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I have been going back through Christmas history (thanks Horrible Christmas by Terry Deary and Martin Brown, Wikipedia and Snopes) and discovered that Christmas as we know it had almost died out in the early 1800s. People thought it was a silly old-fashioned custom and didn’t celebrate it

… that is until a freelance writer by the name of Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol.

Charles was a very fast writer and wrote A Christmas Carol in less than two months as a way to try and make money as he was nearly bankrupt from his failed novel Martin Chuzzlewit. It was published on 19 December 1843 and the first run of 6000 copies sold out in one week at the very high price of 5 shillings a copy.

The book was so popular he was asked to read from it to audiences around the world (one of the first major successful speakers tours) where he made as much from speaking as he did from writing the book.

A Christmas Carol is credited for reviving our celebration of Christmas and their characters of Scrooge and Tiny Tim have entered Western folklore.

But that’s not all!

Another copywriter - Robert L.May was asked to come up with a Christmas story to give away to shoppers at Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago in 1939. Robert based his story of Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer on the Ugly Duckling and tried the names of Rollo and Reginald for the reindeer before settling on the name Rudolph.

He wrote the story in rhyme, testing it on his 4 year old daughter (very early product testing). May’s boss was worried that the red nose may not be appropriate for a family store - after all red noses were associated with alcoholism and drunks (political correctness is not a modern invention).

So May had his friend Denver Gillen sketch some reindeer from the local zoo with red noses.  These drawings won over the boss and the book went to print. 2.4 million books were handed out by the end of 1939 - thanks to word of mouth viral marketing.

As the work had been created while May was an employee of the store, they owned the copyright and he received nothing for his work.  With his wife with terminal cancer and deeply in debt, May finally convinced the store to turn the copyright over to him in January 1947. His financial future was then assured as he carefully managed the intellectual property in Rudolph through his company the Rudolph Company L.P.

May’s brother-in-law, singer Johnny Marks, took his poem and turned it into a song which was recorded by Gene Autry (after many people turned it down as not being commercial enough). The song is now the second top selling song of all time, second only to “White Christmas“.

Have a wonderful, safe and fun-filled Christmas - and whenever you hear A Christmas Carol or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, think of the difference copywriters make to your life.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Freelance Copywriter and Christmas nut

It is Christmas card season again - how many of you have received a card that doesn’t even have your name on it, just an impersonal printed greeting and possibly a few scribbled signatures from the people in the office? Why bother? It is very unlikely that this sort of card would make any lasting effect on the reader. People love to read about themselves and their name is one of the most powerful words you can use in marketing.

Over the years it has been proven that personalised cards, letters, invitations and surveys get significantly higher response rates. How much higher?  Well the Neuromarketing blog talks about a study where the simple addition of a handwritten note on a post-it note, attached to a pre-printed letter increased the response rate by 75%, whereas a scribbled note on the paper itself only increased it by 48%.

The writer suggests businesses should also try to add a “From the desk of the CEO” note in lieu of the ubiquitous post-it note to test the response rate. A number of my clients have used this approach with their letters and we have had great results!  I certainly recommend trying it.

I would like to add that things such as thank you notes and cards should also be handwritten for maximum effect. It shows you have taken the time to think about the client, that they are valued and important. If your writing is best described as hieroglyphics (like mine), then certainly type your letter so they can read it - but make sure the letter is personal and from the heart rather than a stock letter, and include a handwritten section if you can.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - SEO Copywriters

Following on from my discussion of deep soul longings, over the past few days the world has been thrown into turmoil as the US economy teeters on the edge of collapse.

In times like these, the thing that people crave more than anything else is certainty. They look for certain answers and truth, clutching at life-rafts of certainty in their every day lives.

What this means for business is that headlines screaming “get rich quick” will not get the same response as a few months ago. In these times, people will look for greater proof - trusted experience and proven track records.

This is the time for businesses to be polishing up their testimonials and looking for ways to make things more straightforward for consumers by giving them certainty over things such as timeframes, costs and outcomes.

It is the time to boost your guarantees, increase consumer choice and giving them greater options for solutions to give them greater control.

For yourselves, it also means you could be buffeted by your own uncertainty about your business. You may find days when your self esteem has taken a battering and you can’t stand confident.

On those days regain control through little actions - take control of the mess on your desk or your email in-box, take control over your health through eating better or exercising more, take control of your relationships by stopping work early and spending time with your family.

The biggest truism for the stock market is the greatest money is to be made when the markets crash - because that is when the canny investors find real diamonds that are undervalued because of lack of confidence and then invest in them for when confidence returns.

This is true for business. The biggest opportunities for business come when the market is flat, as that is when you find creative and innovative solutions you wouldn’t have found if things were cushy.

I know this is very true for my business. The times of greatest hardship were the times of my greatest growth - and the greatest foundations for the future. Embrace the challenge, look for your solutions and never give up (no matter what the market is doing!)

Remember - take control over the things you can control, gain certainty over the things you can gain certainty over and leave the rest to a higher power.

One thing I know for certain is that everything always always works out for the best.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - SEO Copywriters

PS: A quick word of celebration to indicate that recession is only a state of mind. One of our favourite clients, who are just one small part of an iconic Australian travel brand, referred us on to their head office without our knowledge.  Head office checked out our work with our client and this week presented us with a massive ongoing contract to produce the web-copy for all 4 companies within the household name company.

This is due to the brilliant work of our Heart Harmony writers quietly working in the background  - thanks a million Melinda, Emily, Donna-Marie, Katherine, Rebecca, Penni and Uellan!  You have all done an exceptional job and I feel privileged to work with you.

