Spotted Wombat

Unlike spam, which is unsolicited email, bacn is what you have signed up for, but don't necessarily want to read now - or ever. Bacn is the newsletter you receive after downloading a free report, or the special offer you don't care about after you've read an ebook.

Bacn (pronounced bacon) is the term given to electronic messages which have been subscribed to and are therefore not unsolicited but are often unread by the recipient for a long period of time, if at all. Bacn has been described as "email you want but not right now." Wikipedia, August 2009.

Reader's Digest suggest that bacn "should be called self-inflicted spam". Reader's Digest, January 2008.

I wonder what the next term will be?

Spotted Wombat is a comprehensive copywriting and content marketing service in Brisbane, Australia. We write brochures, newsletters, websites, articles, white papers, press or media releases, blogs and anything else that you may need a writer for.

I can honestly say - NO!! I have tried it and believe me, I ended up spending far too much time trying to keep picky customers happy for a few dollars. Although the initial thought was to generate new customers by promising a free set-up, or a free article - I found that these customers were actually costing ME money.

An advert promising something for free doesn't work with writers. It didn't take me too long to figure out how much time I was spending on the picky, smaller clients and how much time I was losing - when I could have been looking after my bigger clients.

Giving away any kind of writing is not sustainable. Writers, particularly copywriters, develop their product from scratch - it's impossible to stock up on unique web content as we don't know what we will be writing about until you tell us!

For a writer to give away a "buy one, get one free" - they have to do double the research, double their writing and in double the time. For half the cost.

 Of course, many writers, myself included, will offer deals like:

"When you commit to 20 articles per month, I will give you a Press Release for free and guarantee delivery by the 1st day of each month."

These deals work, because I've already landed the contract. I'm providing extra value for my client by giving them something they didn't expect. A press release and a time guarantee.

Wordy thought for today:

“Rhythms” is the longest English word without the normal vowels, a, e, i, o, or u.

Joanne Grey from Spotted Wombat is a copywriter based in Brisbane.

There has been a 20 percent increase in the blocking of social networking sites in the last six months.

According to ScanSafe's data, 76 percent of companies now block social networking. It is now  more popular to block than online shopping (52 %), weapons (75 %), alcohol (64 %), sports (51 %) and Webmail (58 %).

Does this mean an armed, drunk rugby union player is less of an issue at work than Facebook?

Read the full CIO article here: http://www.cio.com.au/article/315467/survey_facebook_twitter_banned_by_most_employers?eid=-154

Thought for today:

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit - Elbert Hubbard.

Spotted Wombat is a comprehensive copywriting service in Brisbane. Stuck with words? We'll help you with your content marketing, websites and blogs.

Brochure copy

Writing brochure copy need not be difficult. Here are 5 things you need to know before writing copy for your brochure:

1. Benefits first

Always provide the benefits to the customer first, before anything else. Think "WIIFM?(What's in it for me).

2. Entice and encourage

Entice the reader to read more, by providing good flow between the pages of your brochure.

3. Plain English

Use simple language. Plain English is easy-to-understand and memorable - and not all of your clients may have English as their native tongue.

4. Avoid technical jargon

Your clients don't need to know about all the technical details of your product in your brochure.

5. Avoid boring company history

Nobody cares about the founder of your company who walked 10 miles through the snow. Use a brief sentence like: "We have been providing people with emergency, after-hours plumbing service in Brisbane for 35 years" and leave it at that.

Wordy thought for today:

'This before all: ask yourself in the quietest hour of your night: must I write?  Dig down into yourself for a deep answer.  And if this should be in the affirmative, if you may meet this solemn question with a strong and simple, I must, then build your life according to this necessity.' Rainer Maria Rilke

Spotted Wombat is a comprehensive content marketing and copywriting service in Brisbane, Australia. We provide writing for brochures, newsletters, websites, articles, white papers, press or media releases, blogs or any other writing that enhances your business.

Here's a good example of why you need to keep your personal Facebook profile separate to your corporate Facebook page. Having said that, do people really talk about their colleagues like this??? Would you hire this person?

Thanks to Bianca, for sending this through to me!

Tip for today:

Always get permission to send your newsletter or emarketing messages to clients and prospects, otherwise they will think that you are sending them spam.

Spotted Wombat is a comprehensive copywriting and content marketing service in Brisbane, Australia. We provide writing for brochures, newsletters, websites, articles, white papers, press or media releases, blogs or any other writing that enhances your business.