BG Copy Alert:

Flower Patch Cuts Communication Costs by 80% Using 8x8 Virtual Office Hosted IP Phone Service


SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sep 28, 2009 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- Begonias, daffodils and daisies aren't the only things thriving behind the counter at Flower Patch, Utah's leading full service florist. Since the company deployed the 8x8, Inc. (Nasdaq:EGHT) Virtual Office hosted IP (Internet Protocol) phone solution seven months ago, the floral wholesaler is saving 80% off its monthly phone bill which had grown to a steep $13,000 a month since opening its doors in 1977...

Keep it literal.

I learned a lesson some years ago when the web was new and I was new at writing web copy. I was assigned to write revolving feature stories and headlines for a corporate web site and I thought I had come up with a few really good pieces. One feature graphic was a picture of dice with the headline "gambling your network" another stab at the copy read "feeling lucky?"

I was pretty pleased at how clever I was--especially to conjure up that image of dice. I mean, I wasn't even a graphic designer. This web stuff was a piece of cake!

A more seasoned co-worker of mine (an actual web/graphic designer) took me aside and with the gentle reasoning I needed (being new at this I was sure that my words were going to make or break the company's good name) told me one of the most important lessons I've learned in writing for the Web. Always be literal. Cute doesn't cut it.

Goin' Postal? Cute, clever, but what value is it really adding besides telling your audience how punny you are? In fact, this name for some people might bring up some pretty negative imagery.

Ross Dress For Less? Plain, simple and to the point. Keep the junk from creeping into your web copy and just say what you mean.

BG Copy Alert

Keller Williams' Bay Area Growth Facilitated by 8x8 Virtual Office IP Phone Solution and IT Management Services From RightCliq

SANTA CLARA, Calif., July 27, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Keller Williams Realty has an operating model so unique and successful that it was the focus of a 28-page business case study written by Stanford University's Graduate School of Business. The 2007 study cited company culture -- including training, organizational structure and a rigid core belief system -- as an indicator of their current and future success...read more

Hampster Cage Copy

Thrift stores are great places for finding things you never knew you needed. It's a great place to go when you want to start a collection--maybe um, wooden serving trays shaped like pineapples or Snoopy barware. It's also the place where a lot of "good ideas" end up.

It seems like we all have the same good ideas...like hampster cages. I promise I'll take care of it (you know the routine) Next there's the bowling ball, the #1 Teacher Mugs, and apparently these days, anything High School Musical, High School Musical 2 or High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Which brings me to my point (I know, I got to it a little bit sooner than usual). Don't put up a website...or put stuff up on your website that's destined to be next week's thrift store fodder.

Example 1: not refreshing your home page content (If you are still advertising your "Holiday Discounts & Deals" you fall into this category...unless of course, you count Christmas in July, but no one else will so, yeah, that's still you).

Example 2: using phrases like "in today's economic downturn" throughout your site without keeping track of where those landmines are when things turn around (it is going to turn around isn't it?)

Example 3 : putting up a company blog that is seldom updated (um, yeah...I'll get right on that).

BG Copy Alert

As if blogging wasn't self-serving enough, I've created these 'copy alerts' (doesn't the word 'alert' just make you sit up and take notice?) to let you in on current copywriting projects.

Here's a pr/editorial piece on VOIP technology and a Louisianna cropduster turned salon owner. Fascinating!

McShortcut Disappoints, Breaks from Brand

“Would you like to try our new Iced Coffee today?”

“No, I say firmly, as my mini-van eeks its way through the McDonalds drive in. I’ve been through this enough times (sadly 3-4 times a week now that they are serving sweet tea) to know that what I want today is 3 Happy Meals and no more for the whining kids behind me.

“Welcome to McDonalds, order when you are ready,” crackles a faint female voice through the loudspeaker, not the suave gentleman that greeted me just seconds ago.

Must be a shift change, or the manager had to step in, I reasoned quickly to myself as I rolled along digging a few quarters out to get my money ready for the next window ahead.
But then, the next day (ok I admit, the sweet ice tea had me going for awhile there) I was at a different McDonalds drive-in, going for nothing but a quick cold drink ($1 any size!) on my way to pick up a kid from school. The same familiar voice greeted me, tempting me again to try the new iced mocha. Then the “real” McHelper got on the mike to take my order and it hit me. I’d been outwitted by a pre-recorded marketing message. A chapter in McHistory has come to a close, or at least for me that is.

McDonalds is supposed to help me make shortcuts in my daily life and now they think they can take them and our relationship will stay the same?

Why do I think McDonald’s use of a pre-recorded greeting in their drive-thru is just wrong?

1. It makes you feel like you’ve been duped.
If you’ve ever been “down low…too slowed” or if you’ve ever started talking to an answering machine, you know what I mean.

2. It’s really lazy.
Really. I mean, the live person taking your order couldn’t just ask you if you wanted an iced mocha themselves. Really?

3. It’s impersonal.
What do great brands like McDonalds, Disney, and Starbuck have in common? They follow the marketing mantra that the individual customer is special, or at least, he’s a lot happier (read: spends more money) if he’s made to feel that way.

I like to drive through Starbucks and pretend like they are really that happy that I decided to stop by for coffee. I am sure that Mickey is always surprised when he puts his fat white glove to his face for the 50th time that day, and I know that when I finally make it to that McDonald’s window and the grinning teen hands me 3 fast food boxes that put the “happy” in even the whiniest of kids, that they aren’t reading a script when they ask me how I am that day…or at least that’s what I thought before McDonald’s Iced Coffee came to town.

The Power of Positivity

Momma always said that if you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say it. And the same is true for your marketing copy. A local florist—one I passed every day—was going out of business and instead of the giant red and white “everything must go” banner that businesses usually paste up, a king size white sheet billowed beneath their signage with two red hand-lettered words in all caps:

WE QUIT.

I never thought much of the store as I passed it daily except for commenting about the gaggle of fake geese that lived out front along with a handful of wooden windmills. "WE QUIT" definitely got my attention. But, would it get my business?

“WE QUIT” made me laugh a little to myself at the boldness of the statement, and then made me feel a little bad from yet another mom and pop store going under in a bad economy. But it didn’t compel me to spend any money, or to even look at, the last of their inventory.

Even when the chips are down you’ve got to stay positive.

Had the sign said perhaps “Our loss is your gain!” or “ Our business has wilted but you can still stop and smell the roses” I might have thought to take a second look, because those words would have at least left me feeling motivated—not deflated.

The lesson in all this? Words stir emotions and emotions stir us to action.

Now take the "Life is Good" brand. An excerpt from their company story posted on their site, www.lifeisgood.com:

Today, the New England based brand stays close to its roots, with an emphasis on simplicity, humor and humility. Through Life is good Festivals, positive products, and a steady dose of ping pong, Jake's crew does its best to keep the good vibes flowing.

And looking at how popular their brand is today, I'd say they are on to something...positive.