Conrad Winter Copywriter

Podcasts are undeniably sexy and growing in popularity in transportation and logistics. But make sure your written blog is optimized and consistent before you go all-in on audio and video.

Even if you produce a popular blog, you might fall short of your objective: generating search traffic and qualified leads.

Search engines rely on text-driven algorithms for indexing and ranking content. But search engines can’t index and rank podcasts’ audio and video content in the same way. That’s a huge drawback.

Searchability is just the leading argument for writing rather than recording content. Here are six more reasons to prioritize your written blog.

Blogs boost retention. Logistics are loaded with topics like transportation strategy and warehouse automation that require study and constant learning. Blogs aid when it comes to information intake. Research shows people remember more when they read it than they do when they hear it. Plus most people learn from close study and repetition. With a blog, you can re-read a section over and over rather than replaying a section over and over…which gets annoying.

Text provides efficiencies. For a fast information download, choose text. People on average read 280 words per minute (WPM) while the normal speaking rate is 150 -190 WPM, according to Psychology Today. Additionally, the ability to skim and zero in on the text you want is a bonus of blogs. Even if a podcast has a scrub bar with cursor images, finding the audio and video info you want can be hit or miss. 

Printed words provide freedom. Written blogs and podcasts both provide ways to consume content fast or slow – or skip sections all together. It’s easier with written words, though. You don’t have to rely on an app to change speed for starters. Also because you can see what you’re skipping. (Ever push the advance-15-seconds arrow on your smartphone and then obsess over what you might have missed? Or fast-forward too far in advance and end up going back and listening to the whole thing anyway?)

Updateable blogs live longer. We all know how quickly technology, the economy and freight spot rates change today. Podcasts that reference current conditions are quickly outdated, whereas a blog can be easily updated. It’s very useful to have solid evergreen content that can live on and on with subtle updates. 

Repurpageabilty. The flexibility of written words enables marketers to easily repurpose content for different markets like automotive parts shippers or personal care products sellers. Blog posts can be repackaged in short form for social or email marketing. They can also be repackaged in long form for ebooks and whitepapers.

Sit-down versus drive-thru. The ability to watch a video or listen to a podcast on the go enables multi-tasking. But if you want prospects’ full attention, you’ll have to give them something they can study and evaluate. Written posts that can be pondered and shared among team members aid group decisions in B2B. They provide tangible reference material for the thoughtful. 

No doubt dropping branded podcasts consistently is an impressive feat. High quality video or audio content can be an awesome addition to your site…as long as you still have written blogs covered.

It doesn’t have to be an either/or decision. If your podcast production isn’t leaving enough capacity for your blog, reach out to me at [email protected]. I’m happy to tell you how I keep transportation and logistics companies’ blog content moving forward.

Given how many manifestations white papers have today, talking about best practices can be a challenge. It seems like the lines are becoming more and more blurry among white papers, e-books, case studies, research papers, and even brochures. So what are the best practices today?

Rather than lay down a rigid white paper template and restrictive definition, I wish to offer up a set of best propositions meant to free your mind, best preoccupations to keep your wheels on the tracks and best prospects for providing content that breaks through and supports your business goals.

Best proposition: Give readers what they want, but not what they expect.

Your readers need specific information that helps solve their problems. It depends on what stage of consideration they’re in. Ask your sales people and ask your prospects what that is. Provide the answers readers need and your company will be a hero. Here are some tips to help you avoid the 3 B’s (big, broad and boring) in creating your white paper.

1. Pick an angle. Go beyond the broad theme and speak directly to your prospects’ pains and burning questions. Look for a highly relevant slant that isn’t being featured elsewhere and you’ll have a ready audience. 
2. Focus on fresh, not evergreen. I love the value of a white paper that prospects will want and download for years and years. It’s the ideal. But let’s face it. Things are changing fast. Information gets outdated quickly. The competition is quick to imitate our successes. Be specific rather than broad. Zero in on a hot topic rather than trying to produce the definitive guide. So maybe adjust your expectations to a 1 or 2-year shelf life as opposed to 10.
3. Satisfy the snackers (while offering readers a real meal.) Be kind to your ADD readers by making your copy scannable: Include an abstract/executive summary at the beginning as well as an introduction, write subheads that identify the topics addressed in sections and chunk your copy into digestible paragraphs. That said, don’t hold back on giving the real readers a deep dive into the details of your topic. Do these things and you’ll provide an experience that satisfies all readers. Learn more about How Copywriting Contributes to a Great Customer Experience, in my recent TMSA post on the topic.

