July 20th, 2010
ots of professional people have roles that require them to turn their hand to writing. Some are good at it, some bad, and some churn out copy that’s downright cringeworthy.
I’ve worked in both the public relations and marketing industries, and it’s made me wonder which of the creative industries produces the best stuff.
These are the conclusions I’ve come to. Get ready to disagree violently…
READ ON »
Which industry produces the best writing? »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog | 1 Comment »
July 19th, 2010
pologies for the recent silence on this blog. Things will liven up shortly with a great guest post from a PR expert.
In the meantime, if you belong to a small or medium sized business, you will want to know about our new venture for SMEs – The Copywriting Agency. The new website is a great place to find out how our services can help you to sell both online and off, so go and take a look.
Back here at Ben Locker & Associates, we’re also about to issue our first newsletter (‘about time’, you might say!). It’s a light read, and it will raise a smile or two as well as give you ideas for making your business – so sign up today if you haven’t already.
We launch The Copywriting Agency for SMEs »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, copywriting | No Comments »
May 14th, 2010
was browsing the Viking stationery catalogue on Wednesday looking to see if they had a different version of my attractive, hardback, high quality Oxford Black n’ Red notebook.
Why would I be doing this when I had a perfectly good, brand-new notebook already? I wanted to see if they had a version of the same notebook with Irish ruled lines (for the uninitiated, Irish rules are just narrower).
The ‘right’ stationery
Minutiae like these drive people who believe that – to do their best work – they need to have the ‘right’ collection of stationery.
And not just that. The stationery has to be arranged on their desk and in various draws ‘just so’ (compulsive neatness usually goes hand in hand).
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Do you have a stationery fetish? »
Author: Johan van der Merwe.
Posted in: Blog, copywriting | 3 Comments »
May 5th, 2010
esterday, my colleague Johan and I were editing down some sales copy.
You know the kind of job. You obliterate every superfluous word until you achieve total clarity.
Net result, prose so simple that everyone assumes they could have written it themselves.
It opened Johan’s eyes. “It’s almost as though I’m not fulfilling my role,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, before I started work as a copywriter, I assumed that the writing would need to display more ingenuity. But the greatest ingenuity lies in the simplicity of getting the message across with no apparent effort.”
So true. The only problem is getting your clients to see it the same way. How do you get someone to pay for something they think they can do themselves?
The answer, of course is to let them do just that. Do you agree?
The best copywriting: so simple people won’t pay for it? »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, copywriting | 25 Comments »
April 23rd, 2010
h dear. Look at this man’s shirt.
From here.
Still, it’s not as embarrassing as David Beckham’s misspelled tattoo.
Any other sporting spelling howlers that spring to mind?
I left out a part of ‘San Francisco’ »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, spelling | No Comments »
April 22nd, 2010
couldn’t help but laugh when I stumbled on this story earlier today.
In a nutshell, Michigan’s Grand Rapids Public School Superintendent Bernard Taylor has stirred up controversy – by criticising pupils’ poor spelling and grammar.
The pupils, from Colt Creative Arts Academy, had written to Taylor asking him not to cut art and music programmes. So he turned up at the school, told the pupils their wish had been granted – and then reprimanded them for the bad spelling and grammar in their letters.
Some parents were not amused. One, Angel Gonzalez, huffed:
“I don’t know that guy. He may be a great guy. I just don’t know him personally. I know nothing about him. I don’t want him barging into my kids’ classroom making them feel belittled. Even if that’s not what he intended on doing, that’s what he did.”
READ ON »
Are we giving up on the written word? »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, Education | 3 Comments »
April 17th, 2010
uy a bottle of Leffe Blond(e)…
Then look at the back label. This one…
READ ON »
Brand spells disaster: Leffe Blonde »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, spelling | 1 Comment »
April 15th, 2010
avid Ogilvy famously said: “I hate rules”.
So do I. Ask anyone who’s ever taught me.
Instead of following rules, I prefer to listen to people I respect, or refine techniques that have worked well for me. Though I do agree with Ogilvy on at least one other point:
Many people – and I think I am one of them – are more productive when they’ve had a little to drink. I find if I drink two or three brandies, I’m far better able to write.
Some people need rules, though. Rules reassure them and make them feel comfortable. Sometimes, knowing about the rules gives folk the confidence to break them.
Charles Dickens wasn’t one of them
READ ON »
Rule breakers: when to break the rules of copywriting OR was Charles Dickens any good? »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, copywriting | 1 Comment »
April 5th, 2010
wenty years ago – or it might have been nineteen – a friend and I dropped by his parents’ antiques shop.
I liked the atmosphere, though perhaps not as much as when the building was devoted to selling fish and chips. Whenever I walked in the door, I always remembered that this was the place that I first saw a can of Vimto. For some reason that was important.
On this particular day, I got chatting to one of the customers. I think he was also an antiques dealer. It turned out that my grandfather had taught him art at Stamford School.
“Oh yes,” said the customer. “I remember Mr Douglas. He used to buy his cigarettes from my aunt’s pub. One evening he chased me home and he caught me by the neck of the blazer. I managed to wriggle out of it…”
READ ON »
School reports: short, damning copy »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog | 1 Comment »
March 31st, 2010
m I missing something in the debate about paying for online newspaper content?
Lots of folk in the media have been huffing and puffing about the fact that The Times and The Sunday Times plan to put their content behind a paywall from June.
The price of access? £2 per week. The same price as buying the print edition of a Sunday newspaper.
READ ON »
The value of charging for online content »
Author: Ben Locker.
Posted in: Blog, Journalism | 18 Comments »
