http://www.rrwriting.com/blog Joe's Blog en http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/10/05/girls-guns-and-getting-it-right-first-time Search girls and guns online and you’ll find plenty of sites--most of them depicting the two as favorite objects of men. But what about guns for girls? And for women too. That’s a tougher search. Even when you find sites catering to women, they often mimic the rough jargon and male bravado of other gun sites. As if that was the only way to teach and talk about firearms. My client Barry Hammond questioned this. Why should women who wanted to learn proper firearm usage have to put up with a bunch of redneck rhetoric, military posturing and right wing politicking? Were these high testosterone trappings in any sense innate to firearms training? Or were they just baggage that got in the way of women feeling comfortable with learning how to handle guns? Barry’s belief was a resounding no. And he wanted to build the brand to prove it. To develop his brand positioning, we took the novel step of actually speaking to women. We learned that the vocabulary of aggression might be more than adequately replaced with the promise of empowerment. That safety and personal responsibility, and yes, the sexiness of stepping over a traditional gender boundary, were all points of intersection where women and firearms might comfortably meet up. So we’ve begun to rethink the firearms training proposition from the point of view of serving women. As Barry, who is an experienced instructor, points out, most women come to be comfortable with guns by way of a man in their life—a father, a husband, a boyfriend. But once this occurs they can be just as proficient as men. A la Annie Oakley. So why not bring the access to women directly? This brand is a work in progress. You can see an early iteration at www.forcetrainingsystems.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/10/05/girls-guns-and-getting-it-right-first-time#comments branding business marketing writing Mon, 05 Oct 2009 09:31:21 -0700 jbardin 60 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/09/03/my-most-recent-presentation-copywriting Welcome to your reader's brain. If you're going to make some sort of impression there, you'll want to know what you're up against. At first glance, you may think you've stumbled into an overloaded antique store. Every shelf is already crammed with stuff, some of it useful, some questionable, some so utterly irrelevant you wonder who would ever buy such a thing. So how do you get through in such an environment? By increasing your Speed of Relevance™ (SOR™). Understand that your reader’s mind is already full. So your copywriting has to be relevant enough to replace something already there. Your content has to be carefully selected, and your tone properly tuned to win a place in that already overcrowded noggin. That’s what SOR is all about. http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/09/03/my-most-recent-presentation-copywriting#comments copywriting marketing writing Writing Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:54:04 -0700 jbardin 58 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/06/25/real-life-inspiration Tough times require extra inspiration. Check out this issue of Phoenix Magazine to read my profile of Morris Callaman. This is what writing is all about. Morris was homeless as a teen ager, simply because it was his best option. Google him today and you'll find out he made it in style. Goes to show obstacles can be overcome, whatever you are facing, there is a way forward. If you don't get Phoenix Magazine, you can read the profile here in it's unedited purity, such as it is . . . http://rrwriting.com/project/2009/06/a-life-redeemed. http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/06/25/real-life-inspiration#comments Arizona business Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:11:16 -0700 jbardin 57 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/05/04/almost-famous-tel-aviv For everyone who’s been following the progress of my novel, Romance of the Long Shot, at www.romancelongshot.com, here’s an interesting development—some Israeli media coverage. (the novel is set in Tel Aviv, Israel, during the Gulf War). You can test your Hebrew out at http://www.mako.co.il/entertainment-culture/lit/Article-83c6878b902e021004.htm The picture at least verifies the article is about me . . . http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/05/04/almost-famous-tel-aviv#comments Writing Mon, 04 May 2009 07:21:59 -0700 jbardin 54 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/04/20/is-cliche-true-should-companies-really-maintain-or-increase-their-marketing-spend-during- It’s a cliché in client conversations in our industry that when times are tough, businesses need to at least maintain their current level of marketing activity, if not increase it. Easy for us to say, that means more work for us. But how convincing is this to the client hearing it? That is, how much truth is there