Dev Logic Articles

How to Win at Trivia

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

How to Win at Trivia

Written by Aprill on August 24, 2010

As a copywriter, I do a lot of reading. Not only am I constantly practicing my craft, whether it's by writing for the web or for print, I'm always looking at ways to improve it. As well as my daily intake of blog feeds from the movers and shakers in the online communications industry, I read books about writing and marketing. But as a freelance copywriter I read about a lot of other stuff, too.

Copywriters Know a Little About a Lot

One of my main roles is to help you sell. It doesn't matter what you sell—you could be selling a product, a service, or selling an idea. Apart from getting to know something about you and your typical audience, I also come to know quite a bit about what you're selling, no matter what it is.

Lately, I've learnt a lot about automatic transmissions. Considering my ability to drive around unaware of a flat tyre, I had a bit of research to do. Likewise, I'm far more informed on the traditional political spectrum than I was before. Copywriters cover such a wide range of material we make great members for any trivia team.

You Can Know Too Much

A well-written brief can help to provide background information about your business, your offering, and what you expect in terms of tone, word count and the call to action. But, because you know your product so intimately, you might be suffering the Curse of Knowledge. You know it so well that you can easily tell me all the features. You can even tell me why yours is better than someone else's. But the Curse of Knowledge makes it easy to forget what the benefits are for someone who's never considered buying one before. So, while an informative brief does save time for both of us, I will always seek to add to that material by asking you seemingly obvious questions and by conducting my own research.

And next time you go to the pub for trivia night, take a writer-friend with you.

How do you walk the line between being the expert and thinking like your audience?

Photo courtesy of gesteves

The Common Sense Industry

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

The Common Sense Industry

Written by Aprill on August 6, 2010

Our ways of doing business are going through a correction, of sorts. As we evolve to do more of our business online, or at least support our brick and mortar businesses with an online presence, we're going back to fundamentals. In fact, there seems to be a big trade in the industry of common sense.

Rework Reworks the Way we Think

A terrific example of this is Jason Fried's book Rework. It's a light read about business. In the tech boom of the 90s we worked hard on giving customers what they wanted before they knew they wanted it. We wanted to build things big and be the first to get it out there. We had big ideas and big dreams and if we couldn't fund it ourselves we found a venture capitalist.

We still have our big ideas and big dreams but Rework reminds us to prioritise and focus on the important parts. In clear and simple language, and in short chapters, it espouses iterative design (release early and improve often), and flexibility instead of big product and rigid business plans. It's so obvious, it seems like a whole lot of common sense. And it's enormously popular.

Why the Common Sense Industry is so Big Right Now

The thing about common sense is that what sounds like common sense to you, may not be common sense to others. Think about when you started out doing what you do. You wouldn't have known what you know now. In fact, I'm sure you sought and soaked up all the information you could get your hands on to help you on your way.

The other thing about common sense is that you might be thinking "I know all those things", but are you doing them?

The Problogger Training Day—A Whole Lot of Common Sense

The Problogger training event this week was just that—a room full of people with big ideas listening to common sense advice from big names in the business of blogging.

The speakers and panelists included Collis Ta'eed, the founder of the Envato suite of successful sites, Chris Garrett, Yaro Starak, Pip Lincolne and of course, Problogger's Darren Rowse.

Here are Some Tips

There were a few points that struck a particular chord with me.

Be where people are and be awesome.
Create a client profile - who are they, what are their interests, what do they look like? Give them a name and a photograph that suits that 'personality', and then call that profile to mind when you're creating your product or coming up with a brief for your copywriter.
Don't just be different; be different with an advantage.
Do what you love, or solve your own problem; there will probably be others out there like you.

... and Some Resources

Lots of people have been recording their thoughts on the Problogger training day; search the #pbevent hashtag on Twitter. A few people have graciously shared some resources that came up during conversation.

Links mentioned during the event - Courtesy of Bec Coleman.
15 useful resources from The Blog Stylist.

Did you go to the Problogger day? What are the common sense tips that you took away? If you weren't there, leave a comment telling me what your common sense tips are in your line of work.

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Photo by Wayne Large

If Content is King, Then Service is the Courtesan

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

If Content is King, Then Service is the Courtesan

Written by Aprill on July 28, 2010

Gary Vaynerchuk talked about good service in his keynote speech at Railsconf 2010. Tony Hseih established the Zappos Family Core Values — one of which is to Deliver WOW Through Service.

Consider their positions today.

It wasn't just good luck and good management that got them where they are. While the right time, the right place, and the right people all play a part, it's good customer service that makes a good reputation great. And a great reputation is what gets people coming back time and again, even though you might not be the least expensive option.

Fast service is out the window. Personal service is coming back in.

These days, people are looking for more than just an item. They want a good experience. They want engagement. As Gary points out in that speech, the appreciation for the idea of the "Mom and Pop store" is on the rise. We love handmade again. We enjoy the hand-written. We appreciate the products and services that have a heart and soul intact.

Having passion for your product is the first step, engaging with your customers comes next.

Get to know them better and let them share their stories with you. Whether it's over social media or by engaging copy on your website that allows for customer involvement, become a voice in your village and be open to new ideas that this engagement brings.

At Dev Logic, we like to stay visible and approachable. My copywriting clients don't get charged extra for further editing or alterations that are within the scope of the project. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me, so that I can be the voice that best represents you and what you're passionate about.

How do you keep the heart and soul in your work so people come back for more?

