The Hired Pens Celebrates Its 20th Anniversary

Twenty years ago today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts approved our application for incorporation, marking the official birth of The Hired Pens. We know milestones like this don’t mean much to anyone outside of the business. Fair enough. However, we do want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has enabled us to stick around […]

Lessons from a TEDx Organizer: How to Nail Your Audition

After a few weeks recovering, I’m finally ready to write about what has felt like my second job for the past six months: co-organizer of TEDxPortsmouth (along with a fellow Pen, Crystal Paradis). I have so much to say about this experience that it’s going to take a couple articles. In this first article, I’ll […]

Case Study: Writing Website Copy for Newfire Partners

Outsourced software development gets a bad rap in many circles, and justifiably so. A big part of the problem is those firms that underpay their talent and don’t care enough about the quality of the code they crank out. Stephen S. Hau, a long-time technology executive and entrepreneur, believes there’s a better way to do […]

Case Study: Refreshing the SynDevRx Website

You could say the same thing about a lot of professions, but I’ll say it anyway: As a copywriter, the most challenging projects are often the most rewarding ones. Yes, it’s satisfying when you nail a tagline or marketing email without breaking a sweat. On the other end of the spectrum are those projects that […]

It’s Time Again for ‘Meet a Pen’

“Don’t dialogue with someone you can talk to.” Rob Sneddon, the latest writer to join our team, didn’t say this, but the fact that he can quote William Zinsser just makes us love him even more. Read on to learn Rob’s no-fail trick for combating writer’s block, the one book that can improve everyone’s writing […]

Meet Virginia, Our Newest Pen

For every 100 writers who contact us, just dying for a chance to be a Pen, only a handful makes it through our rigorous screening process. Meet one of the qualified few. As you’ll see from our Q&A below, Virginia has the right mix of experience, brains and wit. We’re pretty sure she’s a keeper. […]

A Belated Happy Anniversary to Us

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 […]

Digital Portsmouth Recap + Those Branding Questions I Mentioned

Last night I was honored to be a speaker — along with Quiana Agbai and Crystal Paradis — at Digital Portsmouth‘s event, “The Art of Copywriting.” Now if you regularly give talks to large crowds, speaking in front of 100+ of your peers is probably no big deal. But what I regularly do is sit […]

New Hired Pens Site Goes Live, the Masses Rejoice

We all know the saying about the cobbler’s children having no shoes. It’s an aphorism that’s certainly applied to The Hired Pens for the past few years. But no longer! While we’ve been very fortunate to be busy with client work, the downside is that we neglected our marketing efforts for long stretches. So we […]

Hired Pens Helps Launch Kick The Cans Website

“More and more, schools, sports teams and youth groups are forced to have kids sell overpriced products like candles and gift wrap or — worse — send them out begging with cans. Parents are hassled, kids are embarrassed, and the programs that need funding get only a tiny fraction of the funds collected.” That snippet […]