News from Two Trees Media

The Most Interesting Man in the World: A Unique Marketing Strategy

brad.vertrees — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:04:30 -0700

You've probably seen the commercials for Dos Equis beer: The Most Interesting Man in the World. The ads feature Jonathan Goldsmith, who plays an older, suave character that has many fascinating traits about him, such as:

"Sharks have a week dedicated to him."
"He is the life of parties he has never attended."
"If he were to punch you in the face, you would have to fight off the urge to thank him."

And my personal favorite: "His business card simply says I'll call you."

You get the idea.

Beware Copyright Laws: Using other people's work on your website

brad.vertrees — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:18:43 -0700

It's so easy and tempting to do. You're trying to get some new content/pictures up on your website and you can't come up with anything good. But you remember when you were browsing the web earlier in the day, you came across something you really liked.

After thinking for a while, you copy over the content/picture to your own site. Now it's perfect.

What's the biggest mistake businesses make on their website hompage?

brad.vertrees — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:45:32 -0700

When I visit a website to check out its products/services, the first thing I look at is the homepage. The second thing I look at is the content on the homepage. And more often than not, I'm disappointed. This is not because of a poor site design. And its not even because of bad web content (although it's highly related).

The biggest mistake I see on the homepage of a lot of business websites: The content does not give the visitor a clear idea exactly what the business does.

Why is my project taking so long?

brad.vertrees — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 09:38:44 -0700

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from new clients is: Why are you estimating/billing so many hours? The client will then go on to say that it's a "quick project" that should only take a few hours. This is a perfectly reasonable question for a new client to ask, and each client deserves a clear answer.

Since my focus is copywriting, I'll give you a writer's perspective on the process I go through when writing copy for a client. Writing copy, even for a simple website, is not as easy as sitting down and starting to write (although I wish it was that easy).

Writing effective email subject lines

brad.vertrees — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:24:12 -0700

Email is so widely used that most people have several email address just to keep the madness to a minimum. For example, it's normal to have a work email, personal email, and a "junk" email that you give out when doing so will most likely result in unwanted spam and solicitations.

And, with all this email flying around, how many emails do you actually open and read? How many do you just delete? These are important questions, especially if you regularly send out email for your business.

The good, bad and the ugly of SEO

brad.vertrees — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 13:25:39 -0700

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a can mean good business for your website by pulling in a lot of visitors without paid advertising. SEO is optimizing your website so that it ranks higher on Google, Yahoo!, etc. This increases the chance of visitors to finding your site via a search engine because your website will show up in the top search results.

What is the key to quality copywriting?

brad.vertrees — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:42:47 -0800

Copywriting is much more than sitting at a computer and pounding out a few pithy lines of advertising material. Any copywriter will probably tell you that research is an integral part of his/her job.

No two companies are alike. Writing copy for a small pizza parlor is quite different than writing copy for a large industrial manufacturing company. Yet freelance copywriters take on such diverse jobs all the time. So what's the key to writing quality copy that is personalized to your specific needs?

The answer is research.

Create your own unique brand - don't try to be like Apple

brad.vertrees — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:25:53 -0800

I hear this a lot: "We need to be more like Apple." This is understandable since the computer maker has been wildly successful with their products and their brand. Everything from Apple's easy-to-use computers, iPhone, and iPods to their packaging of their products is very simple and clean - yet it evokes Apple's own style and unique identity.

A big part of Apple's branding success comes from their being different. Imagine how Apple might be today if they had tried to imitate Microsoft. A big marketing disaster.

Pantone selects 2010 color of the year, designers everywhere rejoice

susan.vertrees — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:58:17 -0800

Pantone, the uber authority on all things color, has announced its Color of the Year for 2010: Turquoise 15-5519.

Turn your hobby into a career by becoming a hobbypreneur

brad.vertrees — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:01:00 -0800

More and more people are becoming a "hobbypreneurs" - taking their hobby (product and idea based) and making it into their career. This can be done with crafts, blogging, cooking and just about any other hobby people pursue. An advantage for hobbypreneurs is making money doing something you love, and not working at some corporate job you hate just to bring home a paycheck.