Photo courtesy of greencolander

Don’t Be the Other Guy

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Don’t Be the Other Guy

Written by Aprill on July 7, 2010

What do you do when you need to engage the services of a business? More to the point, how do you find them and then make contact?

I can tell you what I do.

First of all, I google. (Yes, it is a verb according to the Oxford dictionary.) Unfortunately, the town I live in isn’t very web-savvy, yet. Next, I go to my online Yellow Pages.

If there are three businesses listed and two of those have a website mentioned in their ads, I will go and check out both websites. I’ll look around the websites, read any information provided and view the gallery, if it’s relevant. Without even talking to anyone, I’ll have formed a preference in my mind based on what I’ve seen and read. At that point, I’ll most likely write an email or fill out a contact form and hope they get back to me. Picking up the phone is my last port of call.

Most other people I talk to operate the same way. We go online first.

I’ll talk about Google and search ranking another time, but this all boils down to one important point. If you don’t have a website you are losing out on a whole lot of potential business.

A good design will make me look but great copy will make me contact you, and not that other guy. Don’t be the other guy.

Ties optional.

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Ties optional.

Written by Aprill on June 21, 2010

No matter what sort of work we do, there’ll always be a need for business writing. What’s business writing? Emails, newsletters, presentations, applications, media releases and letters. There’s more; and let’s stay away from marketing, for now.

Your business writing might be seen within your business as instructional writing or meeting minutes for example; or it might be sent outside the business as a proposal or media release. You can bet that whoever is reading it has a lot of other stuff to read and do, too. The trick is to keep it simple.

It’s tempting to use long and lofty words, and even longer and loftier sentences. It’s easy to get wrapped up in industry jargon, forgetting that your readers might not grasp what you’re talking about.

Before you start putting your words in writing, loosen your tie. Keep it simple with shorter words and uncomplicated sentences. You may be wearing a suit and tie when you compose your business writing, but don’t make your readers feel like they need to wear one to read it.

Boost your Business on Twitter

Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Boost your Business on Twitter

Written by Aprill on May 13, 2010

Do you use Twitter to spruik your business? I bet you could get more from it. Twitter has revolutionised the communications game. If you play the game right you can run your PR campaign in 140 characters or less.

Find your crowd

Search for your keywords to find the people who are talking about products or services like yours. Follow them. Then search for your location to find the people that live, work, or shop in your neck of the woods. Follow them, too.

Pimp your profile

Don’t stick with the vanilla Twitter template. Use the opportunity to get your logo in front of people and upload a custom background image. At the very least, think carefully about what you put in your Twitter profile so you can motivate people to follow you back and click on your link.

Respect the limit

Brevity and I are good friends. That’s why I love to use Twitter. Be concise with your message and leave a bit of room for people to retweet.

Engage with your crowd

Don’t just sit and watch the world go by and don’t just retweet any old junk, either. Get in on the conversations that are going on in front of you and only forward on the useful links and articles that come your way.

Repeat-tweet for timezones

If you have a product or service available internationally, be mindful of your timezones. I did a quick Twitter poll yesterday and found that most people do scroll back to past tweets but a lot of people don’t. And the people that do, are only scanning quickly through, so are less likely to follow links or retweet.

If it’s business related and not time-sensitive, repost your tweets 2-3 times throughout 24 hours to get in front of more people. Vary your headline slightly to avoid being overly repetitive. That serves a second purpose of allowing you to test which headlines work best at getting more clicks.

The more people around the world who are awake to read your tweet, the more people there are to see your brand–and the more people there are who might retweet.

Twaitter, Objective Marketer and SocialOomph are all tools to help you with scheduling tweets and measuring clicks.

Do more with search

Search is for more than just finding followers and keeping up with #masterchef or #qanda. Try searching for your brand or product name. FInd out what people are saying about you so you can reply personally. It’s just good customer service and it creates a real buzz.

Hire The Experts

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Hire The Experts

Written by Aprill on April 1, 2009

Dev Logic is making the jump back to the ‘burbs in coming weeks. We’ve spent the last five years in a beautiful part of regional New South Wales, twenty minutes from the nearest shop and schools. Living on dirt roads has given us a reprieve from having to wash our cars – there’s just no point; and we’ve dodged several kangaroos, wombats, rabbits, lyrebirds and ducks in this time. We’ve shared our land with sheep, horses, alpacas, chickens, more kangaroos, and cows. We once had a client ask why he could hear a rooster noise. Well, that was our pet rooster.

The sunsets out here and the rolling fog in the valleys certainly are sights to behold, but it’s a long way from the social and professional circles in which we thrive. So it’s time to pull up stumps and move back to the small smoke. We’re not going all the way back to Sydney, but we are going about half way, to a suburban street that has garbage removal and street lights.

I’ve been considering the logistics of packing and moving our home and office – hiring a truck and calling in favours. I could spend evenings packing boxes, grumbling about it, breaking things, laying awake at night packing mental boxes and wondering what will fit where. No thanks. I need my sanity and we need our time. So we’ve decided to hire the experts.

The expert movers will pack up our whole house, shed and whatever else is left laying around, deliver it, and unpack it, so that we can keep working and have as close to a seamless transition as possible. They know what they’re doing; they’re less likely to break stuff and they don’t swear at the crockery.

It’s tempting to want to retain control but if you aren’t good at it or don’t enjoy it, why not delegate it to someone who does it for a living?