Why the Hunger Walk?
•    Due to the current economic climate, Georgia’s unemployment rate increased from 6.2% in July 2007 to nearly 10% today.
•    According to the USDA, close to 13% of Georgia households are food insecure, meaning they do not have consistent access to enough food to cover their basic nutritional needs.
•    Globally, the United Nations estimates more than 1 billion people will experience hunger this year.

Since 1984, the Hunger Walk has brought attention to the issue of global and local hunger.  This year, funds raised from the event will benefit the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Episcopal Charities Foundation, Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Lutheran Services of Georgia, Presbyterian Answer to Hunger and St. Vincent de Paul Society.

At Copy Write Consulting, we believe that small changes can make a huge difference.  For example, take a look at this sentence that was forwarded to me years ago in an e-mail, where would you put the comma?

•    “Woman without her man is nothing.”

The e-mail goes on to explain how all the men in the room wrote: “Woman, without her man, is nothing.”  While all the women wrote: “Woman, without her, man is nothing.”  See how small changes can make a huge difference?  (Yeah, I am a copywriter, of course I was going to find a way to bridge grammar and hunger!)

If you are interested in supporting the Copy Write Consulting team, your donations are tax-deductible (to the extent allowed by the law).

For more information about the hunger walk, visit: http://www.hungerwalkrun.org.

As the promotional element of the four Ps of marketing (price, place, promotion, and product), the objective of marketing communications is to strategically manage the reputation of a company’s services or products.

On a tactical level, marketing communications may use advertising, public relations, online marketing, graphic design, social media, branding, and/or direct marketing in order to target a particular audience and achieve a specific outcome.

You are the hero of your story.

Your marketing communications story should present a need or concern that is important to your clients and offer your product or services as the ideal solution.  The goal of your story is to capture your target market’s attention, hold their interest, arouse their desire for your product or service, and result in your desired action (i.e. buy our toothpaste or call us for more information).

Whenever possible, your story should be told using:

• Language and symbols, such as pictures and logos, for visual learners;
• Concepts and concrete examples, such as anecdotal stories, for contextual learner; and
• Facts and feelings, such as statistics, for analytical learners.

You will need to tell your story over and over again to maintain awareness of your product or service.  You will need to tell your story using as many communication vehicles as possible, such as presentations, social media, press releases, and your website.

Don’t forget communication is a two-way street.  It is important to listen to what your customers are saying about you, your products, and your services.  Use that information to determine the effectiveness of your marketing communications strategy, to identify the core needs of your target audiences, and to build relationships with your customers.

(Download the complete Marketing Communications 101 white paper)

If you haven’t had a chance to do so yet, I highly recommend TED.com, you can find amazing presentations by some very intelligent, passionate, and thoughtful leaders from all industries (how about that for reality TV?).

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

In response, I glared at him with a jaundiced eye until he slithered away.  I don’t take kindly to people who speak negatively about my beloved Kindle.  However, all weekend long I kept wondering whether he was right.

My conclusion: the Kindle and the iPad have distinct target markets.  The Kindle is for avid readers.  The iPad is for avid technology geeks.  There are some avid readers who are also avid tech geeks – this is where iPad has a really strong chance of stealing market share from Kindle.

But, what about us bookworms?  Well, based on my (very) unscientific research, we bookworms not only love stories but we also love the books themselves.  We like to feel the weight of the book in our hands, we like the smell of the pages, we admire the book jacket.  Most of us purchased a Kindle, not so much because we wanted to usher in the technology age, but rather because we needed to find room in our homes for our spouses, children, and pets.

Our Kindle allows us to never run out of books, even after our personal libraries are filled to capacity, when we are on a business trip, while we are on vacation, or even when we are waiting for our doctor’s appointment.

Thanks to the Kindle, we bookworms can function in modern society and consume our daily obsessions without hindering the lives of the people we love the most.  Do you know how many relationships were nearly destroyed by the innocent question, “Do you really read all of those books?”

The Kindle is a vital survival tool.  And, as long as bookworms roam the earth, the Kindle will never die.

A skilled copywriter is a business investment.

Why?

1) They Write Better

You are a talented, charming, and well-spoken business person who has successfully communicated your ideas to your family, friends, and potential investors.  However, writing is more complicated than face-to-face communication. Copywriters know how to build and expand your brand by choosing the right tone, words, and medium to communcate your message.

2) They Free Up Your Schedule

You know the long hours you spent agonizing on how to word your brochure or what information you should make available on your Web site? Copywriters do that work for you, in less time, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.

3) They are more than wordsmiths

A skilled copywriter writes with the audience and your desired end result in mind. They are part researcher, part social scientist, and part technology expert.  They research and study their target audience as well as various communication channels.  In addition, many copywriters have experience working in public relations and advertising agencies.  As a result, they are able to provide you with advice on your marketing and branding strategy.

Whether you want a press release, brochure, blog entries, or new content for your Web site, I strongly recommend you hire a copywriter.

What do you think? Is a skilled copywriter a luxury or business investment?

Of course, when you are growing up, no one tells you that you can make a living as a writer. Best-selling novelists and Tony award-winning playwrights are the literary equivalent of NBA players. Sure, we may be able to bring a piece of them into our home, but we will never get the chance to live their life.

So, as a responsible eldest child, I went off to college, earned two degrees and began working through the ranks of the public relations/marketing communications field.

At work, I was a creative and strategic marketing communications professional.  Everywhere else, I was a phenomenal writer.

I scribbled poems in meetings.  Wrote short stories on my lunch break.  Documented my life in countless journals.  Came up with taglines in the shower.  Imagined entire screenplays during my daily commute.

After years of living a double life, I finally decided to merge them together by creating Copy Write Consulting.

I write. I edit. I connect you with your target market.

This is my blog. I look forward to your comments.