Best preoccupations: respect your readers and honor their trust.

The two biggest questions I see with clients are how long a white paper should be and how promotional it can be be. 

The first one is easy. Let value be your guiding light on length. If you can provide value in a one-page “major events affecting the transportation industry” white paper, great. However, if you’re introducing the world of third-party screen, test and repair services, it might take 5,000+ words. Make your white paper as long as it takes or as short as it can be—whatever it takes to educate readers.

The second question of “how promotional your white paper can be” is a little trickier. It’s an important question. I mean this is “content marketing” and it has to market your company in some way; however, there are degrees to which one might do this. At one end, you have information free of any promotional bias whatsoever. And at the other end, you have white papers that are essentially brochures.

I’ve seen good white papers from both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between. The thing they all have in common is that they focus on the readers’ interests. Readers are expecting to find value in your white paper. Not providing worth and simply selling your product or service is a betrayal of trust. Not a good thing when two of the prime goals of white papers are to build trust and establish authority. 

I think it’s good to start a white paper project with a percentage in mind for how much of the content will be promotional. This will be determined by the stage of the sales funnel you’re writing to (i.e. awareness, consideration or decision.) For example, your promotional percentage in the awareness stage might be 2%, amounting to just having your logo on the cover and elevator speech at the end. A way to boost this slightly might be to add links to pages on your website or quote your company’s subject matter experts. 

The degree of promotionality of a white paper in the consideration or decision phases could be 10%, which usually means simply including your offering in with the list of potential solutions. Or it could be 100%, if for example, your product or service is unchallenged in the category or you have a totally new technology that warrants explanation. In all these cases, the value to the reader is your priority. 

Best prospects: think big, go beyond.

By establishing your authority and generating leads, white papers and content marketing in general, do great things for your business and brand. So how do you build on benefits like that? Lots of ways. 

I see smart clients using white papers as the centerpiece and foundation of extended campaigns. Companies will leverage the white paper content by splitting it into a series of blog posts, webinars and one-sheets. And in addition to promoting the whitepaper on their website, they’ll post about it on social channels and run ads for it. In doing so, a company might produce four white papers a year, promoting each one for a quarter. It’s a great way to juice a hot topic and create synergies that stretch the reach, value and momentum of your white paper. Running concerted and cohesive campaigns like this also helps you “own” the topic. 

Another thing I’m seeing is companies branding their white papers as a series as opposed to one-off publications. By having a consistent look and title structure, you encourage prospects to come back to your “library” for authoritative white papers on other topics they care about. The success you have in one rubs off on the other content you provide—and your brand.

Color yourself successful in your white papers by consistently focusing on the value you provide to prospects and by looking beyond the initial lead-generating potential. For an outside perspective of your content strategy or help keeping up with the demands of your content calendar, set up a short call with me to discuss how I might assist. 

The Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA) annual conference just unofficially kicked off in Florida tonight. Media biggies, JOC, SupplyChainBrain, Supply Chain Dive and AGILE are all in attendance. Editors from each will be panelizing tomorrow. 

This is my second year and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to learn more about the transportation and logistics industry and the challenges marketers in this space have—especially regarding content and copywriting. This year’s theme is customer experience (CX).

It’s an important topic. Last year’s keynote speaker Jeff Davis touched on it. This year’s conference promises to explode it. 

During last night’s speed networking and welcome reception, I spoke to TMSA’s new CMO and COO, Don Friddell about this year’s CX-focus. He emphasized the inseparableness of CX from business success today—and stressed that regardless of the data supporting this, there are still a lot of business leaders who have yet to be convinced. By the looks of the agenda, TMSA aims to change that. 

The speed networking was a good time. Andrew Gulovsen, Director of Sales for Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), kept it lively with his humor and bullhorn. 

Met some very interesting people (too many to mention here) and got to see familiar faces from last year’s conference. 

