INKWELL Copywriting, Ghostwriting, PR

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. 

Twitter Countdown to African Brew Ha-Ha

The countdown to publication of my travel book African Brew Ha-Ha starts in a couple of days with daily Tweeted extracts from the book on Twitter.

There will be three different extracts - one for tea drinkers, one for bikers and one for adventure travellers.

To be sure you get them, follow me on Twitter @ACWhelan.

Want a Free Copy of African Brew Ha Ha?

Go to www.abhaha.com then pop your email address in the Get Email Updates box in the top left corner of the blog. There will be a random draw from all the email addresses for a free book giveaway on publication day - April 5 2010. Good luck.

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)

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."

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.

Press releases that get read

 
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A large US company launching their UK operations through a number of franchisees came looking for some press coverage. This is one of a number of cuttings I achieved for them.

The key to writing press releases that get read is to study the style and format of the magazine or newspaper you're sending to. The closer you get to their style, the more of your story they are going to publish. A good photo helps, too.

Copywriter is a real asset

Johnson Reed is a busy firm of asset finance specialists in Manchester who needed a copywriter to write some tight copy for their website, sales leaflets, folders and inserts, a newsletter, and other marketing materials for resellers throughout the UK.

The copywriting job was quite detailed as we had to tease out the fine differences between them and their competitors in a crowded marketplace. I liaised with a marketing consultancy and a group of designers to get the job done on time and on budget.

Copywriter stops for Lancashire lunch

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Ashberry Sandwiches make and deliver sarnies throughout the North West of England. Based in Blackpool, Lancashire they have grown from a single Spar shop to a purpose-built unit employing over 100 people filling, spreading and slicing for Spar shops and forecourts throughout the region.

They asked me to write newsletters for both customers and their staff and media relations for both the general regional press and the trade magazines. We had great success with seasonal stories, which emphasised the company's quirkiness. For instance, we launched a strawberry and cream cheese sandwich for Valentine's Day and linked it to a factory romance that was blossoming among the sliced Hovis!

Help! I need a copywriter

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Each year the Plain English Campaign gives gongs to the worst uses of written English in official documents; they're called the Golden Bull awards (they also give awards for gobbledygook for foot-in-mouth moments for which President George W Bush was famous).

Scottish Life was a winner in 2008 for this letter in response to an endowment policy query:

‘The growth of the policy is calculated through more then one area of the plan, the annual reversionary bonus is only one area of this growth, the part of the growth rate of this policy is the increased rates of the terminal bonus rate for a policy with a term of 24 years is currently 24% of the basic sum assured and the total bonuses attaching. The terminal bonus is only applied at the end of the plan and is not known to ourselves until this is applied.’

I even doubt that my financial adviser could unravel that copy.

If you're struggling to communicate using clear English, give me a ring. I can do a quick grammar, spell and punctuation check on your website or documents that will ensure your message is not only read but understood - which is probably your intention, after all!

Copywriter Makes a Decision

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Here is a copywriting job that landed on my desk dense and full of industry jargon. Martin Tate, who runs Decision Evaluation, is an expert in the field of critical decision-making in large organisations using his self-built analytical models. These decisions might involve expenditure and processes worth hundreds of millions of pounds, sometimes over £1 billion.

To be perfectly frank it was a field of work I knew very little about but it was important that Decision Evaluation made their offer both to people who were familiar with their terminology and to those who didn't know they needed the service yet.

When you see some of their clients you will appreciate the standard of work that must be produced. Their biggest clients do not wish to be named.

Consequently, the brief was to tighten up the copy and sharpen the market while also making it more readable. The site may look somewhat dour but it hits the mark, since their target market are not in the business of wasting money on fripperies.