Author: admin

In the middle of things

So, I finally got my website up. It’s no big deal, some HTML with a few images and links, and I will do more later. I’d planned to use GoLive, which I got as part of Adobe CS, but became baffled as soon as I started the tutorial. They wanted me to make a Site Diagram and I tried, but couldn’t make it like the examples onscreen. I then went browsing for simple HTML references and was delighted to find this nice tutorial on the w3.org website.

I then went hunting in “view source” on other pages for examples of how to construct links and open new pages to display my samples… the challenge, in an era where everybody uses javascript or, I guess, tools like GoLive, was to find a site to emulate with an author whose vision was as modest as mine. And then I went back into GoLive to edit the whole thing for publication. But I still don’t know what a Site Diagram is for.

This brings to mind what a student in my class last week said is the characteristic of good documentation: it talks to the user about the process they are in the middle of. Or, in the case of the CSS tutorial mentioned above, it puts the user into the middle of something and gives them logical, easy steps to take that will pay back with satisfying and tangible results. I certainly did learn from the CSS tutorial, as you can see if you go to my site. And if anybody has a good GoLive book to recommend, or simply wants to explain Site Diagrams, please drop me a line.

The Shoemaker’s Children


The Shoemaker’s Children
Originally uploaded by otisregrets.

Direct marketers in their self promos are some of the worst practioners of our craft, and this invite to a Catalog Age webinar is a great example. The subject line should tease… an intro headline should pay it off… then quickly get to the meat in the body copy of the invite.

Instead, this email repeats the same headline no less than three times before they get to the meat and the benefits. The row of identity-building images across the top is also a problem. This is appropriate for collateral but not for the recipient of the email; I already KNOW who I am. The muffed salutation… let’s say that is a service bureau problem… even so, if you’re not sure your data is clean maybe just forego the dear so-and-so ?

Why this is here.

This blog is about “copywriting that gets results”… the creation of email, direct mail, space ads etc that are measured not by awards won or clients placated, but by actual response in terms of URLs clicked, toll free calls made, coupons returned and so on. This is the kind of writing I do on a daily basis and it’s what I teach in the eponymous course at San Jose and other places.

We’ll use this space to share ideas and maybe some actual materials related to the courses that I teach. In addition, as the Cole Porter lyrics imply, we may take a few unexpected side trips. Welcome, and thanks for stopping in.

Close enough

“Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today, Madam,

Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today,

She’s so sorry to be delayed,

But last evening down in Lover’s Lane she strayed, Madam,

Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today, madam,

When she woke up and found that her dream of love had gone, Madam,

She ran to the man who led her so far astray,

And from under her velvet gown,

She drew a forty-four pistol,

And she shot that dirty rascal down, Madam,

Now, Old Lady Otis regrets she’s disabled and she can’t lunch today.

And the moment before she died,

She lifted her lovely head and cried, “Oh, Madam,

Miss Otis regrets she’s unable to lunch today.”

–Cole Porter, as performed by Cab Calloway and transcribed on http://www.heptune.com/missotis.html