I networked with Carleen Herndon from Women in Trucking. This is a unique organization that I’m told has over 800 members at present, hosts a growing conference and even has it’s own doll, “Clare the Truck Driver Doll”available on Amazon no less. 

I talked to Denny Grim of SoundBusinessNetwork who was content marketing and podcasting before the two even existed. He once produced a transportation-related audio magazine which was distributed by audio cassette to a select C-level audience back in the 80s. 

I also had the chance to ask marketers their biggest challenges. I heard the same sentiment on a number of occasions: it’s a big challenge feeding the content machine with quality posts, white papers etc. 

That’s sort of my theme this year: “I help keep your quality content moving.” Speaking of this year, this conference I boothed up. That’s right. If you’re at the event, please stop by. While you’re there, you can pick up one of my limited edition “Keep your content moving” post cards that entitles you to 20% off your first project.

No one wants to do business with a computer, or have a relationship with a robot. It’s creepy. 

That’s why it’s important to keep your web copy, content, case studies and email communications personal. 

That’s not an easy task as companies become more digital and virtual. Nevertheless, making your writing personal is my number one tip for providing great customer experience (CX) through words. In doing so, you appeal to the emotional side of prospects, and that’s what creates a customer experience that builds strong bonds to your brand. 

Getting personal means thinking of your readers as people.

When writing for the customer’s experience, the most important things to keep in mind are their needs, problems and concerns. Provide a positive experience by being completely focused on their realities. Here are four ways:

• Write for humans, not for robots—No one ever read a post and exclaimed: “I love the SEO of this piece, it’s so good!”
• Rant for a reason. Yes, railing against fuel prices or unfair public policies can be attention-getting. But it’s better to give readers advice or information they can use like I did in this post for Trimble Transportation (formerly TMW Systems) about a recent court ruling affecting California’s motor carriers. 
• Use your superpowers of cleverness for good—i.e. not just to impress me.
• Keep it fresh. Don’t insult your readers by regurgitating old posts or your boilerplate copy.

So what does “getting personal” mean in practical terms?

It means letting your drivers, dispatchers or software developers author blog posts. It means fearlessly telling your founding story of how your company grew from one milkman to a fleet of truck drivers. It means boldly telling about your company’s quirky location—or that you’re a virtual company without a headquarters. 

People make up the heart and soul of your brand and your company. It stands to reason that prospects what to know those people. 

There are real humans behind your business, no matter how virtual you are. Letting people know who you are does lots of good things:

1. Builds trust—I mean, don’t you trust people more than machines? (Remember Hal from 2001 Space Odyssey?)
2. Differentiates you—the product is the way it is because of the people who made it. How they are, their ethics, their passions and all the rest say everything about the product.
3. Compels prospects to treat you humanely—people don’t treat faceless companies the same as humans. Need proof? When’s the last time you thanked Siri or Alexa? 

CX is PX…Personal Experience.

Being personal means being friendly. Professional, yes. But friendly too. It’s possible to be both. How many people do you know who you can count with your life and who are actually nice, too? See? Keeping a conversational tone in your writing accomplishes that. 

Who doesn’t love a conversational CX?

Writing conversationally often involves letting your company’s guard down. That’s what we do when we converse with people we know. We speak easily. That’s what people like. They also like to be charmed and entertained—never simply sold at. So be a good friend and tell your prospects a story about a challenging load you hauled and the details of how you delivered like heavy-haulers, Bennett IG did in this post I wrote for them. In short – indulge your readers. 

People don’t read anymore, but they do experience.

Writing for CX can be hard when everyone on your team is pontificating about the economy of words and how no one reads or has any time anymore. To those who believe this, I have this message: people will read as much as you can write, as long as it’s entertaining or interesting or both. Storytelling is not fluff; It’s the stuff prospects and customers remember the best – because it’s the part they like the most.

Writing readable, enjoyable, useful copy is a big part of providing great CX today. What sort of experience are you providing your customers?

Awards shows play a crucial role in inspiring us to open our minds to new possibilities, they fuel the competitive spirit to perform to a higher standard and they teach us how it’s done.

