Writing is a creative art. Writing for others is a commercial science, I suppose - similar to the difference between fine artist and commercial artist. Writers are always writing to some audience, but the difference is, you hire a writer to speak on your behalf to your audience. Tough assignment, because for your writer to have a shot at success, you have to not only carefully explain who your target audience is, but also the message you want to convey. Many many many people believe if they can do that much, they might as well just go ahead and write it themselves. That’s why there is so much terrible writing everywhere.

The commercial artist/designer suffers when the client ties one arm behind his back. “No black, it has to be shaped like a square and the text must be yellow in this X font…….” You don’t need an artist/designer, you need a tracing machine. Do people hire an attorney, then proceed to choose the applicable statutes for the litigation? Do you hire a doctor, then proceed to dictate what tests you will not undergo?

To work with writers, here’s some help. First this article concisely delineates the different types of writers. Then, this site explores some of the abstract difficulties of working with a writer. But, no matter who you work with, when you hire someone for his expertise, please don’t pick him or her to death - that’s a sure fire way to get crap results, even as you are torturing a fellow human. Creatives are fragile folk! Some just pretend better than others.

Over the years, I’ve named companies, magazines, campaigns and events. Love it! In the pursuit of my fascination, I find I learn a great deal from case studies of legendary logos. Here’s one fantastic example from academia. Studying the stories of diverse successful logos always sets Logo Design Works in my creative tail end.

My definition of a “successful” logo is one that has built up untold millions/billions of dollars in recognition equity and worldwide familiarity. All have a great story to tell when you learn about how they originated, how they resisted artibrary change along the way to maintain continuity, if they are modernized and how… all these things can teach valuable strategic lessons to the business owner.

Although consumers in general plan to spend less this holiday, online shopping is still growing. If you are running an e-commerce store, this is the busiest and most competitive time of the year so you should be more aggressive to increase your sales.

Although there are many Internet marketing strategies and tactics today, email marketing continues to be an effective and cost-efficient strong weapon of choice. According to Direct Marketing Association, “For every dollar spent on email marketing in 2007, marketers can expect an estimated $48.29 ROI. Without a doubt, email marketing achieves the greatest ROI of all marketing channels we look at.”

Another statistics from Shop.org shows that email delivers sales at an average cost per order of less than $7, compared to $71.89 for banner ads, $26.75 for paid search and $17.47 for affiliate programs.

Here are 2 clever ways to use email marketing this holiday season:

1. Suggest a gift. Offer gift ideas and packages specific to a person like dad, mom, friend, lover, brothers or sisters. This will make shopping a lot easier for many of your customers.
2. Offer Christmas deals. Most consumers are in the mood for shopping these days so why not offer a promo they simply can’t resist? This will encourage them to buy more in return for a small concession like incremental discounts (example: 10% for purchase above $100, 15% for above $200, etc.)