Three Fast Email Marketing Tips
By: Michelle Pierce | March 10th, 2010
1) Clean up your list.
Some email marketing services don’t automatically remove bounces. Other times, people email you to unsubscribe instead of using the handy-dandy “unsubscribe” link in your emails (crazy, I know). Take the time to go in and make sure that your list is up-to-date. Remove any bounces or unsubscribed email addresses, and add or update any new email addresses.
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Tags: email marketing, tips
Posted in: Naked Writing
What Our First President Can Teach You About Marketing
By: Michelle Pierce | February 23rd, 2010
For most Americans, George Washington is one of our most admirable founding fathers. As the general for our army during the American Revolution and our first President, he led a long and distinguished life and helped to shape our country in those first years.
Considering yesterday was George Washington’s birthday, here are some words of wisdom from our first President.
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Tags: George Washington, gratitude, honesty, marketing
Posted in: Naked Writing
Does Your Website Answer These Five Questions?
By: Michelle Pierce | February 12th, 2010
All first-year journalism students have this fact drilled into their heads: Every story you write must answer the following questions within the first paragraph, if not the first sentence:
Who? What? Where? When? Why?
We’re trained to answer all the major questions readers will have in the shortest amount of space possible. Why? Because readers skim.
People also skim on the web. Does your website answer all the major questions they’ll have? Take a page out of the journalist’s book, and make sure you answer these questions on your home page:
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Tags: copywriting, journalism, questions, website
Posted in: Naked Writing
Three Quick Website Maintenance Tips
By: Michelle Pierce | January 15th, 2010
As the AVC editor-in-chief and word ninja, it’s my job to take care of all the little details.
Here are three quick tips that can 1) improve user experience and 2) will make it easier for search engines to read your site.
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Tags: proofread, tips, usability, website maintenance
Posted in: Naked Writing
Seven Unbreakable Website Usability Rules
By: Michelle Pierce | January 12th, 2010
1. Thou shalt forgo happy talk and splash pages.
Happy talk is any text on your site that fills up space without actually saying anything. For example, “Welcome to our site! We’re so glad to have you.”
Splash pages are another archaic leftover from the early days of the web. These pages feature little more than a “click here to enter” button, and, like happy talk, they do little more than take up space.
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Tags: clarity, communication, design, website usability
Posted in: Naked Writing
Brand Identities, Bunnies, Moms, and Coffee – A Collection of Posts
By: Michelle Pierce | December 23rd, 2009
We’re a grand total of two days away from Christmas (Have you finished your shopping/wrapping? Because I sure haven’t. Oh no.), and while we’re preparing for the holidays, I thought I would share some of the posts I’ve found in the past few days that have really made me think. Or smile. Or in one particular case, laugh until tea shot out my nose. (I don’t recommend that.)
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Tags: brand design, bunnies, coffee, customers, marketing
Posted in: Naked Writing, TGIF
Four More Writing Mistakes You Shouldn’t Make
By: Michelle Pierce | December 8th, 2009
This is not the first time I’ve touched on this subject, and I doubt it’ll be the last. Here are four more writing mistakes you should avoid:
Peak/Peek/Pique
A pet peeve of mine is when I see people use the phrase “peak my interest” or “peek my interest.” It’s “pique,” dammit.
“Peak” is a noun, and means [...]
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Tags: grammar, mistakes, spelling, writing
Posted in: Naked Writing
So You Want to Be a Web Slinger
By: Michelle Pierce | November 10th, 2009
So you’ve finally realized just how darn beneficial the web would be for your business. Now the biggest question: how on earth do you get started?
HAHA! Worry not, my friends. Here are a few useful things to know to help you make the most of your site.
Getting started with design
Design is the part [...]
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Tags: keywords, web design, website, writing
Posted in: Naked Writing
Michelle’s 30-Second Guide to Possessives
By: Michelle Pierce | November 3rd, 2009
Last time we discussed the ever-elusive apostrophe, I kept it short and sweet, touching on the most common rules that we run in to while writing. However, when it comes to making possessives, it’s a little more complicated than adding “apostrophe + s.”
Never fear, though. Here at Aqua Vita, we’re all about clear communication [...]
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Tags: 30-second guide, apostrophes, grammar, possessives, punctuation
Posted in: Naked Writing