The “textbook” of my first copywriting class was a One Show awards annual—the book that displays all of the winning creative work for the year. For my 20-something self, working an entry-level job in an ad agency, living in a trailer and looking forward to 50-cent tacos at Tortilla Flats, I was sure I couldn’t afford the $65 for the publication. It was an unjustified extravagance, and I really couldn’t understand the expense…until I received the book.

It was beautiful. Hardbound. Two inches thick. It had weight. And inside was a brand new and exciting world to me. The best advertising in the world. Sample ads and billboards, radio and TV scripts—even full campaigns.

The message was clear: this is good work—do this.

Being able to see how successful work is done is invaluable. And it’s a rare opportunity. With gated content and so much niche-work being done (as opposed to mass-market), we just don’t see a lot of the great campaigns and tactics out there. But as marketers’ media mix has become more varied and complex over the years, the educational aspect of awards shows has become more important, maybe even essential.

If you want to, say, see examples of email drip campaigns (and outstanding ones, at that), being able to check out an awards annual beats signing up for mailing lists so you can see how Audi, Crate & Barrel or Starbucks market to prospects.

There are many awards shows out there. They vary from local to international. Some are industry-specific or media-specific. I think the best ones emphasize the work by sharing the work and displaying the work—as opposed to just handing out plaques, posting podium shots and publishing a trophy count at the end of the night.

The One Show, Communication Arts (CA), Clios, Cannes and others do this either by publishing a printed annual, creating an online gallery or doing both. If you want to immerse yourself in the work, these are great options. They all offer great opportunities to see “how it’s done”—although compared to the One Show and CA (both under $100) the $99 per month subscription to view Cannes work can be a bit of a bite. Insider tip: you can check out Clios winners free.

For a more educational experience, you can’t beat the Effies, an award show revered by marketers across industries for its focus on results as well as for its case study format. Viewing the case studies requires membership, but the comprehensive details and insights make them invaluable tools. The Direct Marketers Association DMA International® Echo Awards have an online gallery of winning work that also makes for an exceptional educational resource—but you’ll need a membership to access them.

My area of copywriting specialty is transportation and logistics, and I was delighted recently to discover the Compass Awards (funny story) put on by the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association. The work is all in my niche and all the winning campaigns and content are available to members through TMSA’s resource library. Smart idea.

As someone who’s trying to learn more about this industry, I’ve been eating up the case study format. The Compass Awards were one of the many learning opportunities I discovered while attending TMSA’s annual conference. (Read my takeaways here.)

Even when you don’t win, you can still take something away from award shows.

(Speaking of awards, wondering what I’ve won? Or would you rather see the work?)

Use referrals, case studies, and video to demonstrate proof of performance.

Perhaps the greatest takeaway I received at the recent Transportation Sales and Marketing Association conference came during the shipper panel. It was the opportunity to listen to a panel of prominent decision-makers live and unfiltered. The panel members are part of a very elusive and mysterious group. To put it another way: it’s hard to get through to this group—and rare to have the opportunity to hear what they think.

So what was this great takeaway I received? It came from Troy Turner of Unilever who was answering the question, what it takes to become a shipping partner of choice?

He answered that it came down to “ease of doing business.”

In other words, how easy is it to do business with a transportation provider? A consideration that he admitted can only be demonstrated by actually working with the transportation partner in question.

His answer had most of us in the audience scratching our heads. But Turner was kind and didn’t abandon us to chase chicken-and-egg scenarios. He gave a couple of workarounds for demonstrating how easy it is to do business with your company…without actually doing business with your company, that is.

Referrals are the next best thing to proof of performance.

They’re golden to Turner. Get a referral from the right colleague and you’re in.

Referrals are powerful, but there are different ways to leverage this power—some more nuclear than others. An email introduction can open the lines of communication for you, but what if you took it a step further and asked a happy client to call your prospect directly? The extra effort would speak volumes about your client’s esteem for you while making the referral more personal. A voicemail from your client would have a similar personal appeal, and might be an easier ask.

The only thing about referrals…they can be hard to get. Plus they’re a one-time single use tactic. I mean you can’t expect to get a referral for every prospect.

Second best is case studies.

