Language is fluid and subjective—what irks one person might delight another. Still, there’s something cathartic about naming and shaming the words that make you cringe.fd
Inside-out comms
Your customers are not your employees. Well, in some cases they might be, but as a general rule, especially when it comes to comms they are distinct and disparate. Why am I telling you this? I’m seeing an increasing number of external comms full of internal comms. By...
Venn diagrams, the Euros and Jane McDonald
It IS important to know your audience
Helpful content on helpful content
The latest Google search update March 2024 - is aimed at tackling the issue of unoriginal content and rewarding/prioritising helpful, reliable, people-first content in search results. This is important for anyone with a website. I have wanged on about this forever...
Words to avoid in 2024
But in the business of business, you need to keep on top of trends and make your offering as clear as possible. And if you can’t – then hire a copywriter who can.
Overly complex copy – why?
Imaging getting a brief of ‘make this as difficult as possible’? If it was a brief for an escape room, a maze or a crossword then maybe. But not in the world of copywriting. I can only imagine that overly complex was definitely part of the brief for whoever did the...
Rubbish copy – nudge on bins
Every time I go away I come back with some ‘don’t they do this thing better than we do where I live’ notion. This time it was all about bins. If you’ve been around these parts for a while you will know I am a big fan of nudge/behavioural change. Can the wording on...
Why am I talking about AI in copywriting when no one else is?
What AI isn’t – original.
What AI is – data mining.
Lost in translation
Some of us copywriters (me) often write for an international audience. If you’ve been reading my posts for a while you will know that my specialism is plain English. It’s this skill that means writing for an international audience is not a tough gig for me. We’ve all...
Beware the acronym
Who doesn’t love an acronym? Me. That’s who. I started writing notes for this a while back. And I had, randomly written, WDLAA at the top. I now have diddly squat idea what that is/was? Which kind of makes my point for me. The end! Are you with me though? Acronyms are...