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Meanwhile lets just say that we are proud Dan O'Sullivan contributed a whooping 134 entries.
A few weeks ago, we at The Hired Pens marked 15 years in business. It’s a nice milestone, though admittedly not as sexy as a 10th or 20th anniversary. Something about the number 15 just seems kind of blah. Nonetheless, it’s a good opportunity to sit back and reflect on the past 15 years. Anna […]
The best of your organization’s content should be like a cat — it should have nine lives. Okay, maybe nine lives is stretching it. But when you work hard to write something remarkably clever/insightful/useful/etc., there’s no reason why it should be doomed for a one-and-done existence. Reincarnation should be in the cards. I’ve heard this […]
Urban Dictionary defines a corporate shill as “A person engaged in covert advertising. The shill attempts to spread buzz by personally endorsing the product in public forums with the pretense of sincerity, when in fact he is being paid for his services.” Well said, Urban Dictionary. Now is it possible to add a photo of […]
Sometimes it’s good to have a benevolent dictator calling the shots. If you’ve ever been part of a committee or task force trying to resolve a seemingly inconsequential issue, you know where I’m coming from. Our friends at Wikipedia define a benevolent dictator as “an authoritarian leader [who] exercises absolute political power … but is […]
In case you’re looking for us … The Hired Pens will be closed for business from Dec. 24 through Jan. 3. But we’ll be bright, bushy-tailed and ready to go on Monday, Jan. 4. See you then.
The toughest thing about blogging? For many of us, it’s coming up with worthwhile blog ideas. Once you have the right topic, it’s all downhill from there. (At least, that’s how it usually goes for me.) But, yeah, it’s the ideas that can be a killer. A good starting point is to put yourself in […]
I love the concept of inbound marketing. It’s good for consumers (a central tenet is to give people content that’s helpful for them). And it’s certainly good for copywriters like me (more and more companies are hiring us to write content for their inbound marketing campaigns). But since we’ve been HubSpot customers for about a year, I also […]
You can find countless articles online about best practices for Web writing. But what about Web writing for healthcare institutions in particular? Not so much. I’d like to fill that gap. But first, a clarification: This article covers consumer-facing copy about clinical service lines and programs that lives on a hospital’s website. Now that we’re […]
As a consumer who is also a marketer by profession, a brand’s advertising can sometimes inspire conflicting emotions in me. Case in point: Geico. In my day-to-day life, I’m assaulted by Geico’s advertising ad nauseam. “Fifteen minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance,” my TV, radio, phone and laptop remind me […]
The relationship between a copywriter and graphic designer can be a beautiful, harmonious thing — or it can be a disaster because each does things that drive the other one nuts. I’ll start with my perspective as a copywriter who has worked with dozens of designers over the past 20 years. Here’s one that kills […]
