A study by the Pew Research Center shows that today’s college graduates are carrying much more debt than their predecessors.  Those earning bachelor’s degrees are leaving school with 50% more debt than graduates did just a dozen years earlier, while those earning undergraduate degrees or certificates are carrying twice as much debt as earlier graduates. …

Before you write off the printed word as a way to communicate with customers and prospects, consider this.  Find an old letter or card you’ve received, and re-read it.  Chances are, you have some memory of it — when it arrived, what it said.  Now think about your e-mail.  Can you remember receiving a memorable…

From banks and brokers to doctors and dentists, many businesses rely on some external (usually unhappy) event to overcome inertia and drive prospects away from their current providers.  There are at least two problems with this approach.  First, the event might not happen.  Second, if it does occur, it might drive the prospect to a…

Recalling his band’s hit, “School’s Out,” shock rock pioneer Alice Cooper talked about the last three minutes of the last day of school.  “You’re sitting there, and it’s like a slow fuse burning.  I said, ‘If we can catch that three minutes in a song, it’s going to be so big.’”  Big it was.  And…

They’re out there.  They’re the people who know (and love) the rules of grammar, and woe to anyone who misplaces a modifier or ends a sentence with a preposition.  Here’s the problem: a sentence that’s grammatically correct may be useless in persuading a prospect.  The ideal is to build sentences that are compelling and engage…

If your website is intended to drive business, it pays to make sure the copy is clear and persuasive.  But that may not be enough for the search engines.  As you write web copy, think of the words and phrases people are likely to use when looking for a company like yours, and incorporate them…

A recent study of inspiring leaders showed that they tended to use far more image words (“heart,” “explore,” imagine”) where their less charismatic counterparts stuck to concept words (“commitment,” “think,” produce”).  This has a direct application to marketing.  Regardless of the media you use, words that evoke strong images or powerful emotions will always be…

If everyone agrees that competition is more intense than ever, heightened by a shaky economy and the blinding pace of change, then one competitive advantage will always win out: being better.  There’s no such thing as “best” anymore, because someone is always working to top your last advance or innovation.  But the question you need…

Most people know QR (quick response) codes – the small, square patterns showing up mostly in print ads.  Load a QR reader app onto your smartphone, take a picture of a QR code, and the app takes you to a webpage designated by the advertiser.  But they can do lots more, too.  A QR code…

Here’s the headline: “U.S. Ends Push to Renew Israeli Freeze on Settlements.”  So, Israel had stopped building settlements, but then started again.  The U.S. wanted them to stop.  But then the U.S. stopped asking them to stop.  Was that headline really the clearest way to say it?  This happens in marketing messages all the time. …