Copywriting
Itās raining here in St. Louis, MO, USAā¦ …which reminds me of the time my twin kiddos summoned a drought-ending thunderstorm with a rain dance. We were at my inlawās farm in central Missouri. It was bone dry for weeks. But (finally!), we adults could smell and feel the rain coming. As the wind picked…
My friend Cabanne Howard (a great marketing strategist) sent this picture to me the other dayā¦ It’s a closeup of this Duraflame log… Cabanne thinks itās a great example of story-powered marketing. And sheās right. Feeble marketing focuses on features. Better marketing focuses on benefits. The best marketing — story-powered marketing — promises transformations. A Duraflame log features sawdust…
Hereās a tale of two blog posts — both covering the same topic: Why your business needs a customer support playbook and how to implement one. In one corner we have a treatise. Hereās how it starts: Building and managing a help desk in your organization can either become a triumphant, effective tool or end…
I heard from a business owner who wants to power up his story to grow salesā¦ …but he fears he doesnāt have a compelling story to tell. āMy story isnāt interesting,ā he said. I hear that a lot. Business people assume storytelling should be about themselves. They rack their brains for an inspiring origin story.…
I came across this gem of a headline in an online marketing forum this week: āIām buying a domain name for $35,000.ā The guy who posted it explained: āWe presently use the domain with ātheā prefix for our product, so it looks like https://the___.com But going to go bolder way and buy the name without…
I was cleaning out a closet the other day and found an old biology textbook. As I paged through it, I was struck (stunned, saddened) by how little I remembered. Then I got to the chapter about animal biologyā¦ …and my memory clicked: āKids prefer cheese over fried green spinach.ā Thatās the little story I…
I was walking my dog, Moose, around the block the other day and came upon a neighbor who was manicuring his lawn. This wasnāt your standard roll-the-mower-over-the-grass job. This was high-intensity fuss-over-the-fescue. He was on his knees with a hand clipper, working the edges, getting everything right. Not just good enough. But perfect. After he…
Iām enjoying a book called āBlessed Beyond Measure,ā by Dr. Tom Hill. On page 69, Dr. Hill offers an idea that got my attention: Some time ago, I intentionally began using the word āfascinatedā when I felt like saying something frustrated me…I realized the frustrating quality of situations causing me to feel frustrated naturally include a legitimate…
Hereās a tale of two marketing tips — one right on, the other off the mark. It starts with a question posted to an online forum: How can I generate leads for my graphic design business? Two people responded. The first person wrote 272 wordsā¦ …loaded with one recommendation after another. Use LinkedIn. Try XING…
Hereās a tale about Dizzy Dean — a Hall of Fame pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals… …who was a country boy and… …not as educated or polished as the city-slicker reporters who covered the team. When a reporter accused him of corrupting language students with his lousy grammar and diction, Dizzy replied, āA lot…