Few things make a content developer (aka writer) happier than a complete product messaging roadmap. For details, see What the Writer Wants from a Product Messaging Document. We know that content development and review cycles will be smooth sailing if there’s a well-developed product messaging map at the start. But as with any rule, there’s an exception […]
freelance writing
Freelance horror stories: Undead projects
Here’s the latest installment in my “freelance horror stories” – “undead” projects. If you’re a freelancer, you know that these are frighteningly real. And if you hire freelancers, this may help you understand that fleeting look of fear when you first start working with a freelancer – we live in a dangerous world. The Zombie: […]
The true costs of freelance writing projects
In a tight economy, some companies try to save money on writing projects by outsourcing to other countries, or by using sites like Elance to find inexpensive freelancers. A recent MarketingProfs article discussed the challenges of using sites like Elance. Outsourcing can be a false economy. A friend told me recently that her company was […]
Content templates pit consistency against creativity
Is it a good idea to create content templates for marketing collateral? Or do they stifle creativity and create boring papers and web pages? I’m not talking about Word templates or formatting templates. I’m referring to writer’s guidelines that indicate how a piece should be structured, how long sections should be, and so on. Templates […]
How to ask a writer for a white paper
I love it when a client asks me to write a white paper. But I am even happier when we both understand exactly what kind of white paper they want. There are as many different types of white papers as there are buyers and products. I wrote about this a while ago: When is a […]
Ghost blogging: who’s behind that byline?
photo © 2006 twitter.com/mattwi1s0n | more info (via: Wylio) I distinctly remember the first time I learned that the quotes in press releases weren’t actually spoken by the people to whom they were attributed. I was a naïve college student, an English literature major entranced with Jane Austen and 20th century British comedic writing. I […]
