvertently blocked! Hey, I love Twitter, but I'm not ready to deal with an hour on tech support with my Internet provider, until I'm sure i...
October 18, 2009 READ MORE
Ok, so he doesn't rap about writing, but he raps about SEO, which is, of course, related to SEO content and website writing. So, if you want to get your site ranking in search engines, check this out. It's the SEO rapper, and he actually has some pretty good tips on SEO coding....
October 16, 2009 READ MORE
How to Write 50,000 Words in 30 Days, Make New Friends, and Squash Writer’s Block
Image via Wikipedia Dust off your laptops, start doing some preliminary research, and clear your schedule for November: The beginning of next month marks the 10th anniversary of National Novel Writing Month. Here’s the deal. Anyone can participate (you just need to register on the NaNoWriMo site). Writing begins Novembers 1st and ends November 30th at midnight. The o...
October 16, 2009 READ MORE
How Releasing Your Copyright = Free Marketing
Every time we write, draw, paint, photograph, sketch, etc. something, we want to claim it as ours. Shout it from the rooftops, let everyone know: This is mine. I did this. Copyright has always been the legal protection for writers, artists, thinkers, developers, photographers, etc., to protect their ideas from being stolen and reproduced. Now introduce the Internet. Sudde...
October 8, 2009 READ MORE
Starbucks’ New Instant Coffee Ad: Love it or Hate it?
In an earlier blog post, I cautioned against ad campaigns that were too trendy or topical, but Starbucks’ new “Via” TV ad is an edgy, hilarious example of why it’s sometimes okay to buck convention. In addition to promoting their new instant coffee, Starbucks takes on a touchy (and waaaay timely) subject: town hall meetings. If you haven’t seen it, you can check...
October 5, 2009 READ MORE
Banned Books Week: September 26 to October 3
What do The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The World According to Garp, and Of Mice and Men have in common? They’ve all been banned. At one point or another, somebody (or a group of somebodies, as is often the case), decided that these books – and hundreds of others – should be removed from libraries and schools. And who decided that these somebodies had the f...
September 24, 2009 READ MORE
Did You Know Ernest Hemingway Works For Us?
Ok, I don't know who did these guys' mailing list, but this actually came to The Writers For Hire address. Of course, yes, we ARE that great. But, to quell the rumor before it runs rampant: No Hemingway does not work for us....
September 20, 2009 READ MORE
Twitter: To Follow, or Not to Follow?
As I was writing my last blog about Twitter etiquette, a question came up: What is the etiquette on following people? Should you follow everyone who follows you, or not? I went on a quest to find out what the best practice regarding Followers vs. Following on Twitter. The answers, it seems, are largely unclear, but there are a lot of theories out there. The Naysayers �...
September 18, 2009 READ MORE
Astroturfing: The Icky Side of Social Media Marketing
It’s disingenuous. It’s dishonest. And, it’s everywhere. It’s called “astroturfing”. Chances are, you’ve been exposed to it. And, if the folks behind it have done their jobs right, the chances are pretty good that you didn’t even know it. Social media is powerful stuff. In its most basic form, it’s the high-tech equivalent of your best friend recommendi...
September 11, 2009 READ MORE
Request A Quote
