Copywriting Blog

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 […]

A Lesson in Crisis Communication, Delivered on the Subway

When I hopped on the MBTA (our subway) recently, I wasn’t expecting to attend a master class in crisis communication. But that’s just what happened, courtesy of a congenial conductor. We’ve all been there before. You’re stuck on the airplane runway for no apparent reason. Or a line at the grocery store that hasn’t moved […]

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 […]

Visuals Can’t Do It All; You Still Need the Right Words

Adam Villone is a veteran writer/producer/director/creative director with experience in everything from concept development and script writing to producing and directing video and live events. We’re thrilled to have him on board to help our clients tell their stories through video and other visual media. Adam will take it from here …  Visual storytelling may […]

How to Handle Prospects Who Have No Respect for Your Work

After 15 years in business, Dan and I have gotten pretty good at screening for clients who don’t seem like a good fit. Sometimes it’s a personality or subject-matter mismatch, but more often it’s because they have an unrealistic idea of budget. When there’s a financial disconnect, we respectfully explain why we can’t write their […]

In Praise of Staples’ Chair Assembly Instructions

“Some Assembly Required”: three words that will put the fear of God into you. Whether it’s a Christmas toy for your kid or a treadmill that will soon be gathering dust in your basement, most all of us have faced the nightmare of trying to assemble something out of a box. We start with a […]

5 Questions to Ask Before You Commit to a Name

5 Questions to Ask Before You Commit to a Name Like almost nothing else, coming up with the right name can give your company or product a real boost. As anyone who has tried it knows, however, it’s really hard to do well. That’s why big brands pay naming companies upwards of $100K to do […]

10 Tips for Creating Effective Landing Pages

Landing pages are a useful tool for getting prospects to do things like subscribe to your e-newsletter, download your white paper or buy your widget. Do you know how to create landing pages that get the job done? Our friends at Copyblogger define a landing page as “any page on a website where traffic is sent specifically […]

When Work Doesn’t Work for Women: Saying Goodbye to Corporate America

Today we’re reposting a blog by The Hired Pens’ very own Tracy Quinn McLennan, copyeditor extraordinaire. Her story is a familiar one for many of our Pens who have also chosen to leave the inflexible world of corporate America for a work life that works for their life. We hope you find it inspiring. And if […]