Writing, marketing and technology
BBC technology correspondent, Rory Cellan-Jones, reported yesterday that SpinVox was using call centres in South Africa and the Philippines to do much of the work of transcribing voicemail messages instead of the company’s much-vaunted D2 voice-recognition software. The complaint rests on two charges: that the company wasn’t doing what it said it was doing and [...]
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Case studies can help companies win business. We’re in a demand-generation, deal-closing economy and good customer evidence is the laser-guided bomb of marketing. As Writer-in-chief at Articulate Marketing, I write many case studies for different technology companies, including Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and others. Here are ten tips that will help you write and use great case [...]
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Dear Uncle Matthew, People keep sending me ‘friend’ requests on Facebook and LinkedIn. I don’t really want to sign up for these social networking sites because I’m afraid that recruiters and colleagues will be able to look me up and find more about me than I would like. What should I do? Yours sincerely, – [...]
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Hi Uncle Matthew, I found your article How to Write an Efficient Email Press Release very helpful. I was wondering if you had some additional insight into one aspect I am still a little unsure about: What is the etiquette for email follow-ups after emailing a press release? Specifically, if I have emailed you a [...]
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Dear Uncle Matthew I’m wondering how to get my CEO to stop reciting scripted responses. He’s really engaging, intelligent and witty, but has a background in PR and sales. Sometimes his answers come across as an all too blatant sale for the company. The position of PR agent was given to me after working for [...]
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“Bill Gates once asked me, ‘Could you make me more human?’ I said, ‘Being human is overrated.’” This doubly priceless quote comes from Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager. (Hat tip: The Atlantic.) When it comes to writing copy, the human touch is still vital. Here are some tips for making copy that reads like [...]
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I’m starting a new feature on Bad Language – an agony column. This is inspired by guilty pleasure Dear Prudence on Slate. If you have any pressing problems, please send them to me and I’ll do my best to answer them. Feel free to add your own advice and comments to this post. (And Digg [...]
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I watched The Apprentice last night. The task involved presenting ideas for a greetings card to three different card shops. Both teams botched the presentations monumentally. Why? Too formal. Hectoring. Talking but not listening. Too much machismo masking too little self-confidence. Standing up. Humourless. Dependent on the script. Too little preparation. (Probably) too long and [...]
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I was asked to join the advisory board of the UK’s Business Superbrands project. The book just came out and it included this article, which I wrote for them about the use of writing as a branding tool. Regular blog readers will recognise several themes but I enjoyed writing this article for them because it [...]
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Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He edits Golf Hotel Whiskey and writes the Forbes Aviator column.
Check out my new, free eBook, 30 Days to Better Business Writing, 71 pages of expert tips and advice to make you a better writer. Available on Kindle, paper and free online.