I don’t believe in charging hourly rates for my work. First of all, real value can’t be measured in hours – only in quality and results. Paying hourly rates for creative work is upside-down and counterproductive. Sometimes they’re even a ripoff for the client. Suppose you needed heart surgery. Would you shop around for the …
R.I.P. Cringe-worthy buzzwords
INC. Magazine is out with “15 Business Buzzwords We Don’t Want to Hear.” As a copywriter and lover of language, I agree that these buzz babies might have been fresh and vibrant once, but that time has passed. Now they’re like fingernails screeching across a chalkboard.* Is your favorite pet peeve among the words that …
Four magic words that will transform your marketing
“I can help you.” Simple, isn’t it? Your prospective customers don’t need more information. Chances are, they’re drowning in information. And they sure don’t want a sales pitch. What they really want is advice. Guidance. Expert help from someone they know and trust. Someone who has demonstrated that s/he understands their problem or need, and …
Twitter update: They like me, they really like me!
Despite a LOT of initial skepticism, I have been tweeting for exactly one week now, squeezing it in between my client work — and trying to resist the temptation to do it ALL the time. It’s really fun! Here’s an update. I have attracted 65 followers in those seven days. That’s amazing to me, since …
Is Twitter good for finding leads?
How would I know? I’m a complete Twitterookie. (Twookie?) Seriously, lots of smart people are extremely enthusiastic about its ability to find, attract and influence prospective customers. Today John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing offers a guide to Mining Leads on Twitter, focusing on utilizing Twitter’s advanced search tools. “Advanced search is where the real …
Ignore customer's attitudes. Change their behavior.
Changing customer attitudes is a difficult and expensive proposition under the best of circumstances, and this ain’t them,” says ad agency president Sharon Krinsky in a delightfully snarky blog called The Ad Contrarian. For the time being, she says ignore your ad agency’s brand babble and focus on giving your customer a practical reason to …
World’s Shortest, Easiest Business Plan
With corporations hemorrhaging jobs, it’s no surprise that interest in self-employment is skyrocketing. For me, personally, a pink slip was just the motivation I needed to get off my ass and finally start a business of my own. All you newly unemployed are finally realizing the ugly truth: that having 100% of your income coming …