Spotlight on Marketing

Have you decided to commission a freelance writer/editor to write or edit a document for your company or organisation? Here are some questions that she’ll need to ask you before she can give you a realistic quote, accept the assignment and start the work

A while ago I was asked to fix the grammar and spelling of the text of a website. Sure, I could have done that, but I chose not to because it wouldn’t have magically fixed the fact that it was just plain bad writing. So what makes a piece of writing “good”? And how does an editor fix a piece of bad writing?

I just spotted a horrible, cringe-inducing phrase on the website of a professional service provider.

A potential client recently contacted me, asking me to edit her monthly e-newsletter. She proposed that because she has no budget for marketing, she’d pay me for my services by referring others to me. I say pay me AND offer referrals.

I share three examples of what I consider to be poorly written copy I’ve seen recently; diagnose what’s wrong with it, and show you how I’d transform it into compelling copy that attracts attention and gets results.