behind the cliché? Enough, it turns out, at least to keep using it. In a recent piece, The New Yorker business columnist James Surowiecki describes how the packaged cereal company, Kellogg, gained market share over its competitor, Post, by doubling its ad budget during the Depression. Post tightened up and Kellogg cut loose, establishing market dominance that remains to this day. Apparently, economic downturns are not the worst time to launch new initiatives. Chrysler rolled out the Plymouth line in 1933, surpassing Ford as North American’s second leading automaker. Kraft introduced Miracle Whip in 1933, which became America’s best selling dressing in six months. And Texas Instruments brought out the transistor radio during the 1954 recession. We know that one caught on. In more recent times, Apple launched the iPod during the 2001 downturn. Surowiecki cites a study of the 1981-82 recession that found that companies that “increased advertising or held steady grew precipitously in the next three years, compared with only slight increases at firms that had slashed their budgets.” So the next time you feel tempted to drop that cliché into a client conversation, carry on. While not every company that spends on marketing during down times prospers, you can certainly make a historical case for it, given the right circumstances. Here's the link to Surowiecki's article: http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2009/04/20/090420ta_talk_surowiecki http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/04/20/is-cliche-true-should-companies-really-maintain-or-increase-their-marketing-spend-during-#comments business Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:19:25 -0700 jbardin 53 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/04/10/fun-with-fiction There are many good reasons to write a book--business strategy, career calling card, personal pleasure. But the business of books can be a tough one. Put quite simply, the demand for books is far exceeded by the supply. So the process of writing the book is really only half the story. The other half is distribution, that is connecting with your readers. The conventional channels--agents and editors--are pretty clogged. No one sees more manuscripts than these people and they will let you know all about it. It's called the slush pile, and that's where most unsolicited manuscripts end up, unless they create some demand for themselves. This is what I'm enjoying now. I've written a novel entitled ROMANCE OF THE LONG SHOT: A Comedy of Tel Aviv. I'm currently posting it online in blog format at www.romancelongshot.com, and am having fun figuring out ways of letting people know about it. Facebook, Linkedin and old fashion emailing are as far as I've gotten to this point. It's not like getting picked up by a major publisher, but for now it's just nice to get the work in front of readers. Check it out and be sure to sign up for the RSS feed. http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/04/10/fun-with-fiction#comments Writing Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:51:57 -0700 jbardin 51 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/01/28/don%E2%80%99t-foreclose-who-you-are-raising-human-value-down-economy Recent conversations with clients and colleagues have revealed a troubling downturn in people’s perceived value of themselves. I understand what has happened to the real estate values in Arizona—they were never really there. Unregulated mortgage insurance instruments allowed lenders to give mortgages to many borrowers without concern if they could actually pay them. Then boom, the bottom fell out. But what has happened to the human value? The loss of funding and of jobs has people who excel at what they do questioning their worth in the marketplace. Can human equity disappear like real estate equity? Has it been based on the same illusory criteria? I don’t believe so. I work with real people who have real talent. You might have to change strategies, but don’t foreclose on who you are and what you do. I’m currently offering a writing workshop for graphic designers in partnership with AIGA and jobing.com. It’s a way for these communications professionals to enrich their skill set and gain a competitive edge. Everyone should be broadening their earning potential and revenue opportunities these days. If you’re an individual seeking opportunity, articulate not just what you do, but what makes you valuable to an organization. Companies are hiring, but naturally they are going to be more selective about who they take on. They don’t just want someone who will do a job; they want someone who will make a difference. Don’t make them probe for this information, bring it to the surface of your presentation. As an organization in a down economy, competition for goods and services is stiffer. You have to be sharper in your communications. If you’re promoting a product or service, you need to invest more wisely in execution and distribution. Scattershot marketing won’t cut it. You need to