Posted on December 15th, 2008 in copywriting and marketing with Comments Off
Save loads of money on images for web design and print.
How often have you spent a fortune in time and money trying to find good royalty free images with unrestricted use?
As a freelance copywriter with a graphic design Degree, I occasionally find myself designing simple pieces for my customers using Adobe InDesign CS2.
Here’s a useful tip: try sxc.hu for a massive collection of easy-to-search low and high resolution images. Most have no - or very few - usage restrictions and the site’s friendly and well run. A life saver!
Posted on December 12th, 2008 in copywriting and marketing with no comments
The internet’s packed with free and paid-for SEO tools, but the quality varies.
seomoz.org provides a fistful of elegant SEO tools that deliver valuable insights into all aspects of search engine optimisation. Everything from ’on page’ targeting to keyword difficulty, competitive analysis to rank checking.
Seomoz is run by and for SEOs so you can rely on their toolkit to give an accurate snapshot of exactly how your website appears to search engines. The results inform your marketing strategy and website’s development.
It really helps that they’re all in one place. And best of all, many seomoz tools come free.
Posted on December 9th, 2008 in copywriting and marketing with no comments
As a freelance copywriter I research all sorts of weird and wonderful subjects. The sites I spend most time on are those that include useful, intelligent information that’s well written, sensibly formatted and easy to dig through.
Which is why I like stats by country, a nifty little wesite packed with thought provoking information about practically every country in the world.
Not the usual keyword-stuffed fluff but sensible, grown up nuggets of insight into cooler things like the country’s economic status, history, politics, current concerns and an at-a-glance breakdown of the languages spoken there. Oh yes, and a map. Nice job, all short and sweet.
A good one to bookmark if you ever need to find handy stats by country, or if you enjoy dipping in and out of useful, nicely written resources just for fun.
Posted on December 5th, 2008 in copywriting and marketing with no comments
A few useful hints and tips about timing…
In the UK, marketing during August is usually fairly hopeless. School’s out and most people are on holiday at some point or other during the month. Wait ’til things perk up in September.
Unless you’re selling seasonal stuff Marketing in December tends to suffer poor response rates because your message gets lost in the retail frenzy. And most people put non-christmas decision making off until the new year. 2009? Wait until January 5th and you should be free and clear.
If you’re sending a B2B email campaign, press the button after lunch and later in the week. People are much more receptive when they’ve eaten and the weekend’s within sniffing distance. Email an offer first thing Monday morning at your peril!
For the same reason B2B snail mail direct marketing works best when it lands late in the week. B2C direct mail performs well when it drops on doormats at the weekend when consumers are chilled and have time to look at your offer.
Having said all that, SEO is different. There’s no reason why you should have a month off promoting your website just because the world’s on holiday or stuffing itself with turkey. The internet doesn’t care.
