Want your content to be shared, liked and retweeted?

I’m running an event as part of Social Media Week London with my colleague Sue Keogh from Sookio. We’ve worked together at Yahoo!, Aol and the DCSF and between us we’ve worked for the BBC, ITV and Bauer Media (formerly Emap).

We’ll be running a workshop aimed at  brand managers, journalists and bloggers with practical advice on:

• writing enticing blog titles
• crafting headlines that people will want to share
• getting your tweets retweeted
• social media dos and don’ts
• what words works on Facebook and other platforms
• working with text and images
• avoiding typos and double entendres.

Find all the information on our page: Sweet Retweets (or How to Write For Social Media).

Hope to see you on Tuesday 8 February at 3pm at AOL UK, Shropshire House, 11-20 Capper Street, WC1E 6JA.

*Please note this event is now sold out*

Consider that badly-spelled communication risks your reputation and could damage your brand. The packages below have been put together after working with graphic and web designers over several years and identifying the common elements that need a professional writer.

We’ll look over newsletters, write your Google ads, talk you through social media and more:

Newsletter package

• Get your newsletters proofread by a professional
• Same-day service
• Just £25/letter and re-writes from £20*/letter (*introductory offer)
• Money-back guarantee.

Graphic designer package

• Writing for brochures / flyers / POS / catalogues / vouchers
• Tone of voice writing and development
• Proofreading.

Website designer package

Web writing:

• Writing for web
• SEO copy
• Google advert writing
• Tone of voice writing and development
• Social media advice
• Blog writing.

Technical and more:

• Content curation
• Homepage management
• Web copy training delivered to client.

Tailor-made packages made to suit. Prices vary depending on volume of work needed. Flexible payment terms or retainer an option. Send enquiry using the contact form.

We love pictures. Photos. Images. They capture expressions lost in movement and help fix memories and feelings forever. If you’re a website owner, you’ll already know that your users love pictures.

Using images on your website can do a number of jobs:
• Show your products
• Help make a point
• Grab attention.

But you can’t just use any old snap. Oh no. Nobody likes blurred outlines or out-of-focus faces. Your picture has to be appropriately framed, well lit, sharp. Your picture has to get across what you’re trying to say. And quickly.

Say you sell phones. You need your user to visualise a 3D object from flat pictures – that’s quite a job. Make it easy by providing lots of images from different angles. Answer questions before they’re asked:
• How big is the phone? Show someone holding it to their ear
• What does the screen look like? Use a close-up image of the screen
• Where are the features located? Include a diagram.

Images of products sold online should be taken by a professional photographer. The cost is easily worth it for the impact it will have with users.

What if you’re not selling a product but a service?

This is a situation where you might consider using stock imagery, for example, a couple smiling. However, these images can look ‘fake’ and not match your brand if you talk about a ‘personal touch’.

During my work on the homepages at Yahoo! and Aol I’ve seen that images related to a news story will get far more clicks than the headline. The area is larger, sure, but there’s something compelling about a photo. Touching it with your mouse can be impossible to resist. Try it next time you’re looking at a picture of a delicious meal!

Of course, cracking copy will complement attention-grabbing images – the two go together like ham and eggs. Don’t disappoint your users by giving garbled sentences and confusing messages. The pictures should grab attention and the copy should keep it there. If you have a website that needs sprucing up, call your dream team of professional photographer and copywriter.

Christine can work for you as part of your team when you need content producing for a website. She can meet the client directly or work to a brief supplied by you. If there’s work for more than one person, Christine has a network of reliable copywriters she can call on.

Copy takes time to get right and sometimes it’s hard to know where to start. Christine is experienced in handling all sorts of clients and getting the right information to produce cracking copy, on time and to budget. See Crocstar’s clients, find out about services Crocstar offers or get in touch.