How to improve customer service with two questions

Small businesses, especially those run by one person like mine, can get so involved in the nitty-gritty of producing the goods that they forget to ask clients two important questions that will help improve customer service:

What do you think I do well?
What could I do better?

They’re important questions if you want to improve […]

By |October 1st, 2018|Customer service, Editing, Marketing communications, Writing|Comments Off on How to improve customer service with two questions

Scrabble dictionary adds new word ‘ew’

Scrabble players know only too well how language changes. So, it’s no surprise to see slang terms in the words that Merriam-Webster added to the US Scrabble dictionary today.

For the first time, US players can use words like ‘twerking’ – to dance by shaking the buttocks. The dictionary now contains ‘ew’, as well, which means […]

By |September 25th, 2018|Writing|Comments Off on Scrabble dictionary adds new word ‘ew’

Brief encounter: how writers get it right first time

A guide to writing a decent brief for your copywriter.
By |August 1st, 2016|Business communicators, Copywriting, Corporate Communications, Creative brief, Customer service, Employee communications, Great words, Internal Communications, Writing|Comments Off on Brief encounter: how writers get it right first time

Writing about COPD: when experience helps

Professional writers can write with authority about subjects they know little about. But if you’re asked to write about issues with a personal connection they can really get the story-telling juices flowing.

I knew about respiratory disorders before I started writing about COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in press releases and brochures for GCE Healthcare last […]

By |January 29th, 2016|Copywriting, Writing|Comments Off on Writing about COPD: when experience helps

Interviewing Jeremy Corbyn

When Jeremy Corbyn won the Labour Party leadership yesterday and was serenaded by Billy Bragg, how many others were transported back, like me, to the rebellious mid 1980s?

I studied for a media studies degree at the Polytechnic of Central London (PCL) from 1983 to 1986. The Conservatives were in power and Mrs Thatcher was prime […]

By |September 13th, 2015|Journalism, Media, Writing|1 Comment

Good stories write their own headlines

Improve your chances of writing a good headline by refreshing your approach to common internal comms stories.
By |October 27th, 2011|Company newsletters, Employee communications, Headline writing, Internal Communications, Writing|Comments Off on Good stories write their own headlines

How to damage your brand in one paragraph

What word comes into your head when you read terrible copywriting like this?
By |July 8th, 2011|Copywriting, Howlers, Typos, Writing|5 Comments

Two ways to write a style guide

Should organisations write their own style guides or use a national newspaper's? Discover why two ways of approach a style guide is better than none.

10 tips for keeping corporate communications projects on track

Ensure a big corporate communications writing project doesn't run off the rails by following these 10 tips for managing the process.

School essay errors make wrotten reading

Recommended reading if you like wordplay, grammatical mistakes, puns and howlers: Wrotten English by Peter Haining (Portico Books).
By |May 5th, 2011|Great words, Howlers, Typos, Writing|Comments Off on School essay errors make wrotten reading