The Write Blog

The Money Question: Should You Include Prices in Your Marketing Materials?

Michelle — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:04:49 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Should businesses include prices on their marketing materials, landing pages, websites, etc? One school of thought says no – get customers in the door with free offers or discounted pricing, then, once they understand the value of the product or service, hit them up with the prices. That theory can [...]

AP Style FAQs: Part 2

Stephanie — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:15:40 +0000

Last week, we kicked off a mini-series of AP Stylebook-themed blog posts. This week, we’re sharing a few more gems of wisdom from The AP Stylebook Online. Q: What’s the rule for capitalizing a person’s title? A: It’s complicated, but here are the basics: AP defines a formal title as “one [...]

Screenwriters and Web 2.0: Talentville.com

Michelle — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:38:59 +0000

Since the very beginning of blogging (I’m talking Livejournal and DiaryLand days), writers have been using the web to showcase their talent and get their names out into the world. Then came socialnetworking: The now-obsolete Makeout Club and Friendster. Myspace. And the most popular kid on the block, Facebook. Now entrepreneurs are [...]

AP Style FAQs: Part 1

Stephanie — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 20:20:26 +0000

Does “city-wide” need a hyphen? If you’re writing about a sculpture, should you italicize the title, or put it in quotation marks? The truth is, there’s no right answer. In most cases, style choices like this can vary from client to client. But what do you do when your client has [...]

Daily Lit-erary Therapy in Your Inbox

Michelle — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:17:26 +0000

Good writers are generally voracious readers (feel free to challenge me on that claim if you want!). For a writer, reading is just like warming up and stretching your brain before you sprint into a new project. Here’s my favorite way to get a little reading time in throughout the day (which also doubles as [...]

Positive vs. Negative Marketing . . . and Gamefly’s “Bad Game” TV Spot

Stephanie — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:35:08 +0000

So, Gamefly.com has been running this ad lately. Check it out: People buy bad video games. They freak out, realizing that they’ve purchased bad video games. They continue to freak out, ostensibly because they’re stuck with their bad video games (and out the 50 to 60 bucks they paid for them). The [...]

Simple Proofreading Process with a Big Name: Ratiocination

Wintress — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:06:47 +0000

Thanks to Alise Isbell for contributing this wonderful post on a very interesting proofreading method. You’re bound to catch more errors if you do this! Ratiocination is a miracle that changed the way I write and edit. While not a professional writer, my company trains people how to write more effectively, and ratiocination [...]

Eight Proofreading Mistakes that Count!

Stephanie — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 15:55:36 +0000

Image via Wikipedia How’s this for a proofreading horror story: Because of a teeny little typo, people calling for a free cab service on New Year’s Eve ended up connecting with an “adult” chat line instead. Oops. That’s the kind of mistake that most likely ends in a lost client and a very, [...]

Why You Should Be Googling Yourself: 3 Tips for Online Reputation Management

Michelle — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:30:11 +0000

Image via Wikipedia A lot of marketers will tout the benefits of social media marketing for businesses: You’ve probably heard that businesses actually have two different reputations, online and offline. The same goes for individuals – everyone who’s a member of a social networking site has an online presence. When dealing with the Internet, you [...]

Ten Words to Learn How to Spell in 2010

Michelle — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:11:50 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife Make any resolutions this year? I’m going to propose you make one more: Polish your emails. Write flawless notes. Look smarter. Check out this hilarious cartoon on The Oatmeal’s site, Ten Words You Need to Stop Misspelling. It outlines some of the most commonly misspelled [...]