by Leslie O'Flahavan | Feb 13, 2014 | Writing Matters Blog
I love to quilt. It’s my hobby. And like most hobbyists, I love to shop. (Sometimes I love shopping for quilt stuff more than making quilts.) My favorite quilt shop is about 10 miles from my home. Over the last five years, when many fabric stores have gone out of...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jan 11, 2012 | Writing Matters Blog
My goodness. This brochure copy from a Baltimore law firm — one I’ve worked with and really like — has to be the flattest, driest writing ever. Legal Services AvailableBased on conversations and inquiries made by several of our current clients, we...
by Marilynne Rudick | Oct 10, 2009 | Content strategy, Social Media Writing Courses, Writing Matters Blog
When more than 50 people lost their lives in a train wreck in 1906, Ivy Lee—the father of public relations—issued the first-ever news release, a public statement about the crash from Pennsylvania Railroad officials. The New York Times was so impressed with this...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Aug 6, 2009 | Writing Matters Blog
“These people really need you.” That’s what I hear just before a reader, client, or other word lover shows me some buzzword-loaded, abstraction-choked paragraph of marketese she’s found online. And that’s what Writing Matters reader Jill...
by Leslie O'Flahavan | Jun 4, 2009 | Writing Matters Blog
Received this “cold call” e-mail today from XYZ Networks [not the company’s real name]. Opened it in preview pane as it had a scary, spammy subject line: “XYZ Networks Meeting.” Never heard of XYZ Networks. Read it four times....