Turner values case studies that demonstrate how companies have addressed challenges and how they’ve worked with other companies. This tracks with what I’m seeing; carriers, logistics companies and NYSHEX are consistently asking me to write case studies that demonstrate how they help clients overcome their challenges and that bring their services to life. They’re also maximizing their use by repurposing them in blog posts, newsletters and white papers. Another nice thing about case studies is their staying power. Post them on your website and they’ll work hard for you for a long time.

So how else could you demonstrate ease of doing business?

Turner’s comments inspired me to consider what other alternatives are available to marketers who want to prove their value to prospects.

Don’t forget case studies’ little brother, testimonials.

Quick, scannable, 2^ndperson endorsements can create instant credibility for you. They have powerful name-dropping appeal, and their short format makes them great for home pages, inserting into emails and lots of other things. Always ask a happy client to give you a blurb. (Tip: ask right after you’ve done something great for them.)

Show ‘em in a video.

In the absence of great case studies, it came to me that another way you could demonstrate ease of doing business would be to capture the experience in moving pictures. Show your people working on a real problem. Demonstrate your processes. Provide visual proof of your standards. And introduce viewers to your culture. A lot of times these things are better shown than said anyway.

Aim for a case study on every project.

When you complete an engagement, ask your client if you can feature them. Better yet, during the project, plant the seed of a case study by mentioning that your client has a great story to tell and a lot of people would benefit from hearing it. Sometimes it takes a while for clients to give you the go-ahead, so ask early and pitch the idea in an appealing way, In other words, tell them how innovative, daring and agile it will make them look.

Need help keeping the case studies flowing?

I know the ropes from conducting successful interviews to creating a unique case study style for your brand—as well as the many ways you can promote and repurpose your great stories. Let’s talk. Email me to arrange a short call, or click here to see some samples.

A few months ago I attended the AdAge B2B conference in NYC. One of the attendees, a marketing director at a small or midsized company, asked a question that befuddled the panel of agency luminaries.

She asked why every agency she came in contact with insisted on going through a lengthy discovery process of uncovering the company history, culture, etc., before actually getting to work. It was a fair question—and a familiar one to me as a copywriter. Clients are often surprised by how many questions I ask and the amount of background information I request.

Research or “the discovery process” is such a given on creative projects that the panel didn’t really know how to respond, and I don’t think she ever received a satisfactory response from the group. So I’ve taken it upon myself to answer her, wherever she is. Because the fact is, writing good copy starts with a lot of questions.

You have to dig for gold.

I believe that only through a thorough discovery process can you uncover killer insights and develop angles that will be fresh and interesting to your market. Otherwise you end up playing in the same old superficial, generic territory as everyone else—your competition included. To paraphrase famous designer Bob Gill a couple of weeks ago at HOW, if you want to come up with a great idea for a dry cleaner—you go spend a week at the store. You watch, you listen, you ask questions and learn everything you can.

You have to know the brand to write for the brand.

When you write for a brand, you have to “become that brand.” To do that, it helps to think of the brand as a character you assume. It’s hard to do that authentically without knowing everything about the brand, including its natural way of “speaking,” its values, personality and history. The only way you can do this without coming off as phony, is by reading everything that’s been written about it and talking to the real people behind the brand.

It’s not an indulgent, fact-finding exercise.

It’s important to arm your copywriter with the facts and real insights.  To write effectively, copywriters need to know what they’re talking about. When you’re B.S.’ing, it shows in the jargon and generic, boring copy. Worse yet, it can show in inaccuracies that will turn off prospects. Plus, the more a copywriter knows, the more they are inspired to venture into new territory in developing copy that gets people’s attention, communicates real value and is memorable.

Practical tip #1 – Interview

When people explain themselves verbally, they do it in an honest, natural tone. In a one on one conversation, people take the time to give examples, to speak in understandable terms, they edit less, they don’t overthink, they just answer. I can’t tell you how many times a client will say something once and nail it (and never be able to repeat it the same way).

Practical tip #2 – Ask everything

There are no stupid questions. Ask the basics, like where is this ad going to run and when and what your past advertising efforts looked like. Also ask the not-so-basics. For example, I often ask clients to break down how they provide their service to their clients. Then I listen carefully for interesting and differentiating details about what they do.