hone in on your message and your target. This takes more talent, not less. A down economy is not the time to get down on your self. The hole gets too deep too quickly. Now is the time to increase your focus and your energy and your value in the marketplace. I’m excited about helping to make it happen. For more information about my writing workshop please go to: http://arizona.aiga.org/events/2009/03/25841894 . http://www.rrwriting.com/2009/01/28/don%E2%80%99t-foreclose-who-you-are-raising-human-value-down-economy#comments Arizona business marketing writing Wed, 28 Jan 2009 14:06:05 -0800 jbardin 48 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2008/11/22/mexican-food-mystery-why-can%E2%80%99t-canadians-prepare-it-way-we-arizonans-it Being a resident of Arizona, I am naturally an expert on Mexican food. I know this because clients from Ohio, which shares no border with Mexico, tell me so. They come a calling from their cooler, Mid-western clime and ask for an “authentic” Mexican food experience. I recognize this as code for the desire to be taken to a dumpy, hole-in-the-wall joint that, never the less, won’t get them food poisoned. I know just such a place. The clients leave happy, if slightly bloated, and the bill is much lower than it might have been had we eaten somewhere nicer. I mean, less authentic. In Vancouver, British Columbia, however, there is no such sense of decency. Don’t get me started on the Canadians. These people will stop at nothing until they have appropriated all of our precious American popular culture and made it their own. They send talented entertainer types like Jim Carrey south of the border to learn all our secrets. And before you know it, they are diluting the purity of our American way with their own versions of coffee shops, health food supermarkets, chain movie theaters and, of course, Mexican restaurants. This came to my attention on a recent visit to Vancouver last summer. In the evening, my companion, Bernadeane, and I, enjoyed walking in the neighborhood called Yaletown, famed for its numerous dining options. Indeed, on a single street we passed Thai, Italian, Japanese, Vietnamese, and Spanish restaurants, all clearly stolen straight from the US of A. We of course bypassed the so-called Canadian restaurants--we hardly came to Vancouver for that! Towards the end of the week, we became tempted by a Mexican restaurant we’d seen, probably missing home a little. Were we in for a surprise! The restaurant had only recently opened and one of the partners greeted us at the door, eager to share their menu. He began to explain that this establishment was different, that they served authentic Mexican food --“none of those burritos and tacos they try to pass off for Mexican food in other places,” he told us knowingly. What kind of culture-appropriating Canadians did he mistake us for? I had no idea what the man was speaking about, but I knew he didn’t serve authentic Mexican food. For one thing, where was the hole-in-the-wall décor? This restaurant was extremely well furnished, with dark leather booths, fancy track lighting and table cloths! A surreptitious glance at the menu revealed entrees costing $20-$30. Authentic? If the food was so real, shouldn’t it be cheaper rather than more expensive, so that real Mexican people who enjoyed a far lower standard of living could afford it too? I was outraged, not just for myself, but for all Mexican-food loving peoples. My indignation must have shown on my face, because our potential host quickly changed tact, seeking to engage us on a personal level. “Where are you from?” he asked. “Arizona,” I told him, unable to keep the hint of a challenge from my voice. “Oh,” he brightened immediately, “so you know real Mexican food.” “We love it,” Bernadeane answered, innocently enough, but I politely excused us from this unpleasant encounter and led us back out into the mild Vancouver evening. “What was wrong with that place?” she said. But I was too irate to explain. Instead I guided us into a Canadian restaurant nearby, where I gratefully ordered a goat cheese ravioli, Brazilian skirt stake and buttermilk fried chicken. The food calmed me, but the writing was on the wall: these northern people would stop at nothing in their desire to seize our way of life and make it their own. http://www.rrwriting.com/2008/11/22/mexican-food-mystery-why-can%E2%80%99t-canadians-prepare-it-way-we-arizonans-it#comments humor Sat, 22 Nov 2008 10:46:47 -0800 jbardin 45 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2008/10/18/what%E2%80%99s-your-marketing-writing-speed-relevance%E2%84%A2 SEO? What about SOR? SEO, or search engine optimization, can help draw people to your site. You load up your content with key words by which people search for what you offer, and voila, your hits increase. But what happens once they get to your site? Does your marketing writing create a connection? Have you clearly communicated what you offer? And have you achieved this before your visitor has clicked on to the next site his search