Once upon a time…

by Bill Pelkey on June 17, 2009

For the first time in weeks, Brad was headed home before dark. It seemed as though he’d spent every waking hour, leaned against the bench, pipette in hand, setting up experiment after experiment.

He’d missed his son’s little league baseball games, and had almost been too tired to listen when the little guy told him about hitting a double and getting the “Most Valuable Player” for his team during one game.

But now, he smiled while driving home, knowing he not only was going to get to see his son’s game tonight, but also eat dinner with the rest of the family. Maybe he’d even take the family and the team out for pizza tonight after the game.

What a change the ExperiBlaster 3000 had already made. Not only was Brad able to set up all his experiments today, but had even gotten a leg up on tomorrow’s as well.

The ExperiBlaster 3000 can help your team as well. Make them more efficient, more accurate in their measurements, more productive.

And on, and on…

Telling a compelling story instead of battering your customers and prospects with data. Draw them into your product. Using a story to reflect the benefits, not features of your product or service makes for a good read. But, you’re not just entertaining your customers, you’re showing just how you can impact their process, operation, and even the quality of their employees’ lives.

Remember, you want to keep them reading until it’s time for a decision on their part. Tell a compelling story leading into your product’s benefits, and then, WHAMMO! Let them know it’s decision time, and you can solve the pain they experience day in and day out.

{ 0 comments }

IYMGYC?

by Bill Pelkey on June 10, 2009

IYMGYC, pronounced “ee-yim-gick” is a common copywriting acronym. Seriously, I can remember a time when I started a new job at a large, multinational company, and the very first day, thrown into one of those butt-wrenching, mind-numbing “planning meetings.” Virtually every sentence spoken by long-time employees contained at least one acronym which I had never heard before.

About halfway through the meeting, after having seen all too many eyes roll, and heard too many sighs expressed when I asked what each unknown acronym meant, I finally took the hint and kept quiet the rest of the meeting. I even leaned back in my chair, appearing to take copious notes while actually composing a poem. I’ll share it with you:

The Acronym Poem
Copyright 2008 by William L. Pelkey

MITs and ASIs,
UMTs and such.
Confound me and confuse me so,
they’re almost way too much.
PowerPoint and charts awash,
in oh, just so much goo.
If acronyms are fine with you,
then I’ll just say “FU”.

I think in much we do in technical and scientific writing, we assume others understand the acronyms we use. In my case above, by this time (2008), I had significant experience in the industry, at numerous companies, and still wasn’t familiar with some of the language being used both in meetings and writing.

Don’t assume everyone knows your lingo. Even what seems colloquial to you may not be in the vernacular of your prospects or customers. (How many of you checked the definitions in the previous sentence?).

Your job is to make certain your reader isn’t struggling with your writing, or, like me, sitting back in the chair, ignoring the remainder of your message, or worse yet, heading to another website.

The cure? Ferret out each and every acronym. Kick them through the goal posts. And, once you’ve accomplished that, corner someone without your technical or scientific background to read through what you’ve written. Find someone who doesn’t have a vested interest in not hurting your feelings to read it and explain back to you what you’re trying to say.

Now you’ve finished your first draft…

{ 0 comments }

You’re not so bitchin’ after all…

June 9, 2009

Have you ever been to a party and met someone you immediately didn’t like, but didn’t know why? When you think about it, perhaps the person has an attitude you can’t quite put your finger on. Often, this person is one of those standing around, listening to some story being told, or an [...]

Read the full article →

Why “NotGobbledygook”?

May 13, 2009

You’re tasked to come up with a marketing campaign with all associated collateral materials. You’ve got brochures to write the copy for, design, and print. Your website needs to be updated to include the details of your new technical or scientific product or service. It’s a daunting task, isn’t it?
We’ve all seen [...]

Read the full article →