A Startup Pitch Template
Awesome pitches cut to the chase and typically include only these nine components, in this order.
Being a one-trick pony is awesome
Being confident enough to focus on consistently improving the one thing you sell is hard as shit. But take a look at Dropbox.
A Pretty Awesome List of People Who Can Make Great Things Happen
I’m not accepting new clients these days, but here are some awesome folks who might be.
The #1 UX failure of new products
If your product relies on having a user base in order to be valuable to other users (e.g., people adding content OMG SOCIAL NETWORK?!), then the UX has to cater to a first-time user FIRST.
On doing what you love that matters…
At Brooklyn Beta last week, the “do what you love, do what matters” theme resonated loud and clear. I needed to hear it.
Making Something for 100 Years
Last summer, I got a tour of National Machinery. It’s the place where my dad has worked for 32 years. And now I think it’s a place of wonder. “My dad always told me that the only way to move…
A 4-Minute Backstory
I grew up in Tiffin, Ohio. That’s where American Standard was. Maybe your toilet came from Tiffin. In high school, Mrs. Kizer rejected me from National Honor Society because she hated my oldest brother, Alex. I never even had a…
500 Startups, “Women Invest Now” Challenge
The original content, in alignment with the brand voice, to help interested angel investors BECOME angel investors through 500′s new educational programs.
Dear President Obama + Tax Reformers
Here’s an awesome tax-reform idea that will promote fiscal responsibility. Please do this.
Jared Spool’s UIE: UI17 Conference Descriptions
Working with Jared Spool and his team — most often Lauren Cramer and Adam Churchill — is a dream. Getting to participate in their event planning efforts by helping speakers craft their presentation copy is icing. (And hard work).
FastCustomer’s IA, UX, Content
Writing for your own product is hard. Much harder than writing for someone else’s. As I’ve learned. Same with UX design; luckily, usability testing every Wednesday at NovaCowork seemed to identify the content and flow issues confronting our ongoing iOS…
Pitching Me, Pitching 500
You want into 500 Startups and I totally get it. (I have the incredible experience of being both a founder and a mentor in content and UX.) OK! First, read this post by Paul Singh. And assuming you still want…
Copywriting: Conversions or Thought Leadership?
A thread in my inbox: “We have a lot of ideas on topics to write about that are relevant to our industry. But how should we go about producing content? Hire a copywriter?” Two primary follow-up questions I’d ask: Do…
Dan Martell’s new startup, Clarity.fm
Dan Martell knew he wanted an editor to help him refine his words more than a copywriter to write new ones. This features page for his new startup, Clarity.fm, follows this preferred voice (his own) rather than the user’s.
Lean Content
Lately, I’ve been looking at content through the lean lens. For copywriting, this means testing for messages that make users click before writing a ton of content. If we know that a single user clicked because of something she read, then…
UIE Virtual Seminar: Writing Usable Content
Yesterday I gave my first-ever virtual seminar thanks to Adam Churchill, Jared Spool, Sean Carmichael, Brian Christensen, and others on the radass team at UIE. It’s an odd feeling to know you’re talking to an audience of hundreds but you’re…
Amazing Video, “Murmuration,” makes me weep
Murmuration from Islands & Rivers on Vimeo. Hearing someone’s breath be taken away is fairly incredible, no?
Interlink Conference: Crafting the Web
The wonderful Shawn Johnston asked me to write a mission statement and Interlink Conference description that properly captured the craft elements of his focus, particularly around code, content, and design.
iPhone 5 Launch: Which Carrier Do You Love?
This fun campaign site was a side project for us at FastCustomer since we knew which carrier — AT&T or Verizon — was better (data-wise) in its customer service performance.
