What is evergreen content?
As the leaves fall from the trees, it’s time to turn to evergreen content. That’s content that doesn’t go out of date, words that stand the test of time. Is it evergreen? Ask if someone reading in a year’s time would find the content informative and interesting. If so, you have evergreen content. Words that don’t go out of date, that are useful whether they are two days or two years old. Evergreen content is cost effective – the content only has to be created once but a long-shelf life means...
Let me amuse and delight you
Have you been amused and delighted recently? Give it a minute. Still nothing? I’m surprised, given that everything from coffee machines to garden centres seems to make this brand promise. Just recently the phrase jumped out at me from a B2B marketing industry website in a whitepaper on the rise of content marketing. An odd place I thought, if you consider the phrase usually relates to entertainment – a performer could indeed amuse and delight me. At a stretch some restaurant menus can amuse...
Doing business abroad – writing for Alibaba, Amazon and beyond
Many are asking should you invest in Alibaba as the Chinese internet trading company heads towards a float on the New York Stock Exchange. If the question you’re asking is Ali-what? then read on. E-commerce is more than eBay and Amazon. Don’t limit yourself to Western platforms if you have international trading ambitions, adopt a global mindset. Alibaba is China’s answer to eBay, and surpasses both Amazon and eBay globally. Meanwhile Souq.com is an auction site serving the United Arab Emirates...
The Internet of Things – where’s the content?
This week I was asked to quote a fee for writing the label copy for a well known Scottish drink. I’m still waiting to hear whether my language must be come-hither seductive shelf stopper or a zingy sassy invitation to 'take me to the till'. Either way, shifting product into supermarket basket will mean adopting the brand personality, which could be as simple as: ‘Young, innovative, accessible and hassle-free - and everything we write should reflect this’. Although that sounds like Yakult, it’s...
3 best wordy shows at Edinburgh Festival 2014
Looking for words this Edinburgh Fringe? Comfortable to let content to take centre stage? There are over 3,000 shows and more than 250 venues. I’ve managed to cut it down to just these 3 performances of spoken word, comedy and poetry: Grave Invaders The dripping vaults of the Banshee Labyrinth provide a suitably spooky setting for Grave Invaders an energetic spoken word show by Mark Grist, MC Mixy and Tim Clare. Tenuously held together by their account of a 2,500 mile pilgrimage round the...
Content creation made simple – Easy copy for sharing and keeping
Warning: Tenuous jumping on the baking bandwagon as the Great British Bake Off returns to our screens. I’d love some ideas for content that is light, easy and quick to make. My 32-year old designer insists we don’t have room for many words. How do we get more bang for our buck? Reader, Scotland When it comes to limited space (I’ll assume we’re talking about print or digital) it’s vital to make each word work hard. You don’t have room for fillers. Nobody needs six words to say the same thing,...
How to be an expert
Do you want to be an authority? To be known as an expert in your field? Are you keen to demonstrate thought leadership? Then read on. When I started copywriting 13 years ago I didn’t appreciate the amount of time I would spend hunting for expert opinion. Writing a feature for a trade magazine, B2B title or membership publication is often the result of a protracted search to identify and interview appropriate, credible, respected industry professionals and sector specialists. One day, surely, I...
5 ways to make the most of email newsletters
Are you spending your day browsing email newsletters? No, me neither. So, let’s assume the readers of your newsletter are just like you and me. What would make them pay more attention? Follow these top tips to give your newsletters greater stand out: Test, trial and no error: Email marketing software such as Mailchimp is a great tool. You can see how simple it is to drop content into the template, add a spreadsheet of mailing details and create a newsletter. Sadly, it’s also easy to make a...
Do you want to double your reading speed, and get rid of the misplaced comma?
As teachers endlessly tell children "don’t move your lips when you read.” There’s no disputing that it slows young readers down. Reading speed is limited by how fast you are able to speak. “You speak too quickly, slow down” teachers also endlessly tell children. What does all this advice do to us? Well, presumably Sean Shannon ignored it, to become the holder of the world record for fastest talking. He can manage more than 655 words per minute - watch him on YouTube. Unlike Sean the rest...
Do you need to translate for prosperity come Chinese New Year?
Man United will join millions of people to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Horse, which falls on 31 January. The club will use its own official Chinese website, to appeal to Chinese-speaking fans. It’s fair to assume the club doesn’t have to justifying the investment in translated content for the site, a mirror image of the British version. Chinese seems to be the one language UK businesses choose to translate content and marketing material into. You may not find a website in...