You too could have a waffle-free
newsletter like this!
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"Don't give away the shop." That's what they say (who are 'they' anyway?). The received wisdom is to give hints and tips that tell people what to do but not how to do it. It's a piece of advice I've not taken for this newsletter. I share everything I know to help you do it yourself. That's because I'm a trainer as well as a writer. We work together on the first three issues, I share my knowledge and ideas with you, then you can do future issues yourself. Of course you can continue to use me for all your copywriting needs if you prefer, or don't have the time, or lack the confidence to do it yourself. What's the damage?
£99 optional one-off design/setup fee +
£99 copywriting fee per issue (includes training on how to DIY in future) + Constant Contact membership from $15 per month. Minimum contract 3 issues.
Sign up through Comms Plus and get $30 dollar credit on your Constant Contact membership. |
What the People Say
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"Jackie's website made such a huge impression on me that I had to see
her speak at the 12.30 networking group, a group I
hadn't attended for nearly 2 years! She didn't disappoint, such simple
ideas and yet so effective!! Thank you for crossing my path, excellent
free advice on your website - I'm not letting you get away now!!!"
Anna Gillett, Anna Gillett Recruitment
More reviews at:
Which Web Design Company
The Best Of Bromley
Review me at:
WeCanDo.Biz
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Really useful links
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Quick Links
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Free resources and fun stuff on my website
What we can learn from UK advertising at my Bad Ads blog
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Greetings!
As you can see, Writing Without Waffle is now HTML (graphic). I kept it plain text for a long time, as my brand is all about simplicity. But more people now have broadband and many readers have told me they like a few visuals with the newsletter. Please let me know if you'd prefer a plain text version and I'll change your preferences in my mailing list for next month and beyond. Jackie |
Why site hits don't matter
It's good practice to track your web stats to monitor the performance of your website. Although the most important measure is the number of visitors it converts into customers, you can use the information to redesign the site and make it more effective.
In the early days of web design, many people added a visible hit counter to their websites and got all excited to watch the numbers mount up. Some sites still have them, and it strikes me as amateur.
There are a couple of reasons why. One is that visitors to the site who see a low number of site hits think it's a measure of low popularity and are inclined to click away. And the other is that hits don't tell you how many people are viewing your web pages.
Every file sent to a browser by a web server counts as an individual 'hit'. So if a web page includes 19 items including text and images, it counts as 20 hits (including one for the HTML file).
It is more useful to monitor 'page views', that is each time a visitor views a page on your site (a 'visitor' is the browser of a human being).
You may also look at 'site visits' to tell you when someone or something (such as a search engine robot) visits your site. This number comprises one or more page views/hits. One visitor can have many visits to your site.
Google Analytics is free, and a great way of measuring your webstats.
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Definitive Definitions
You know I'm a copywriter (you do, right?). You know 'copy' is the name given to any text that is written for print or screen? You may not know I originally trained as a journalist (it's one of the reasons that newsletters are among my favourite things, the other is because they work!). You may enjoy the following cutting I found in a scrapbook I compiled soon after leaving journalism training college all those years ago. It's by Ernest Bracken and shows how things have changed (or not)!
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The following definitions may help newcomers to industrial editing to find their way around the bewildering jargon that we use in the trade.
Sub-editing. This rare and hard-won skill requires the sub-editor to be totally in tune with the way that the author's mind is working, identifying the paragraphs of which he is most proud, and deleting them.
Management clearance. This has a similar result to sub-editing, except that the deleted paragraphs are replaced with copy in which the company or brand name is mentioned in every line.
Rough copy. Six pages of indeciperable scrawl.
Clean copy. Two pages of typing errors.
Photo-copy. A smudgy black document upon which it may or may not be just possible to discern some words.
Journalistic licence. Sometimes expressed as 'I couldn't read my notes, so I just guessed'.
Writer's block. A sudden and uncontrollable attack of bone idelness. Sufferers from writer's block have been known to turn towards Shakespeare for inspiration.
Shakespeare. A public house in Great Marlborough Street, London, W1.
Gifted amateur. Illiterate schoolboy.
Final copy deadline. The date on which you have to sit down at the typewriter and start producing copy.
Press day. The date on which you have to start chasing the chairman for his message to employees.
Chairman. An invaluable layout aid. Photos of same can serve as an anchor for virtually every page of every issue.
Layout. The art of drawing lots of squiggles on a large pad, then telling the editor to lose 800 words.
Photographs. A useful aid to editors. Used large, they eliminate the need to write great quantities of copy.
Heading. A short piece of clever-dick copy that draws attention to an incidental piece of information buried somewhere in the second half of the story.
Cross-headings. See 'photographs' above.
Photo-cropping. The art of trimming a photograph in such a way as to remove, from the left-hand side of the picture, the person who was fired last week.
Editorial committee. A body of people whose function is to suggest, at regular intervals, that the paper should run a recipe page.
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On a Personal Note
As you may know, I'm an associate trainer with Kent Trainers. The next course I am running for them is Increase Sales through Effective Marketing on 21 May at Chilston Park. It's a fun-packed day full of commonsense advice you can apply in your business immediately. Please quote Comms Plus when you book.
You may also know I'm on the founding committee of a new non-profit creative community for Bromley. Who do you know that's in the commercial arts, fine arts or performing arts and would like to win more business? Basic membership is free, and premium membership is only £57p.a. for businesses or £27p.a. for sole traders (free for affiliate members, registered charities, voluntary and amateur arts sector). It could prove a great way to boost the success of creatives in the Borough.
And finally, if you want to know more about social media marketing (AKA online networking), I am giving an introductory overview at 1230 The Women's Company in Croydon on 5 May and at Bromley Business Club on 14 May. I'm using PowerPoint - but not as you know it! Here's what one of the delegates said last time:
"I loved the presentation, the crispness of it all and so few words! You explained the idea of the networking sites brilliantly. Thank you, I gained so much out of your presentation."
Karen Bashford
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