An Insider’s Tip to Getting Your Story into the News
She should be reading YOUR story.
I, like other writers, am always looking for good stories. When we writers find something we think is interesting, it is likely that others will find it interesting as well, so we pitch the story idea to magazines, newspapers, online media, etc. If the publication also believes their readership will benefit from the story, they will contract with us to write it.
But how does a story get from your company into the media? Continue reading →
Article: National Aquarium
Diver at the National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD
There’s something about seeing your story in print that never gets old. I also find it especially thrilling when my photographs are also printed, as in this beautiful montage for my article about the National Aquarium (see photos and story here) in the May/June 2016 issue of Viva Tysons magazine.
Have a story you’d like to see in print? Contact All the Buzz to find out how we can help.
6 Steps to a Better Presentation
Sometime in your career, you’ve been asked to give a presentation. Maybe it went well. Or maybe it didn’t. The answer lies with your audience. Did they listen attentively and ask questions, or did they look at their watches and dart out the door once you were done?
There is a science to giving a good presentation and professionals know they just can’t wing it. A good presentation is carefully researched, written and practiced ahead of time, keeping the audience’s interests in mind. Here are six steps that can help you develop a better presentation.
How to Give a Better Presentation
- Find out who your audience is. Then single out a couple of members or leaders and send a questionnaire or hold an interview in advance to find out what issues they are facing, or what it is they really want to learn or know. Incorporate this information into your presentation.
- If you must use slides, use them as visual backup to what you are saying. Do not outline your presentation on the slides and read it to your audience.
New Website for Spa Noa
All the Buzz joined a design partner to provide copywriting in the creation of a new website for Spa Noa, a high-end popular salon and spa in Reston, Virginia.
Owners Lucy Silva and Mary Taylor wanted an inviting website that reflected their commitment to quality and highlighted their personal touch. Their home page describes it best: “The luxury of an upscale spa; the warmth of a best friend’s home.”
A soothing design, custom photography, and customer-based copy help enliven the site and relate to what clients are looking for.
What is Copy?
“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer.”
–Shirley Polykoff, American Advertising Executive
Five Ways to Spice Up Your Blog Posts
A portion of the writing work we do here at All the Buzz is blog writing. It’s fun to delve into our clients’ businesses and uncover inside stories, industry news, and personal accounts that can be used as blog posts.
If you, however, are writing your own blog, marketing and publicity author Marcia Yudkin offers these five quick ways to spice up your web content.
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Upcoming Attractions
Use your blog to announce or launch new products, and give dates of trade shows you’ll be attending or speeches you’ll deliver.
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Interviews
Interview your charity partners, vendors, industry leaders, or best clients. Take it a step further and create a multi-post entry or a podcast series. Continue reading →
Which Comes First? The Copy or the Design?
If you have ever worked with a creative agency to mount a new website, you’ve probably been asked to provide the website copy up front. This can be daunting to someone who is unfamiliar with building a website, or to a person intimidated by writing. (That’s why we get brought in so often.)
Different agencies work in different ways: some want the copy up front, while others provide a template “look” first and then build the copy based on the template.
Which should come first: the copy or the design?
I find this dilemma similar to the age-old question “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?”, and as with the chicken query, both can be correct. Continue reading →
This Snowstorm Can Help Your Marketing
Stop what you’re doing and use the snow to your marketing advantage!
When something big takes over the news, like with this East Coast snowstorm, it gives you a wonderful opportunity to sell! Use references to the blizzard, snow, cold, ice, or invoke images of sitting by the fireplace, wrapping up in snow gear, or drinking hot chocolate. Liven up your script with action words like sledding, skating, skiing, snowmobiling, plowing, or shoveling. Events have a short shelf live, so the quicker you jump on this opportunity, Continue reading →
Do You Need Great Content on your Website?
Without content there is no need for
Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Without SEO, your site can never be found.
Google looks for authoritative content in order to provide the best results to people’s searches. And it looks at your on-page SEO like H1 tags, meta data, image and title tags.
Does your website have both great content and great SEO?
Well-Crafted Messages Will Always Have an Audience | All the Buzz | Writing Quotes
Regardless of the changes in technology,
the market for well-crafted messages will always have an audience.”
–Steve Burnett, The Burnett Group
All the Buzz Creative 