Practical tip #3 – Avoid burnout by splitting interviews into sessions.

I’ve found that two hours is about the longest you can go before interviewees start repeating themselves and the one-word answers begin. So I recommend splitting interviews for large projects like complex websites into two or three sessions.

Practical tip #4 – Keep ’em separated.

If you need to talk to more than one person at a company, only interview one person at a time. People will be less inhibited, and you’ll get better answers.

Practical tip #5 – Don’t do a survey.

Interviewing in person is much better than providing clients with a form to fill out. Forms allow cutting and pasting, a rehashing of the same-old same-old. People become self-conscious about how things are written which makes things sound businessy—and they edit out points they think are trivial or too personal. Ironically, this is often the good stuff that differentiates them and prospects will find endearing.

Practical tip #6 – Smile for the recorder.

It’s best to record the interview, but I type notes as I go—just in case there are any technical glitches. My preference is to do interviews over the phone. I use Freeconferencecall.com, which gives you a record option (free of course).

Practical tip #7 – dealing with the please-don’t-use-this’s and I-don’t-want-to-go-into-that’s.

Clients often catch themselves during interviews in this way. I understand. And I always assure clients that they’ll have the final word before any of the things they say are published. However, one of my jobs is to push clients out of their comfort zone. Let’s face it, clients don’t hire a creative writer like me to take dictation. My advantage coming from the outside is that I don’t have the biases that prevent clients from seeing themselves as they really are and really could be.

Avis provides a classic example.

I’m sure the executives resisted coming out and telling people “When you’re only No. 2, you try harder.” But that was the tagline that changed everything for them. It was believable, compelling and endearing all at once. Exactly why we dig deep for truths in the discovery process.

Questions are the answer.

It’s very hard for clients to expand or shift their perceptions of themselves. There’s doubt and bias every inch of the way. But I’ve seen it time and time again: if you’re willing to go where the “discovery process” takes you, new ideas will come from it that can lead to unique positioning and copywriting that your prospects will notice.

If you’re up for a little interrogation and want great work, I’m up for helping. No question. Just call 917-664-1768 or email me.

Make a great big impression with an About Us page that tells a story. 

When you’re 5’7” or so, it sometimes helps to know a few tricks for making yourself seem more imposing than your height allows you. Years ago, my friend Scott came up with a simple solution for when he was driving in questionable neighborhoods. Half-kidding, he demonstrated the “big guy look” to me one day after cutting off a fellow California driver. “Check it out” as he slid six inches up his chair so that his noggin was jutting above the headrest ridiculously. He puffed out the shoulders of his jacket to complete the effect. From the back he probably looked 6’10” and 250 lbs.

If only it were that easy to create an About Us page that could pump up your own organization (without deceiving anyone in the process.) I encounter this challenge all the time when writing websites. What follows are a few pointers for how to portray your outfit as an impressive, cohesive team when the reality is that your numbers aren’t what you wish they were.

Accentuate your positives. My goal in writing an About Us page is to shift the focus to the philosophy, history and ethics that define the organization, rather than the number of people they have on staff or the employment history of the leadership.

Tell a story. Avoid roster deficiencies and talent insecurities altogether by not creating an About Us page that reads like a resume or is comprised of a stack of bios. Instead tell a story. That’s what people read an About Us page for anyway—to know how you got where you are, what experiences influenced you and what values make you so uniquely qualified to satisfy their needs.

Find an interesting hook. Here are a couple of examples from sites I’ve written recently:

• For Memoriis.com, I told the story of the two founding brothers whose revelation during a family vacation inspired their company.
• With TownhousePartners.com, I focused on how the partners’ love for analysis led them to start up a boutique due diligence firm.
• For a third company, I crafted a story about the founder and environmentalist whose urban lifestyle inspired an unprecedented tree care service.

Don’t try to say everything. Just tell what’s important to the story and necessary to demonstrate your organization’s exceptionality and leadership.

“We” versus “I”. If you’re small and have part-time partners you work with (e.g., an admin, accountant, IT person or a copywriter like me) consider using “we” instead of “I”. Why?  It inspires confidence and makes you sound like you’ll be more fun to work with.

