A Satisfied Copywriting Client!

“Live, damn you. LIVE!”

I’ve often said that this is a  business where the only thanks you can expect is to get paid…and you’ll wait six weeks for that.

Not much has changed in the 8 years since I wrote that merry little beacon of hope, except that the wait is now 8 to 10 weeks. So, it’s a very pleasant surprise to get a notification from Alignable.com to “claim your recommendation!”

This from a recent client, the owner of a Charleston CPR training school. 

“Michael assisted in the relaunch of our website recently. He is very engaging and takes the time to ensure that he did top notch work for our site. He responded to questions in a timely manner and meet all of the timelines we had. Michael continues to promote and help our company grow in our markets. Would wholeheartedly recommend Michael to anyone looking to launch or relaunch a website.”

BTW, “continues to promote and help our company grow” refers to the social media program we started after the website launch.

This was a fun project and a great client. The recommendation was pure gravy (as opposed to the sauce you get from adding water to Gravy Train dog food.) So thanks to Archie at Southeastern CPR, and Bill from Metatation, the Charleston web designer/programmer who called me in.

Want to read more reviews? You KNOW you do!

And if YOUR web copy could use 150 joules of heart-reviving defibrillation, contact LivelyExchange (at) gmail (dot) com!

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A New Healthcare Website!

Healthcare marketing is once again a welcome presence here at aLivelyExchange! (Click here for the thrilling backstory!)

An old designer/programmer colleague from Philips gave me the call several weeks ago. A local dental practice had hired him a few years back to create its website.  And so he did – a sharp WordPress site with nice functionality and great design…and little SEO heat. No knock against my guy; he’s a very talented web designer/programmer, but he’s not a writer or optimization dude. And, back then, the dentist wrote her own pages.

Somewhere along the line, the dentist came into contact with a digital marketing firm that specializes in healthcare. They did an exhaustive 40-page report on everything wrong with the site, citing all of its sins in the realm of keywords, word count, tags and links. Fascinating, really.

I can only guess that their remedy was too expensive (they do good work!), because the dentist went looking for alternatives. So designer dude gave me a call and spoke those four magic words: “Do you do healthcare?”

Thirty pages and 8400 words later, the optimized site went live yesterday. Check it out! Big thanks to a great client and especially to GregoryJacobsDesigns for the phone call!

Need healthcare copy or content? The prescription is livelyexchange (at) gmail (dot) com!

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Charleston’s #1! A Copywriter’s Perspective

Watch your step for giant Palmetto bugs and random typewriters

Today we learned that Travel + Leisure magazine has once again named Charleston SC the America’s No. 1 city, and No. 2 in the world. “Readers were asked to rate cities they had visited on sights/landmarks, culture/arts, restaurants/food, people/friendliness, shopping and value.”

Of course, that’s a survey of people who are just passing through. What’s it like for those who live here and try to make a living in the copywriting trade? I am referring specifically to ME.

Humble Copywriting Origins

I hit town in 2006, knowing precisely nobody. I fanned out in every direction, burning up my 28K dialup internet (!) carpet-bombing every web design, marketing, advertising and video production agency from here to hell-and-gone. (Hell-and-gone includes Asheville, Raleigh, Charlotte, Greenville, Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Hilton Head, Savannah, and Augusta. Mostly due to “good timing” I got a few bites, a few initial gigs, and things slowly (SLOWLY) took root.

Mixed success, as you can imagine. I can say that the agency relationships I have made here in Charleston, including great names such as Colophon New Media and Metatation have endured.

Charleston Copywriting Must-haves

I have done my share of writing for two big Charleston staples, real estate and travel & tourism. Both have been very good to me. Check out my thoughts on local Real Estate writing here. And some fun travel and tourism stuff here. (Scroll down to Charleston Travel/Tourism Blog)

Now, there’s also Technical Writing.  The type of writing where (in Charleston anyway)  “tab A into slot B equals cruise missile.”  I can do it, I even completed some tech writing coursework at Trident Tech, but I guess I have never pursued it aggressively enough.

I ended up doing quite a bit of technical writing at Philips, though. That wasn’t the plan; it just turned out that way. Ah, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, the one that quite literally got away. (They closed the office and it got away!) But before it did, one of my pieces for them won a Bronze Addy award, so there’s that.

Ten years later, how’s it going? Well, it’s definitely going. Social is bigger than ever, and a big part of my mix. I went and earned a Social Marketing Certification from Hootsuite. This has been pretty helpful in framing the conversation when discussing a client’s digital marketing options.

Charleston Copywriting Outlook: 2017

Meanwhile, businesses are shaking off the cobwebs, and celebrating the new economic optimism that seems to be going around. Meaning, lots of web refreshes going on, from a six-page interior designer website, to a 30-page dentist’s site to a FIFTY page digital marketing agency website! (2017: the year the cobbler’s kids get shoes!!) Now, 2017 is setting no records, but it sure beats the windswept desert that was 2016!!

So that’s the copywriting life in America’s Number One city. As the Bedouins say, the dogs bark and the caravan moves on. If you’d like to be part of this rich copywriting pageant, contact me at  LivelyExchange (at) gmail (dot) com!

Photo: Charleston Post and Courier

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Deep Fried Copywriting Satisfaction

My tagline took Honorable Mention

Well, I am taking a break from the hubbub and revelry of National Fried Chicken Day (look it up) to report on the copywriting comings and goings here at LivelyExchange.

Here in Charleston SC, springtime’s occasional 90-degree days are just a memory, and summer’s endless 95-degree days are the norm. Makes you want to stay inside and do some copywriting! So, check out my latest projects:

• Writing a website for an interior designer in Columbia SC
• Writing and optimizing a website for a Charleston SC dental practice
• Writing a website for a Columbia SC law firm
• Video shoot pre-production for a productivity consultant
• Quoting a social media program for a Charleston SEO consultant
• Finished a website for a CPR training provider in Charleston SC, and now starting their Social Media program.

And some old perennials; some that won’t end, others that won’t start!

• Press Releases, blogging and social media management for a global leader in floral chemicals
• Writing a website for a CNC machine shop client in South Carolina
• Writing a website for a dry cleaner in South Carolina
• Writing a website for a pressure washing service in South Carolina

The Reds Report

Meanwhile, back home in Cincinnati, the Told-You-So Express grinds to a halt. My beloved Reds, who sat high atop the NL Central in my last report, are now lower than a Pete Rose belly slide. At this point, only San Francisco and Philadelphia are in worse shape in the entire National League! So, hey, Reds fans: how about a rousing cheer of “There’s someone worse than us! There’s someone worse than us! There’s…”

No? Okay then. Enjoy your fried chicken, and I’ll see you next time!

photo:  freedigitalphotos.net/vectorolie

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