How to Sound Like an Interesting Person: Tips for Writing Your Company Bio  

We know. Company bios are so boring, right? Just a long paragraph of facts about Person X, maybe with a final throwaway line about how they like yoga and spending time with their family. (Yawn.) Writing a great company bio is difficult for a couple reasons. First and foremost, we’re taught from a very young age […]

Reviewing the New England Patriots Championship Memorabilia

The best thing about having your team win the Super Bowl — other than the false sense of personal achievement and the ability to claim superiority over other metropolitan areas — is loading up on the championship booty. The hat, the sweatshirt, the DVD … the heirloom porcelain plate? Yes, the heirloom porcelain plate! And […]

What’s Wrong with This ‘Woman Within’ Cover?

Dear Woman Within, You showed up in my mailbox yesterday. As a professional catalog writer, I have some thoughts to share with you. First of all, the good: I love that you make clothing for plus-sized women. After all, why should style be the exclusive domain of the size 2s, right? And I love that […]

Did You ‘Leak Guard’ Your Company?

Like all three-year-olds, mine wants to do everything “by hisself.” Among other things, this means getting ready for bedtime. Alex mastered taking his clothes off a long time ago and has just recently managed to pull on his top and bottoms (provided there are no snaps, zippers or buttons to contend with). But the night […]

The Sizzle and the Steak: The Art of Writing Great Product Copy

I used to work as a copywriter for Brookstone, a company made famous by its vibrating massage chairs, often seen in airport lounges, nail salons and your parents’ basement. If waitressing was the job that taught me about time management, Brookstone is where I learned to sell just about anything. Because that’s what I had […]

Writing White Papers: Here Are the Basics

In a previous blog post, I discussed how American businesses besieged NBC News with requests when it offered insights into what made Japanese companies successful. This was the result of its in-depth news show, “NBC White Paper,” and the businesses wanted the information contained in the report. Of course, NBC created the report as a […]

Defining a White Paper: A Critical First Step in Planning

The business world is full of terms that are widely used, yet often misunderstood. Case in point: white papers. Defining your terms is critical in order to get agreement on a subject. That’s particularly true with the term “white paper.” If your team can’t get in sync about what everybody means by the phrase, you’re […]