Copywriting Blog

Just because you have someone’s email address doesn’t mean you have the right to email them

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My friend, colleague and strategist to the stars (okay, strategist to regular businesses) Rich Nadworny of Digalicious sent me this Seth Godin post, which seems very worth reposting. It’s 14 good rules about email marketing. I particularly like #14: “Just because you have someone’s email address doesn’t mean you have the right to email them.” […]

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The Laziest Ad Copy Ever Written

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Well, maybe it’s the spirit of the New Year, but today I actually bypassed the article on bad celebrity drivers for something that’s relevant to what we do here at The Hired Pens.  I felt an immediate kinship with the writer of “I Hate You, Blue-Tux-Wearing Viagra Guy!” Like Farhad Manjoo, I don’t have cable TV. […]

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Annual List of Banned Words

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We all have words and phrases we hate; in fact, our Dec. 1 post about it generated more comments than any other post we’ve written.  Well, as I was reading the Boston Globe recently (yes, I still read a real newspaper, delivered to my porch each morning by a real paper boy), I came across […]

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What does it mean to brand yourself?

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If you were a brand, what brand would you be? Apple? Harley? Um … Tide? (This Tide commercial is great.) I know: This sounds like an exercise just made for a corporate retreat … right before the “trust falls.” But in our 2.0 world, where the professional and personal are colliding like never before, it’s not […]

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Content Is the New Customer Service

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  Here’s what it takes to keep people coming back. A few weeks ago, I was at a conference on new media and heard this quote: “Content is the new customer service.” At which point I jumped up on my chair and shouted, “YES!” You know, since we provide content. Then I was like, “Wait, what […]

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Anna interviews hot new eco-designer

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… And we mean “hot” as in up-and-coming, but Shana also happens to be quite lovely.  So how did we happen to do this interview? It’s part of our ongoing effort to help spread the word about Down:2:Earth, Boston’s first sustainable living expo. (Go! Go!) And why are we helping out? Well, it’s a great show, and […]

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Networking for Beginners

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Navigate a Roomful of Strangers in Five Easy Steps Whether success for you means leaving a networking event with several new business contacts — or just leaving with your dignity intact — here are a few basic steps to get you started. And while these steps are geared toward networking, feel free to use them at any awkward social […]

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How to get the dream life of your dreams

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This is a hysterical video I found through Chris Brogan (chrisbrogan.com) all about the power of social media to, um, get the dream life of your dreams …   Gabe and Max on YouTube

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Five Tips for a Successful Freelance Writing Career

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When you tell people you’re a freelancer writer, they immediately make a few assumptions: 1) you spend the whole day in your pajamas, and 2) “freelance writing” is really code for “unemployed.” I say, fine: Let them think this. Who needs the competition? The truth is, if you’re smart about it, you can make a […]

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The Hired Pens Wins Big with the Skinny at MITX

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Last summer we worked with Genuine Interactive — a great Boston interactive agency headed by Chris Pape — on a Web-based ad campaign for French’s mustard. The goal was to get health-conscious consumers (and those who should be!) to make the switch from mayo to mustard. How’d we do it? Scare tactics and humor, baby. Check it out. […]

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