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San Diego freelance copywriter Anne McColl shares tips and insights on copywriting, running a small business, marketing trends, writing websites, and design.
I collaborated with Fandom Marketing on New Year's Resolutions for Marketers. Which one of these are you guilty of?
Yes, many of these are based on real life. (Not the cat memes!)
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So what words are you sick of seeing? As a freelance interactive copywriter I've seen enough abuse of the word "curate." Add that one to the list.
Once you get outside of the city, the stars shine crazy bright.
I've been camping in the Anza-Borrego desert since I was 12 years old or so. Now that I have kids of my own who inherited my tiny bladder, I have to wake them up to go to the bathroom every night. (Definitely no fun when it's raining or 34 degrees outside.) But when when we open the tent flap and peer up, we are greeted by the most amazing spectacle of stars. At 2 am, all of the campfires have been put out and there are no lights to compete with the galaxies overhead.
One evening my son Robert asked me, "Mommy, are those stars there all the time?"
"Yes, they are," I answered. "We just turn on so many lights, we drown out the stars."
These days, a lot of people are detached from the night sky. We don't just hang out on the front porch like people did 50 years ago. With TV and air conditioning, we stay indoors. And we miss spectacular sights like this.
The desert has become a wonderful refuge, not just for its natural beauty, but for also what's not available. There’s no Internet connection and no phone reception. No YouTube, Hulu or TV to distract us. At night, we sit in chairs around the campfire and make s'mores. (I'm always the first to fall asleep.) And in the mornings, I read in the tent with the kids before venturing out for hot chocolate.
Isn’t it funny, I have to leave home to spend time with my kids?
It’s so easy to get distracted around the house. The laundry. The Internet. The bills. I’m looking forward to another desert trip over New Year's.
I hope between the hustle and bustle of the holidays, you have time to sit with your loved ones and do absolutely nothing together. Just take the phones and put them in a basket in another room, even if it’s for an hour after dinner.
May your holidays be merry. May they be bright. May they be unplugged.
P.S. How I remember the difference between desert and dessert. You only want one desert, that's one s. Who doesn't want two desserts? That's a double s.
More video fun. I wrote some scripts for videos for eBay that help educate buyers to use eBay more effectively.
I'm loving the way you can make gifs out of Vines. They don't require the user to push play. Insteda, they give you six seconds to tell a quick story or illustrate variety of products, or here, showcase a the work of every third grader in Room 4. (Interactive copywriters are always look for new ways to tell a story beyond words.)
Well, some people try to write a book in a month. Me, I'm an interactive copywriter so I'm pretty sparse with my words—I'm going to write a word a day. Here, they are, my favorite words, one a day.
Words to say more often. https://t.co/FtGKiJzhcv
— Anne McColl (@annemccoll) November 27, 2013
Yep, it's always changing. Remember when AOL was leading edge? And AltaVista? Get ready.
Thank you Internet, it's so much easier to share information. But now there's too many cat videos and insightful quotes floating around, we now we need a filter. This is what I try to remember when I share. (Okay except when it comes to Star Wars.)
_________________________
Happy sharing.
Okay, it’s official, the Pinterestification of the Internet is now complete. Every blog post must have an interesting visual that can be used as an icon to promote it on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and wherever else. So what do you do? Go to iStock and find that highly original target or light bulb like everyone else?
Yawn.
Instead, draw your own. And no, you don't have to be a designer or an artist. You can just be a regular blogger, writer, or copywriter.
Who me? Yes, you, seriously. Grab a Sharpie. Draw on a stickie. Snap a shot. Upload. You’re done.
Here are two people who sketch their own visuals with style.
Shelly Bowen is the simply amazing principal of Pybop, a content strategy consultancy. Go ahead and take a look at the Pybop (which stands for Put Your Brains on Paper) blog page. See what a consistent look and feel they create. And Shelly spends $0 on visuals!
Amber Rae is a one-woman powerhouse and CEO of the Bold Academy, an accelerator program that teaches would-be entrepreneurs and creatives how keep it real, take risks, and boldly pursue that which they feel called to do. Her Ambergrams capture her bold way of thinking and are often snapshots of her Moleskine musings. Her sketches were even used in a Fast Company profile.
It’s impressive how a diagram and just a few words can communicate so much.
Do you know anyone else who scribbles their blog post visuals? Let me know!
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At Hera Hub, the co-working space I've been working out of for the past two years, they have weekly roundtable discussions call Business Boosters. This week I led a workshop called Creative Cocktail at each of the three Hera Hub locations in Mission Valley, Sorrento Valley and Carlsbad.The premise: a creative copywriter asks is it really like Mad Men where you drink 3 martinis and then write great ads? In this class I led an exercise how to think visually and how to mix hooks for creativity.
Of course, I made a promo video.
In a highly publicized move, Yahoo! redesigned their logo with design efforts led by CEO Marissa Mayer. She says in an article in Ad Age:
"On a personal level, I love brands, logos, color, design, and, most of all, Adobe Illustrator. I think it's one of the most incredible software packages ever made. I'm not a pro, but I know enough to be dangerous :) So, one weekend this summer, I rolled up my sleeves and dove into the trenches with our logo design team"
Obviously, Yahoo didn't design their new logo in-house because of economic reasons.
Oops. I forgot to add in the price of pizza.
See a big version here.
The UXSpeakeasy group consistently has great programming (and beer.). This month's event covered how to cultivate a design culture and featured Chuck Longanecker of digital-telepathy. The event was held in their new space that formed housed one of my favorite places, the Hive. Chuck shared how digitial-telepathy has evolved over the years. What's a design culture? It's more than having a foosball table or lunches on Friday. It starts at the top and engages every aspect of the company.
This was a challenging session to sketchnote, so much wonderful information coming out at once. Graphic facilitator extraordiaire/Stick Figure Strategist Jeannel King was also there and sketched. I glanced over her shoulder and it was fun to see how differently we interpreted the material. I asked her for suggestions on how to represent Soul. (She is amazing because she uses marker and pen while I do more with the iPad.)
See the big version here.
What's the most cliched stock photo out there? The smiling call center girl? The business men shaking hands. Or the bullseye arrow? Yep, I'm taking up with archery. I shot the arrows. I shot the picture. But I don't think I'm going to use it as a visual to illustrate on target marketing.
Some words of wisdom on how to approach business — and life.
A presentation I gave as a freelance copywriter at the Art Institute San Diego.
A freelance copywriter asks what is the best way to promote Shark Week.
The San Diego Ad Club sponsored an interesting forum on creativity and agencies. Is creativity still king?
In a short word, yes.
There's more people producing sites and video and blog posts. More volume. More crap. It's easier than ever for a great idea to stand out, if only people see it.
However, the days of a copywriter and art director going off to a room to concept for a week are over. This whole working in a silo has to end.
But on the other hand, someone has to steward the idea through production. Creative by committee tends to produce watered-down ideas.
What's your experience?
Social Media Marketing World hosted by the folks at Social Media Examiner came to town for a few days. I created sketchnotes and sketch tweets during the sessions and tweeted them out. All visuals were created on the fly using the iPad and Brushes and Over apps. One surprising theme – don't discount your email list. It will be the most profitable.