turned up? That's where SOR, or Speed of Relevance is so critical. Speed of Relevance refers to how quickly and efficiently you connect with your reader. Because if you don't connect and do it fast, they ain't stickin around anyway. Relevance is achieved through correct content and tone. Are you speaking to your audience’s needs and interests? Are you writing in language they can relate to? SOR is not about being in a hurry, it's about getting to the point. Which requires you to know what the point precisely is--not for you, but for your readers. For example, engineers despise writing that concerns itself with anything other than factual information. They consider everything else fluff. So if you're writing for that audience, you better lead with facts and figures. Teachers, on the other hand, care deeply about purpose and values. So if you're writing for that audience, you want to touch the heart in fairly short order. There's really no point in piling up keywords on your site, if those words become an obstacles to getting your message across. On my site, for example, no one wants to wade through a thousand references to copywriting, ghostwriting, and marketing writing. They are already well aware that they are looking for a writer. The question is: what can I do for them? And the answer? Establish and improve their SOR. http://www.rrwriting.com/2008/10/18/what%E2%80%99s-your-marketing-writing-speed-relevance%E2%84%A2#comments business Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:17:04 -0700 jbardin 44 at http://www.rrwriting.com http://www.rrwriting.com/2008/09/29/adoption-anxiety-a-tortoise-comes-home There is only one legal way to gain custody of a Desert Tortoise in Arizona and that is through adoption. One does not simply walk in and walk out. One must first display one’s fitness for assuming such responsibility. But rather than my own personal makeup, what the Phoenix Herpetological Society seemed most concerned with was my yard. Did it have shade? Was it fenced in? Did it have room to roam? I had to take photos to prove it. The next hurdle was to find the damn place in order to drop off my paperwork. The address listed on their website turned out to be a PO Box at a mailbox store in a strip mall in Scottsdale. When I walked in the bank next door to inquire about a Herpetological Society, the tellers knew nothing. However, I did learn that the manager raised tortoises herself and had babies to give away. I could have gone black market, but I didn’t want a bastard tortoise. I wanted one with papers, with legitimacy. What if Sherriff Arpaio did a round up? Turns out the actual Phoenix Herpetological Society is located in a converted house off Dynamite Road near Scottsdale Road. When I got there to deliver my papers, the gate didn’t work so I had to hand my file through the bars. A quick review got me an invitation back that Saturday morning at 9am for orientation. Saturday morning at 9am? How much did I really want this little Gopherus agassizii in my life? Come Saturday morning the gates were wide open and the place was crawling with people, not to mention reptiles. They had the tortoises numbered and loaded in plastic bins. We humans were numbered as well in the order we would be allowed to choose. I came up 12 out of about 30. In front of me, at number 11, were parents with a young daughter and son. Behind me stood a gay couple who were suspiciously knowledgeable of desert tortoises, I thought, considering the strict prohibition, clearly posted on the web site, against owning more than one. I considered it, but decided not to turn them in. I realized I had bigger things to think about. Since these tortoises can live to over 100 years, I was about to make a choice I would have to live with for a long, long time. But like the NBA draft, it wasn’t just about which tortoise you want, it’s about whose going to be available when your pick comes up. A mammoth size tortoise, over a foot in length was constantly tipping his bin over, impressively scattering lettuce on the path. You always want to draft a high-energy big guy, but would he be available at number 12? Doubting it, I scanned the other tortoises for more options. In the end, I selected Maurice-Pierre, for his lively nature and the higher rise in his shell. When I picked him up, his legs churned in the air in a vain effort to escape, and I looked around anxiously for a box to carry him in. For a moment, I was nearly overwhelmed by the sheer responsibility of the life, albeit reptilian, I held in my hands. Why hadn’t I drafted, I mean, chosen a more docile tortoise? Would I even manage to get out of the parking lot with him? The Herpetology Society had tagged him so they would immediately know what an unfit tortoise adopter I was! Fortunately, I found a box and got him home. We’ve both been acclimating since. http://www.rrwriting.com/2008/09/29/adoption-anxiety-a-tortoise-comes-home#comments humor Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:44:11 -0700 jbardin 43 at http://www.rrwriting.com