Does money matter that much?
Money is necessary, natch
How to run a business when it’s been derailed
I really feel for my small business clients. I used to run a coffee shop with my sister and before that I set up and ran a delicatessen. Many businesses rely on Christmas trade. In the final week leading up to Christmas, I used to take my normal...
How to brief your copywriter
Copywriting from a client perspective A written brief is the most important thing you need to give your copywriter. This is detailed plan of what you need. But it can’t be produced off the top of your head – even though you think you know...
My most popular page isn’t what I thought
I’ve been looking at my Google Analytics for my website and an interesting thing is the most popular page after my landing page. It’s not one of my carefully crafted blog posts or the scintillating page about web copy. No...
Copywriting and kindness
‘…His little, nameless, unremembered, acts of kindness and of love.’ I first read those words by Wordsworth when I was studying for my English A level. It’s a long poem and he does bang on a bit, but that line has stayed with me...
Toodle Pip and taking a risk
Do you know what ‘toodle pip’ means, or can you hazard a guess? If you are a certain age (old) you probably do. But in your twenties? I’m not so sure. My daughter knew, but she’s well-read. I’ve just asked my son, who...
Search engine optimisation – what’s it all about?
People tend to fall into two camps with search engine optimisation (SEO): those who think it’s the most important thing ever and those who will have nothing to do with it. Firstly, what is it? Search engine optimisation means making the most of...
Menu writing optimisation
About your restaurant menu You run a busy restaurant with a million and one things to do, but… Has someone been tasked specifically with your menu writing? Is your menu doing its job properly and enticing your customers? Is it nudging...
My top ten website fails
My website 101 contenders
SEO and social media
SEO is often sold as a mysterious dark art that needs a specialist team to tackle it, like it’s the enemy. You must get those scary emails all the time: ‘What about your SEO?” “Wanna be No 1 on Google?” There are two main aspects to...
Ghostwriting | Interviews | Case studies
Ghostwriting What a shame ghostwriting doesn’t mean I get paid to jump out at people from behind a tree with a notepad and pen in hand. Ghostwriting is when you want someone to write something as if you have. Celebrities often use a ghostwriter...
Web copy
“The single most important ingredient in a commercial website is web copy …no amount of cool graphics, interactive bells and whistles, cutting-edge design, or sophisticated ecommerce infrastructure could ever compare to the selling...