The Review section of Saturday’s Guardian newspaper has a short column called ‘The books that made me.’  Interviewed for it in December 2020, the journalist Craig Brown said The Quest for Corvo had ‘opened his mind to the underused tricks available to writers of non-fiction’.  It’s rather an extraordinary book, and has an unusual structure.  But if I understood what Brown was referring to, here are 13 of its ‘tricks’. They teach us lessons...

Research your Keywords – 5 Great Websites Answer the Public – Great for generating ideas for your next blog Google Ads Planner – Keyword finder Keyword Shitter – Get help with your keywords (Excuse the French) Search Console – Analyse your website/blog SEMRush – Compare yourself against competitor websites/blogs 2 Websites to Build Backlinks & Up your Digital ‘PR’ Ahrefs – Grow your...

We encourage you to consider using a professional copywriter to draft the text for your new website.  Here are eight reasons why, connected with the written content and the production process : WRITING Correct perspective – Being external to your business, a copywriter will see things from the perspective of one of your customers, not one of your staff.  So there’ll be better able to describe your service/product, and its benefits, and...

It is is not easy to get the right tone of voice – for example to politely decline when we are asked to go somewhere, do something, or be at a certain place and at a certain time.     At times like these, many of us are overcome by guilt and responsibility.  We feel we really ought to say ‘Yes’ … but really, we want to say ‘No’.    How can you avoid feeling guilty?  How can you say ‘No’?   Here...

Clear and effective written communication is an essential requirement of any business – be it for reports and proposals, press releases, marketing brochures, websites, or even everyday jobs such as email and letters. The cost of poor writing is miscommunication, but also lost business opportunities, and a damaged company image and reputation. Good writing isn’t as hard as writing in a foreign language, but there are some essential skills for...

‘Hard Brexit’, ‘Max-fac’, ‘Passporting’ … What do they mean, and do they mean the same to all of us? Hum. These Brexit terms are a reminder that using unfamiliar and undefined jargon runs the risk of confusing and annoying customers. And they can also be interpreted differently by staff. If you give instructions to ‘reach out’, for example, are you telling staff to speak to an organisation, invite them to a meeting, or form a partnership with...