Author Archives: Tom McKay

A copywriter’s job is to inform and explain the features and benefits of your client’s goods or services, to persuade a prospect to buy (or at least to move him/her along to the next step in the sales cycle). So when we get an appointment with a prospect, it’s not surprising that our tendency is […]

“That man is successful who has lived well,laughed often, and loved much,who has gained the respect of the intelligent menand the love of children;who has filled his niche and accomplished his task;who leaves the world better than he found it,whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem,or a rescued soul;who never lacked appreciation of earth’s […]

Traditional journalism writing uses the so-called “inverted pyramid” format. Basically, that means starting off (i.e., your “lead”) with the most important information, and putting the less important stuff farther down the page. In fact, the best way to get yelled at by an editor is to “bury the lead,” i.e., not leading off with the […]

Maybe that’s not ALL you need, but communications skills sure do grease the rails. Michael Hyatt of Working Smart says responsiveness is a big part of getting ahead. When someone shoots you an email, he says, respond quickly — even if all you have time to say is, “I got your message. I’ll get back […]

Due to some serious family emergencies, a crushing workload, and the holidays, this blog kind of fell off the radar screen for a while. I’m back now, and hopefully I’ll do a little better at posting. Thanks for your patience.

Good writing demands clear thinking. In my experience as a journalist, copywriter and technical writer, I’ve learned that it’s impossible to write about something unless you know it inside and out, forward and backward. I’m not talking about writing stories, screenplays or poetry. I’m talking about business writing — writing to inform, explain, persuade, motivate […]

They don’t use them themselves, mind you. But about 59% of CEOs surveyed said they think blogs can be useful for internal communications. Another 47% think they’re useful for communicating with external audiences, according to a study conducted by PRWeek and Burson-Marsteller. Only 7% of the 131 CEOs surveyed are actually blogging themselves, and only […]