Make it an “About You” page. That’s right. I know it’s supposed to be an “About Us” page, but don’t think for a second that readers are on your site for you. It’s always all about them. Tell them how you became the company you are in order to better serve people like them. (It’s true, after all—right?) Be selfless and generous in your About Us page and you’re sure to look like a big guy to your prospects.

Hope this helps, and remember if you need website copywriting that’s big on brand messaging, I’m here to help. 

My time-tested approach for coming up with lots of ideas in a short time frame.

You know, there as a time not too long ago, when clients would actually give you two weeks to come up with concepts for an ad. Yup. One ad, two weeks. These days, you’re lucky if you get two days to work on a banner ad or an e-blast.

I’m not complaining, like most, I’ve accepted the reality and learned to excel with these new parameters. So how do I come up with a ton of good ideas in a super short time frame – and more importantly, how can you?

It’s all about coming up with strategic buckets that guide your thoughts and speed your creative process. Here’s how it works:

1. Create strategic buckets. Think of all the key messages you could communicate. Write down every one that comes to mind. If your project is a B-to-B ad, your buckets might look like this: “saves you time,” “saves you money,” “we have great customer service,” “we’re experts,” and “we’ll make you look good.”
2. Get your buckets in order. Prioritize them.
3. Check your time. When’s your project due? How much time does that give you for ideation? 30 hours? 20 hours? 2 hours?
4. Decide how many you can conceivably do. Each bucket deserves at least 2 hours. On an ad or campaign, I try to spend at least 3 hours on a bucket, although sometimes I have as little as half an hour or as much as 10 hours.
5. Time to work. Develop ideas for one bucket at a time allotting a set amount of time for each one.
6. What about the “coming up with ideas part”? Your job is to find alternate ways of communicating the bucket’s idea. Try it from every angle you can think of. Don’t just do slight rewordings, try visual approaches, metaphors, let your mind go.
7. Stay fresh. I often use a timer to limit myself to an hour per bucket. That forces me to set ideas aside and come back to them with a fresh mind.
8. Keep moving. Move to the next bucket when your allotted time is up or when you hit a lull. Hey, sometimes a bucket just ends up being a dog. It’s a waste of time to force it. So write down what you can—even if they’re bad ideas—and come back to it later.
9. Make the hardest part choosing the best ideas. The biggest benefit of using this bucket approach is that you end up with a wide range of options—never a bad thing.

If you have an ad or campaign coming up, why not give this technique a try? And if the well runs dry for whatever reason, remember I’m here to help. Just call 917-664-1768 or email. 

It’s important for copywriters and designers to present their work in person (or over the phone anyway.)

I encounter almost universal resistance to presenting my work to clients. And just so you know, when I say, “present” I mean read my copy aloud to you over the phone as opposed to just emailing.

I think I understand why. Maybe you don’t want to be rushed or feel like you’re being “sold.” I get it. That’s why I don’t push it when you insist to just email it.

But I do believe that it is better to present, and here’s why:

• Ideas are fragile things. And it’s silly to risk an idea being killed just because of a misunderstanding that could easily be cleared up in person.
• The copy I’m presenting is almost always out of context. In other words, there are no pictures or sound effects (in the case of radio). I can help you visualize the concept if I’m there to explain it.
• My work can’t defend itself. “Ah-ha,” You’re thinking, “But it should stand alone.” Not really. It’s possible to nitpick any copy to death, no matter how good it is.

How I present my work in a best-case scenario.

• I set up a meeting in advance. I try to get somewhere between 20 minutes to a half hour to present a print ad or a landing page. For a website, I need about two hours. And for radio, video or TV, about an hour.
• I do email the copy fifteen minutes or so before our meeting so you can print it out – but no peeking. I know this seems infantile, but trust me, it leads to a much more productive meeting.
• I explain the reason for everything I’ve written, and then I read every word to you.  Is this necessary? Yes. If the copy is important, which it always is (said the copywriter), then we should go through every detail.
• Afterwards, I take your comments. And that’s it.  If you want to think things over and get back to me, that’s fine. At least now you have the context and the details to make good decisions.

Try it this way on your next project, and see what a difference it makes. And if you’re looking for a writer who likes to read, shoot me an email.