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Big business makes big mistakes

And the bigger they are…

It’s that time of year again: Christmas is a distant memory, you can’t shed those extra pounds and the credit card bills are rolling in.

Luckily, there’s always someone else with bigger problems. And Fortune magazine has assembled the 101 Dumbest Moments in Business to cheer you up.

It’s a romp through the

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January 25th, 2008 | Category: Education, Ideas, Language, Marketing, Philosophy, Writing | One comment

Make your message crystal-clear every time

You understand it – but do they?

When I was walking in the centre of Cambridge recently, I saw this sign.

My Greek isn’t up to much, but if I dredge the silty waters of my schooldays, I can just about get my head around the Latin. And when I worked it out, I chuckled to myself.

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January 18th, 2008 | Category: Communication, Copywriting | Leave a comment

Under-promise, over-deliver. Result? Happiness.

Forget the hype – in the end, it’s results that count

I decided to have my living room and dining room carpeted, so I contacted two companies.

One was huge, national and had a very slick website. The other was small, local and had no website.

The big chain had a unique offering: a home service, where a

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January 11th, 2008 | Category: Customer service, Marketing, Service | Leave a comment

How to write a brief (the easy way)

Throw away the template and get the job done faster

A while back, I was contacted by somebody who wanted their newsletter revamped.

They sounded very organised – they’d put together a detailed briefing document, which they’d send across ASAP.

Could I look through it and give them an idea of time and cost? Sure, I said.

The document

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January 4th, 2008 | Category: Copywriting | Leave a comment