Posts

He’s Just Not That Into You

Oh, small, earnest neighborhood florist — I can see how hard you’re working to get this right. Here you are in the heart of college country, with scores of students strolling past you every day, never stopping to browse or buy. You know an untapped market when you see one, and you’re even willing to […]

What the Dalai Lama Could Learn from Fast Company

“Is it wrong to hide the Dalai Lama’s posts?” I asked on Facebook a couple of years ago. “They’re just so frequent.”* I wonder if Tenzin Gyatso saw this recent profile in Fast Company, which featured Rufus Griscom talking about how to build online communities around your content. We liked what RG had to say. […]

Why Does This Little Girl’s Blog Have Over a Million Visitors?

Nine-year-old Martha Payne started a blog last month analyzing her school lunches. Boring, right? But, with over a million visitors in just six weeks, she has something to teach the likes of Michelle Obama and Jamie Oliver. Why is her blog so successful? She pretty much sums it up in her profile: “My dad says […]

Copy We Wish We’d Written: Henkel

You know how Dan and Anna are always going on and on about writing copy that’s conversational and doesn’t sound like it was written by a robot (or someone really boring)? I saw this ad in a magazine and loved it so much that I sent a pic to Anna. (Dan doesn’t share our enthusiasm […]

Three Tricks for Tricky Word Choices

Anna’s home with her newborn, so our friend Laura Hales of The Isis Group hooked us up with this post. While Laura typically works with scientists, these suggestions are relevant for us non-scientific types too. Thanks, Laura! There are several examples of words that are misused, resulting in one of the top sources of confusion […]

Oh, Internal Self, You Slay Me!

Do you ever make yourself laugh? You know, you’re just sitting there having an internal dialogue and suddenly you’re laughing out loud? Strangers (or your business partner) look at you and go, “What?” It’s rarely as funny if you try to explain it, so they just say “Oh” and go back to working or drinking […]

Three Easy Steps to Get Over Writer’s Block (A Primer for Non-Writers)

When you’re high-powered copywriters like us, people are endlessly fascinated by the details of your life: your illegitimate children, your favorite rehab facility, your stance on global health care. OK, no they’re not. But here’s something we do get asked a lot: Dear Hired Pens, Despite the fact that “writing” is not in my job […]