Copywriting UK | TENFOUR blog

Acronyms, acronyms, acronyms…blimey, some organisations love acronyms. TENFOUR’s read texts stuffed like the London Underground with these abbreviations. The strangest has to be the document that came with its very own acronym dictionary. Then there are the abbreviations that have so many consonants they’d make even Carol Vorderman sweat.

As a company we were thinking of setting up an amnesty…or one of those campaigns like a ‘Keep your acronym to yourself’ Day. But then we thought again…

After some debate we grudgingly agreed that they can be useful at times. Take, if you will, an occasion where you’d have to repeat a long-winded name over and over again…and by doing so you’d really clog up the text. Perhaps then you should use an acronym.

Do be careful with them, though. Acronyms were invented to make reading easier. So, if adding one doesn’t make the reading easier, stay well clear. Moreover, if you have an acronym dictionary as a back page, believe us…you’re using too many. 

What to read more on jargon?

Jargon is a strange beast. It’s something that was invented for societies, cliques and people who meet and greet with odd handshakes. It distances rather than unites; it makes a person feel part of a gang…or a total outsider.

Whether you’re writing a children’s book, leaflet, manual or website, there’s really no need for it. If you’re really about communicating, your words need to be accessible, inside and out. And not just to your immediate workmates.

Think about the reader who’ll have the lowest knowledge of your subject and write for him or her (see article on writing for the lowest denominator. Another tip is to get someone outside the business to see if he or she can follow what’s there. Take your words home to show your partner… or your grandma if you’re visiting at the weekend.

Two spanking new freesheets have hit London streets over the last month. One of them, The London Paper, is everywhere. Or its salesforce is anyway, thrusting copy after copy into the hands of passers by…even targeting drivers stuck in the evening pile-up.

The London Paper is Rupert Murdoch’s first venture into free news. Now, TENFOUR’s heard on the grapevine that this fella knows a little about the information market, so what’s going on? Is a trend developing around giving away news, thoughts and ideas for free? Has the print media’s hand been forced by the internet, where you can get everything from events listings to knitting patterns without spending a penny?

Newspapers get advertising revenue, so their editorial efforts are not strictly given away for free, of course. Though, perhaps businesses like yours and ours could still gain something by following the trend even without advertising income.

Take this blog, for instance. We like writing - TENFOUR offers copywriting services, so we should like writing. But there’s more to this blog than putting pen to paper (or whatever the electronic equivalent is). We think there are benefits to our business. These might include:

• promoting copywriting as an important ingredient in the marketing mix
• presenting our skills and specialities
• showing a bit of our personality
• creating traffic to our website, so search engines like us; and
• reminding people we’re still here.

We’re not strict Buddhists, but we also believe in the principle of karma. Give a little business advice and you might get some right back. You could also think of it in terms of trading in an old-style community way. You fix my tractor and I’ll repay you with a year’s supply of carrots. Well, maybe.

So, with all this said, why not think about your business and whether giving away something could work for you. You could be writing articles and getting them in the trade press or online. You could be doing the odd job here and there without charging. Or you could be giving away muffin tasters when commuters order an Americano in your coffee shop - we really need to go back there and buy a few of those…yum.

If nothing else, it’s fun to be creative with it. And, you might even make someone’s day in the process.

Want to read more TENFOUR articles?

Have you ever heard of such a difficult concept to market than environmentally-friendly weapons?

According to an online news channel, one of the new entries on the product lists over at arms manufacturers BAE Systems is ‘lead free bullets’. These offer a clear advantage over the traditional variety, which can ‘harm the environment and pose a risk to people’…apparently!

For the full article, take a look at The Register.  

Ouch, were on a roll with bad practice in copywriting, sales and marketing. Next up: chuggers.

TENFOUR was told recently that ‘chuggers’ refers to those people who hang around the street trying to sign you up to this and that charity. The ones that flag you down with a clipboard or umbrella…’Hi there, have you got a sec for the Save the Arctic Whale Fund?’ The term is short for ‘charity muggers’, which is perhaps a little harsh - although not a million miles from the truth, if you’ve ever been faced by one (or a dozen) down your local high street.

So, why are chuggers is our bad category for sales and marketing practice. Do we really have to explain? We’re not wanting to be critical about the people who work as chuggers - we all have to earn money. But really, five or six people doing the same job down one street? Or, is this turning into a rant?

If you have any good or bad practices of copywriting, sales or marketing you want to put forward, email us at goodandbad@tenfourwriting.co.uk. For more examples, take a look at the good and bad section.