Redshift Writers Unleashes Junior Writer into the World

It has truly been a pleasure to work with our intern Joanna Purpich. She has been instrumental in assisting with RedShift’s growing portfolio of clients and we will miss her. We wish her the best as she tackles new adventures and conquers the world with the knowledge and experience she has gained through her internship with us.

 

imagejpeg_0 (2)

read more
Daniel J. CohenRedshift Writers Unleashes Junior Writer into the World

Five Ways Content Writers Can Create a Better Client Relationship

The content writer’s job is to create language that compels others to act. No matter what medium or what purpose the content has, good content maintains that characteristic and leverages the power of words to reinforce a particular mindset or action.

However, not all copy ends up as powerful as it should be. While the writer in the process often tussles with editors, creative directors, strategists, the legal department and a bevy of others in the organization to word content just right, it seldom hits the presses (or internet) completely in tact.

On the other hand, writers are perfectly capable of guiding clients in the right direction and ending up with the content that will best represents the company or cause. Sometimes, it just takes a little creative flair in your client-content writer relationship to sharpen your language to its very best.
Here are five tactics writers can use to help clients get the very best results.

1) Encourage a push-pull relationship.
Your job as a writer or marketing consultant is to make sure clients are able to make fully informed decisions. While one decision may be superior to another, knowing the right decision in the moment isn’t always possible without an iterative process involving both sides of the fence: the experts and the creatives.

Involving clients deeply in the messaging process will not only create better results but also improve your overall client relationships.

2) Train the team to let their hands go.
Much of the push back content writers get is a result of a client balancing interests in the copy. However, a smart content writer can pave the way for approval early on by explaining the power of precision copy that takes a strong position rather than balancing opinions or voice to the point that it becomes sanitized and plain.

Teach the power of taking a sharp, clear position and staking a claim rather than balancing the message for all involved.

3) Set the expectations early.
Develop an understanding with clients regarding your process as well as what can be expected from a first draft. If you have done a good job developing your discovery process, most clients will find what you do valuable and take pleasure in getting involved in your discovery process.

An involved client is more likely to approve your copy- hands down.

4) Keep your eye on the prize.
In the end, the client and the content writer want the same thing: well-conceived copy that will get the job done. Keep in mind the harmonious, win-win nature of the task at hand and everyone will prosper.

5) Give clients homework.
Not busy work, mind you. Your clients are busy. They have a business to run.

Yet a certain degree of homework is the sign of an involved writer as well as a solid content process.  Offer clients a step by step path that goes beyond the standard sit=down to indicate true commitment.

Want more tips for free lancers that go beyond the standard client assistance? Check out 50 Rules for Renegade Free Lance Writers.

read more
Daniel J. CohenFive Ways Content Writers Can Create a Better Client Relationship

Ten Reasons RedShift Writers is Thankful this Thanksgiving

Turkey on Thanksgiving

We’re grateful for turkey, too.

RedShift Writers officially opened for business in December of 2012. And during the last year, we have learned plenty about entrepreneurship, business, positioning, and our clients.

But perhaps most importantly, we have learned an essential lesson about life: that gratitude is the absolute best policy to follow in business and personal challenges.

For this article, we will stick to business. Here are ten things we are eternally grateful for this Thanksgiving (or Thanksgivukkah, if you will).

#1) Great Clients
A business is not a business without customers. We love our customers and do everything we can to help them succeed. Sometimes that means planning out a full marketing campaign and establishing at-large verbal positioning on behalf of the brand. Other times, it means knocking out an eleventh hour press release. Sometimes it means being willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, from telling the world about an event to picking up the phone and pitching media to building out strong social media campaigns that generate interest and excite the market.

And sometimes, it just means introducing them to the right person or bringing coffee to the office.

Regardless of what we have to do to keep our wonderful clients happy, we want to acknowledge that they are indeed wonderful… every single one of them. We appreciate their business.

#2) Courage
Business requires courage. It doesn’t matter where you are on the totem pole, what  your job description is, or what you need to do that morning. The CEO needs courage to run the company. The entry level employee needs courage to handle increasingly complex tasks. The specialist needs courage to stay relevant and remain sharp. Without courage, you will fall flat of your goals and fail to grow.

We are grateful that we have not lost our nerve, especially in an environment when anyone can and many do.

#3) Failure
You may not have heard it here FIRST, but you will hear it here: failure creates opportunity. You might even say failure is what creates the most opportunity. No company can succeed 100% of the time, so treasuring failure as much as success is essential to gaining clarity and success as a business.

Hopefully, we will continue to fail so we continue to succeed.

#4) Networking
Without connections and good, strong, smart people with good, strong, smart capabilities, no one achieves success in the business arena. We are so grateful to have met such wonderful people over the last year, too many to count. They remind us of the tremendous amount of beauty there is in the world, and also provide outlets and resources we don’t have on our own. Our allies remind us of the age-old axiom regarding  the power in numbers. Bless every part for making up such a wonderful whole.

#5) Education
RedShift was born largely out of a respect for teaching and learning. Much of what we do- persuasion, explanation, reassurance- relies on our ability to educate the person we are talking to. Our company couldn’t possibly have grown to become Houston’s top messaging company without our willingness to learn. We are grateful to have it, and hope we never lose it.