We have all heard about comfort food - that lovely sugary and starchy food people eat when they are flat.

Well a study in America from 4 universities has found what we have long suspected - when people are sad they buy more and spend more when they shop. Merely watching a sad video made people pay 4 times for for an insulated water bottle than the control group who watched a nature video.

The lesson is if you are sad (and want to save your money), do something else other than shop.

From a business perspective I wouldn’t suggest running videos of kittens being hurt on the way into your store, but stocking a premium product that will help people feel better if they are having a bad day may be a good investment.

I can see coffee shops stocking “bad day buster” hot chocolates, soft mohair jumpers “because you deserve some softness in your life” and  packaging your services in a way to help business owners deal with feelings of defeat. You can also look at touching that demographic in your words if your product matches that need (think of McDonald’s old slogan “You deserve a break today” and you get the idea).

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

We put your business into words

Heart Harmony - Copywriters

I was sent this small business tag-line yesterday

I can do it quick, I can do it cheap, I can do it well … pick any two.

This is a great tagline - it says it like it is, it is short, funny and memorable. Only problem is it is all about the person and not about the client.

What is your business tagline?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony - SEO copywriter

We put your business into words

Sometimes life can be very serious - that’s why I love copywriting humour imponderables to make you both think and smile.

Ponder on these imponderables for a minute:-

1. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

2. Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

3. When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

4. Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist but a person who drives a racing car not called a racist?

5. Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites?

6. Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

7. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked, and dry cleaners depressed?

8. No one ever says, ‘It’s only a game’ when their team is winning.

9. Isn’t making a smoking section in a restaurant like making a peeing section in a swimming pool?

10. If 4 out of 5 people SUFFER from diarrhoea, does that mean that one enjoys it?

11. Why if you send something by road it is called a shipment, but when you send it by sea it is called cargo?

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff

Heart Harmony

Putting your business into words

If you have read my blog for any period of time, you know I love technology as a means to boost productivity. Technology can streamline your systems and make communicating with your clients a breeze. When it all works you save hours … when it doesn’t life can be hell!

Today I spent the day working on installing new affiliate software that integrates into Clickbank the company we use to drive our affiliate program.

The software itself is brilliant - but the manual that comes with it was “challenging”. It was obviously not edited by a freelance copywriter or written by someone with technical writing skills. It was therefore extremely difficult to follow and meant many wasted hours of trial and error before finally making everything work.

The lesson from this is many businesses write instructions for their products or services, or instructions for their clients. If these instructions are not professionally edited or checked with “real” customers you may be causing your clients endless frustration and potentially lose customers.

My tip if you are writing instruction manuals or sheets is to always have someone who knows nothing about your business to read it through and then follow the instructions. It is enlightening when you watch someone totally botch up what you thought was perfectly clear!

As an aside, if you are interested in promoting our Instant HR Policies and Procedures Manual or Employee Performance Reviews: Tips, Templates and Tactics, then check out our affiliate program where you can earn up to 50% commission on each sale.

Ingrid Cliff
Heart Harmony

Putting your business into words

Often in business we personally know the impact of our product on people’s lives and we expect other people to fill in the blanks themselves. We talk about the features of our product (it has 10 widgets) without talking about the what that means for the customer (which means you can mow your lawn in half the time with less hassle).

I was talking with Liz Cattermole, Milk 2 Sugars from my Chamber of Commerce and she was telling me that all our videos only have a realistic life of about 10 years. “Yeah, so what” I thought

… then she made the comment “That means all those videos you have of your baby’s first steps, ultrasounds, special moments in your life are slowly fading away and soon will be gone unless you transfer them to DVD now”.

Now that got my attention. Liz is right - many of us have shelves of video memories that due to the design of the tapes are now breaking down, which means that the next time we go to watch them we may only end up with snowy pictures or shadows of memories.

Liz understood that people like me need help “joining the dots”. She explained simply and powerfully in a way that I could get what her service could do for me.

When you talk about your service or your product do you stop at the features or the description? Take some time to convert that to deeper meaning for your customers.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff
Heart Harmony

Putting your business into words

I love clever ads - Ameriquest has a brilliant series of very funny ads around the theme “Don’t judge too quickly”. Many times people remember the humour but forget the company name - these ads have a great balance of both.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff
Heart Harmony

I have spoken before about using your USP (unique selling proposition) when you advertise for new employees. McDonald’s in Sweden have taken this to a whole new level.

At first glance the ad seems very racist - in typical Mc Donald’s colours it says “We don’t hire Turks, Greeks, Poles, Indians, Ethiopians, Vietnamese, Chinese or Peruvians”

As you read further down the add - in the little print at the bottom it reads:

“Nor Swedes, South Koreans, or Norwegians. We hire individuals. We don’t care what your surname is. Because ambition and determination have nothing to do with your nationality. McDonald’s is one of the most integrated companies in Sweden, with as many as ninety-five nationalities working for us. Join us at mcdonalds.se“

This is a fascinating ad - it is shocking and gets attention as well as delivers the message (eventually).

The problem is that people’s minds remember the first bit of data they hear associated with a company and ignore the later negation and positive twist. Those of you who have done my “Power of Gossip” session have experienced it first hand - so you know it takes a lot to undo negative gossip.

I suspect McDonald’s Sweden will find people will recall the list about who is not to be hired more than they will remember the later positive statements.

So - while you want to use your USP in your advertising I would recommend taking the positive approach rather than the negative.

Until next time

Ingrid Cliff
Heart Harmony