I'm still here

Yes, I’m still here and I’m still a copywriter. I’ve been busy writing for lots of different clients (I’ll try and get some of the work I’ve been doing up in the portfolio section, non-disclosure agreements permitting).

 

I’ve mainly been working on tone-of-voice website copywriting – it forms the bulk of what I do these days. So if you need a copywriter to write some web copy, then I’m at the other end of an email.

 

Anyway, apologies for not writing for some time, but like I said, I’ve been busy writing words. And thanks to those of you who were bored/kind/unhinged enough to email me and ask for more entries. You really need to get out more, but it’s appreciated.

 

 

Philosophical parking machine

 

Being so closely associated with traffic wardens and wheel clamps, parking machines don’t have a great reputation. That’s why I was so surprised to see a little glimpse of optimism from one of the metal menaces. Even though the cold, yellow bandit wanted money from me, it offered a little spark of humanity too.

 

Yes, it told me to pay, it showed me different ways I could pay, and it displayed the amount it wanted to bleed from me in large red letters (which, incidentally, was more than 50p). But then, hiding at the bottom of the screen, was a small message of hope in these unstable economic times. “Change is possible”.

 

We are being watched.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A good copywriter always asks questions, so they have the information they need to do the best job possible. But that’s where the similarity with spies ends. So I was pretty surprised when I was checking who’d visited this site one day, and I found an entry for a visitor from Virginia, USA. After digging a little further, I saw the visitor was from Langley in Virginia.

 

But then I drilled right down to the network the visitor was using. Its name carried just three words – ‘Central Intelligence Agency’. So if you’re reading this, chances are your name just made its way onto a database down in Virginia…

 

 

 

Why you should hire a copywriter.

 

 

 

 

 

Apparently Microsoft aren't 100% confident that 'Songsmith' is one of their more impressive products, so it's understandable that they didn't want to invest in marketing it. However, the developers of the product didn't agree, and so they thought, "Hey, let's just write the ad ourselves."

Do I develop computer software and release it, bugs and all, onto the world? No, I do not. So developers, stick to what you know. It's better for everyone that way.

 

All I want for Christmas is a petrol-powered dog

What do giant, petrol-powered dogs have to do with copywriting? Nothing. But I'd love to see the film.

Well, when I say nothing, that's not entirely true. The Word Department wrote a newsletter recently for artificial intelligence, maths and science consultants Winterwell Associates. They're exceptionally clever people who make all kinds of improvements to all kinds of businesses. One of the lighter items in the newsletter featured a robotic creature that walks. Sounds simple, but when you consider the sheer amount of calculations a machine would have to make in order to replicate the act of walking and especially compensating for slip-ups, then it's not so straightforward. It's high-tech stuff, with hardware including a laser gyroscope and a stereo vision system. And for the film geeks amongst you, doesn't it look a bit like that thing that comes out of the ice in 'The Empire Strikes Back'?

As a copywriter, it's great to write stuff like this because it's all genuinely interesting information you don't see every day. Take a look for yourself. If you run a business, they may be able to help you make it better (it's not all about robots - and you advertising folks may be interested in what they're doing with ARG Gaming). Even if you don't, it's worth reading purely because it's so fascinating. And remember to look for the big robotic dog video at the end - the part on the ice is very impressive.

Play on words

Nice version of a Rubik's cube. The film fans amongst you will get the joke in a minute. If you're really struggling, just email us and we'll tell you the answer.

 

 

 

The power of words

"...while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can. "