Reason 731 to hire a copywriter or The demise of Steve Jobs
First, watch this video (or at least the first 30 seconds)…
My dear friend and tech writer extraordinaire, Ron Miller, posted this video on his blog and sent me over to see it. And I have to tell you, I didn’t think it was funny at all. I was embarrassed for Steve Jobs and the whole Apple team. I cringed.
NOT because of the name of the new product (personally, I think this whole hooha about feminine hygiene products is really, really stupid) and NOT because Mr. Jobs looks silly in that turtleneck with those bright white sneakers. (You’re a bazillionaire, Stevie, try a little bit harder. Even I could dress you better than that.)
My reaction was because, as this video points out, his talk was horrible. He used the same adjectives dozens of times. Maybe it didn’t sound AS bad when the sound bites were evenly dispersed – but I’m not so sure. Regardless, I think we can agree that this is just bad writing and it’s just bad speeching.
So, Reason 731 to use a copywriter? We write speeches, video spots, announcements. We craft your message so that you don’t sound like an idiot. We wordsmith your ideas so that people don’t make YouTube videos that mock you. We write good, so that you talk good…or something pithy like that. I dare say, old chap, we’re critical to your successful marketing and promotional experience.
In fact, good copywriters are awesome, amazing, great, magical and incredible…times 20 (just like Jobs said).
Filed under Critical Copywriting, How To | Tags: Apple, copywriters, copywriting, iPad, marketing writer, marketing writing, presentations, public speaking, speech writing, Steve Jobs | Comments (6)What’s green, lined and all up in your business?
So, I’m sitting here, typing away on a piece for a client. And I realize that someone is staring at me – under the guise of the green underlines sprinkled about the page. Typically, I prefer the red underlines because (in my program, Pages for iWork) they tell me that something is definitively wrong, that a word is actually misspelled for god’s sake!
But, the green underlines? They usually just piss me off. The green lines are very judgmental. They say things like, ‘That word is too high-brow for the piece you’re writing. Try again.’ Okay, that’s not verbatim, but it is their point. To which I respond, Shhhh, leave me alone! I’m writing here and you’re just a piece of software, sheessh. How do you know who my audience is?
Today, though, the green lines shocked me. They gave me good advice, for instance, telling me when I had way too many words, when just one would suffice and informing me that I’d picked a term that was decidedly ‘overused and common.’ Well, I never.
It’s kind of like having a fairy godmother whispering hints to you as you write. Telling you that you can’t use that word as surely as she’d tell you that you can’t wear white after Labor Day. And like any decent mother, sometimes annoying you, sometimes reminding you that you don’t, in fact, know everything, always wanting to help and always all up in your business.
Image credit: Maia C
Filed under Critical Copywriting | Tags: Apple, copyediting, copywriting, editing, iWork, Pages, Writing, writing tips | Comment (0)what happens when technology fails
I don’t cry very often. I can count the times I’ve cried so far this year on one hand – in March when my brother told me he had to give his dog away, in June as the credits rolled on the Sex & the City movie (who am I kidding? I cried through the entire movie) and yesterday when my email wouldn’t work. Yes, I cried like a baby when I could neither send or receive email on my computer.
I’m a little bit ashamed, not so much by the tears, but because of my rabid dependence on the internet. I was frozen, paralyzed by my inability to email. It was suggested to me that I ‘use the time to get some writing done’ which sounds romantic and all, but when I’m done writing, my email will still be down.
Ahhh, and we’re back to the freelancer’s dilemma. I can’t call IT and tell them to deal with this while I work. So I sat on the phone with some young, and fairly rude, guys from Bluehost for over an hour. They told me that they had done all that they could, that no one on their team ‘knew Macs’ and that this was obviously a Mac problem, not a server problem. Really? Because when I signed up for Bluehost, it didn’t say ‘We do not support or service Mac users.” That’s when I started to cry: my life had ended and my precious work day was slipping away.
And then I remembered 1-800-275-2273, otherwise known as Apple Care, otherwise known as manna from heaven. I talked to Stefanie, and she was so nice to me, sincerely kind – even though I was crying and lunatical. She walked me through everything – even through checking my mail via the Bluehost webmail page to make sure it wasn’t a server issue – and let me assure you that she did this even though she doesn’t ‘know Bluehost’. My ports had ‘reset’ themselves to the wrong numbers overnight – something that I find rather creepy and rude. But, now I know where the ports are and I know the numbers they like – I even wrote it all down so I wouldn’t have to go through this next time.
I lost two hours yesterday, and it wasn’t completely world-ending. I’m not thrilled with Bluehost (usually their customer service is so good and so not 16 year-old, smart-ass & boy-like). I am thrilled with Apple and have been since the day I walked into the store to by my Macbook (note: I haven’t purchased a new iPhone or engaged MobileMe). And a big THANKS to my techie angel, Stefanie.
Filed under The Business | Tags: Apple, Bluehost, copywriting, customer service, email malfunction, internet dependence, Julie Roads, small business owner, virtual company, Writing Roads | Comments (2)Office meet iWork 08, Powerpoint meet Keynote
As you know, I’ve recently become a Mac convert…it’s now leaking into my software. I’m preparing for an upcoming series of web marketing workshops, and I’m using Keynote, Apple/iWork 08′s answer to Power Point. This is one month after preparing for a writing workshop on Power Point.
- Keynote is so beautiful. The templates are amazing, plentiful, crisp, modern.
- The functionality: sooooooooooo easy. Even for a techi-ignorati like moi.
- Cool features that I can actually use: updates and showcases live websites. Did Power Point do this? Maybe, but it wasn’t as easy to find and make happen – case in point.
- I’m brilliant – or at least that’s the way this presentation makes me look! Don’t be fooled – people judge us by how we look all day long. Keynote showcases my expertise, my professionalism, my success and my style.
Check it out.
Filed under How To, The Business | Tags: Apple, copywriting, iwork08, keynote, Mac, Marketing, microsoft office, power point, presentations, web marketing | Comment (0)Macs are Better.
I finally made the switch and word has it that this makes me smart. Apparently Apple users have a higher IQ than everyone else.
I love my little Macbook. It is so much better than my old Dell ever was. I’m navigating my way through, re-training myself in all of its ways, but it is as intuitive as they say. The biggest pain is trying to transfer my contacts and old mail (this was a bit of a storage system for me) from Outlook…I’m looking forward to it all being set so that I can close the lid of that mammoth PC monster forever.
I will say this: the single most wonderful thing about the Macbook in the eyes of this writer is that I can turn this machine on and off in a moment. When you have words churning in your brain that must get out on ‘paper’ immediately…waiting 5 minutes for your PC to load is infuriating and debilitating. My Macbook is heaven.
Here are some other perks I’ve relished so far:
- iWork 08 is amazing – templates and capabilities blow Microsoft Office out of the water.
- The UI (user interface) is a dream – simple, beautiful, supportive.
- The dashboard – how I love this! It’s four ‘got to find and open each of these apps separately on my PC’ in one simple little button: weather, time, calculator, calendar.
- Organization: I can have a bazillion apps open at once, and I can either see them all at once instantly or divide them into 4 get-able quadrants of my screen.
- The screen is so clear, so vivid – my eyes are thrilled.
- Size – small, light, friendly. Do you know how big my Dell laptop was? How heavy? The bag that I toted the thing around in was monstrous and awkward – it looked like it had been crafted in the 80′s.
If you are wavering, thinking about it, flirting with the idea – stop thinking and just be smart…go get a Mac.
Filed under Myth or Reality | Tags: Apple, copywriting, Dell, Mac, Macbook, PC, user interface, Writing | Comment (0)
