What do you tend to do when/if you get rubbish customer service? You switch allegiance as soon as humanly possible, and probably tell your friends. ‘Your message/call is very important to us’ ‘We are experiencing a high volume of calls at the moment’ ‘Please do...
Plain English Website Audit – A how-to for clearer communication
I’m currently looking for a very specific service provider locally. I found a most excellent candidate via his most excellent website. It was written in plain English. It directly addressed my needs. I instantly knew he offered the services I needed. Unfortunately,...
Accessible digital content – Alt text
Alt text, or alternative text, is a brief description of an image or other visual content that's read aloud by screen readers to help people with visual or cognitive disabilities understand the content. Alt text is an essential part of making digital content...
Room 101 of words and phrases that make my insides squirm
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...
Sorry not sorry – The corporate apology
Us Brits are becoming globally renowned for failing to deliver sincere and effective corporate apologies.
Grab a brolly…
I can remain both fascinated and a tad confused by the language of weather
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...
Shingles knows what now?
Let’s look at health-related copywriting. A telly ad I didn’t understand has prompted me to write about it. I’m talking about that shingles ad. “Get to know shingles because shingles knows you.” I think it says. I’ve seen it loads of times and yet I still have no idea...