research

Write email subject lines that get opened

Think Like a Recipient to boost email open rates

Useful information is among the top three reasons people share information via email or social media, according to research by Chadwick Martin Bailey:

Because I find it interesting/entertaining (72%)
Because I think it will be helpful to recipients (58%)
To get a laugh (58%)

Those findings echo research by three professors at Carnegie Mellon University.… Read the full article

How to find feature, benefit

Ask the right questions in the interview

Having trouble finding reader benefits? Maybe you need to ask different questions.

Ask your subject matter experts:

What happens if our customers buy this product or service?

… Read the full article

Reporters hate press release quotes

They snooze, you lose

What’s the least important element in a release — less important even than the dateline or the boilerplate?

Quotes, say one in four reporters surveyed in a study by Greentarget.… Read the full article

How to conduct observational research

Try WBHA, or writing by hanging around

You’ve heard about MBWA, or management by walking around? Try WBHA, or writing by hanging around — going to the scene to observe.… Read the full article

How to research for blog posts, articles

Get good at getting the goods

You’ve heard the phrase “hog in, sausage out.” That means that what you get out of the grinder will be no better than what you put in it.… Read the full article

What is the writing process?

3 steps to writing better, easier & faster

While we talk a lot about what to write — More stories! Fewer words! Shorter sentences! — we don’t focus so much on how.… Read the full article

Redefine the way you define terms

5 ways to rethink definitions

When I was customizing an in-house writing workshop for a utility company, I wanted to see whether there was a better way to define kilowatt hour, or kWh, for consumers.… Read the full article