Similarly…

#6) Humor
If you want to build a network, learn from failure, take in deep lessons, gain clients and conquer fear, you’ll need a positive attitude to do it. Every positive attitude that has ever existed relied on being able to laugh. We laugh plenty.

#7) Clarity
Let’s face it: with the rise of the web, and by extension the blogosphere and social media, there’s a TON of information flying around in the public domain. With that information has come a wonderful array of in-depth insights into how to get the job (whatever job you need) done. But there is also a lot of chaff there to deceive the average radar.

The willingness to investigate so as not to buy every workshop or book on the market is something that takes a few extra moments, but every one of them is worth it. Clarity is peace of mind and saves tons of headaches.

#8) Inspiration
Will power is a funny thing. More than likely, there are days when you won’t want to do the thing you always want to do. Even the world’s greatest guitarist may occasionally prefer to lie in bed rather than pluck the strings of a Fender. It is the nature of humanity, especially in the era of divided attention, to have our will power come and go in waves.

The best way to counteract a lull in will power is inspiration. Fortunately, we have that in droves, and use it to our advantage every day.

#9) Competitors
Competitors keep you sharp. Even when you are hungry to defeat the others in your market, you don’t want to knock them off. You want them around. A league with only one player is worse than boring (although very little is worse than boring). It’s not even solvent.

Your competitors are your best friends.

#10) You
You, humanity, are the driving force behind anyone who wants to do anything that matters to our existence. Without you reading this post, this language is dead. Without your involvement in our world- every transaction, every handshake, every tweet, every message, positive or negative- we have no world to live in. YOU have made all the difference just by being there.

Thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

And if you want to add to the list, feel free to leave a comment. We’re grateful either way.

 

read more
Daniel J. CohenTen Reasons RedShift Writers is Thankful this Thanksgiving

Five Impacts Social Media Can Have on Your Afterlife

(This article was written largely to promote a Panel Picker proposal for 2014 SXSW Interactive titled “Tweet After Death: How to Use Social Media to Live Forever” that I co-developed with Michele Price. It is based on this original Waxing Unlyrical article. Please check out our dual panel description, vote for us, leave a comment, and spread the word. We really appreciate it).

The conversation surrounding social media and the afterlife is growing, and that’s only natural. While death is an uncomfortable conversation to have at the dinner table, it’s something humans have always found fascinating. Our living world is somewhat predicated on death; we all want to know how to live forever. We talk about what happens after we die.

Social media and death are great bedfellows because they are both great equalizers. While social media makes everyone part of the conversation, death will eventually remove everyone FROM the conversation. This is why social media used to speak from beyond the grave is such an interesting idea, a paradox that allows us to both live and die at the same time.

On that note, here are five impacts using social media to communicate from beyond the grave has on your life and legacy in the great hereafter.

1) It Alters and Enhances Digital Archaeology
It was only a matter of time before our leave-behinds became digitized. That time has come. We can now leave a greater volume of information behind than ever before, which makes a huge impact on what those in the future think of us. It also opens an entirely new conversation about how advanced we really are. For example, will a tweet in the future be the modern-day equivalent of rocks with scratch marks on them from 5,000 BC?
In other words, what will the world be like when Twitter is ancient as opposed to new? None of us will live to see it… but let the record show we discussed it.

2) It Connects You to Your Family and Future Citizens
Your family loves you. And more than likely, someone you care about, blood-related or not, will outlive you. This is your chance to plan your last goodbye. Should you decide to do so, you can message directly to anyone in the future about anything, for as long as you want.

So what advice do you have for the future? What would you say to your great-great grand children?

3) It Opens the Door to Potential Legal Questions
In some legal systems, posthumous prosecution has occurred. Some religions feature posthumous salvation. But whether or not these motions are valid- they incorporate the will of the living without regard for the wishes of the dead- may be greatly affected by the now-able-to-speak deceased person in question. In addition, any question of division of assets, post-life wishes or other aspects of the requests of those who have passed on might be clear in social media messaging from beyond the grave.

4) It Will Question How Life Should Be Spent
When you speak from beyond the grave, you make a decision to express something: regret, repentance, joy, love, honor, respect, persistence, etc. You also make the decision to spend part of your waking life discussing what happens when you can no longer speak. You extend your presence.

Should we tweet beyond the grave or leave life as is? Food for thought in the great beyond?

5) It Questions the Definition of Life Itself
For most, making a decision is a sign of free will. Speaking from beyond the grave via scheduled post is a the outcome of a decision, only it is a decision made before you die. To show a sign of life from beyond the grave is to demonstrate a living testament to your beliefs.
When you speak to the future, you demonstrate life after death. The dead can only join the conversation through out of context language right? What does it mean when they start chiming in using planned, calculated ways?

(Again: If you think this is an interesting topic, please vote for our Panel Picker proposal and spread the word. Thanks!)

read more
Daniel J. CohenFive Impacts Social Media Can Have on Your Afterlife

What a nice thing to hear!

You think water moves fast? You should see ice. It moves like it has a mind. Like it knows it killed the world once and got a taste for murder. After the avalanche, it took us a week to climb out. Now, I don’t know exactly when we turned on each other, but I know that seven of us survived the slide

read more
Daniel CohenWhat a nice thing to hear!