INKWELL Copywriting, Ghostwriting, PR

To inspire a greater love of words, in business and in life

26 is a writers' collective, a group of writers that have a common love of words, and their use in business and in life.

I am happy to be one of them.

The group has created some great writing projects.

26 Flavours of Cornwall matched 26 writers with 26 designers and 26 foods from the west country.

26 Treasures matched 26 museum pieces with 26 writers at the V&A, the National Museum of Scotland, the Ulster Museum, and the National Library of Wales.

26 Malts created new whisky labels with 26 writers and 26 designers.

Throwaway Lines is the latest project - 26 stories created from a diverse collection of handwritten notes found on London's streets over the last couple of years by Andy Hayes. It is curently being uploaded here. Expect one from me some time over the next 26 days.

And if you have not worked out why we are called 26, you probably haven't recited your alphabet lately.

Outsourced copywriting solves a problem

I fulfilled an interesting 15-month contract copywriting for a Manchester-based consortium of social housing organisations called GM Procure (now rebranded as Procure Plus).

It entailed writing internal reports, newsletter stories, member interviews, brochures, conference materials, press releases, rewriting the website and anything else that required some well chosen words.

The consortium handled procurement worth hundreds of millions of pounds each year but seemed to run it quite frugally, with very few staff who had very little time. The solution was to contract out the work to Inkwell.

Similar organisations might have hired someone in-house for the tasks I performed. So if you need quality copywriting in your organisation but cannot justify hiring another member of staff, give me a call.

Lancashire Copywriter Sure Enough

Sure Events venue finders and event management specialists based in Lancashire came to Inkwell copywriting when they required some punchy copy for their new website.

Theirs is a fiercely competitive field so keywords and Google search terms are crucial to potential customers finding them on the internet.

They came to a Lancashire copywriter with years of experience writing targeted copy that not only describes their operation and explains their offer but also satisfies the needs of the search engines.

To be sure of dynamic copy that persuades, explains, encourages action and is good for your business, call Inkwell Copywriting. 

Copywriter WLTM Gobbledegook for Long Term Relationship

If there's one thing Inkwell does well (people have told me), it's translating gobbledegook into plain English.

Not that this client speaks gobbledegook, but to many people outside his rarefied field of work the language they use is quite opaque: Application Performance Management, anybody?

Anasis needed a series of case studies that gave clear examples of their expertise - all copywritten with the usual Inkwell precision (and working under a tight deadline). 

They also required a closely-targeted follow-up letter written to potential clients who visited their stand at an industry exhibition.

If you need words to persuade, convince, illuminate and earn their keep - on the page or on the screen - give me a call. 

Crash Blossoms even UK Copywriters and Editors Cannot Avoid

There is a term for a headline that can easily be misunderstood by the reader - a Crash Blossom. It comes from this headline from 2009:

Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms

The story is actually about a violinist whose career has prospered since her father's death in a Japan Airlines crash. But it could mean that the violinist was linked to crash blossoms - what on earth are crash blossoms?

Here are a few more mentioned by Simon Hoggart in his Saturday column in The Guardian:

Children sent to Australia to get Brown apology

Tories join talks on high speed line

Female binge drinker arrests rocket

Crowds rushing to see pope trample 6 to death

and my favourite, although I suspect the sub editor knew what s/he was doing when writing a story about the former Labour leader leading an organisation concerned with military equipment:

Foot head arms body

Sometimes sub editors can't think of anything for a headline ...

UK Copywriter Provides Support

Building, maintenance, renovation and fit-out services company mbmc wanted some copy tightening up for a glossy brochure - so they turned to a top UK copywriter to get the job done quickly and inexpensively.

Their terrific work is best described with photography, which is why the copy is playing a supporting role.

The whole brochure Download MBMC Company Brochure 2009 (low res)

Shout... shout... let it all out! Lancashire copywriter gets heard.

I've been doing a few copywritten features lately for a very successful Lancashire-based community website and business directory - SHOUT Preston. The outfit is involved in all sorts of business support activities from networking clubs to event management, from business listings to community magazines.

A lot of Shout's clients appreciate the value in using a copywriter from Lancashire to express their business offer in plain English.

Check them out.

Plain English Day - copywriters' day off!

Plain English is what I strive for at Inkwell PR. My own rule of thumb is that if a client or customer has to read something twice it probably fails the plain English test.

Although we all have off days, I have never produced anything close to this piece of prose which has won the 2009 Golden Bull Award for gobbledegook. It comes from the website of the Department of Health about preventing disease ...

"Primary secondary and tertiary prevention.
Primary prevention includes health promotion and requires action on the determinants of health to prevent disease occurring. It has been described as refocusing upstream to stop people falling in the waters of disease."

Lancashire copywriter thankfully does not suffer from addiction, anxiety or depression

 ... but many people do. And if they are based in the North West they could call Steve Pope Associates.

Here is their website for which I provided the copy. Steve was too busy to write the copy himself and valued the objective eye a Lancashire copywriter could bring to the task.

As a recovering addict himself, Steve has the experience and training to set his clients on the right path - the path to sobriety and a happy and healthy life.

Steve also helps sports people 'get into the zone' and works with corporates to motivate their people.

UK Copywriter gets emotional

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A copywriter's life can be a varied one. Here's a UK company that makes 'intimate massagers' - O, alright then, vibrators - who came to me to write some sensitive copy for their marketing.

I approached the job as I might any other: checked out the competition, researched the market, decided on their point of difference until I managed to put my finger on the G-spot.

The copy for the website and brochure had to be helpful but not clinical, arousing but not tacky. I think I hit the spot.