What I Do

Writing │ Consulting │Tone of voice

Naming │ Naming systems │ Baby naming

Messaging & content │ Training │ Transatlantic lens

Writing

 

Writing. Copywriting. Rewriting.

Whatever you’re creating, and however far you’re into it, I can help.

I can write from scratch, create a piece from notes and scribbles, rewrite a full draft, or polish work that’s nearly there. I’ve written pretty much every kind of thing out there: web copy, ads, package copy, blogs, brochures, letters, emails, social posts and DMs, reports, and guidelines. And size doesn’t matter – whether you want a crisp sentence or 10,000 words, I’m game.

When writing isn’t going well, the culprit is content, mechanics, or a mix of the two.

If your content – what you say – isn’t quite right, I can figure out what’s missing and then fix it. If you’re happy with what you want to say, but don’t know where to start, then it’s mechanics: the nuts and bolts of writing. I can take the ideas from your head and get them on the page. Or if you have some writing already, I can determine whether it’s your structure, grammar, style or word choice that have gone awry, and make the changes for you.

Consulting

 

I diagnose what’s going on – then fix it. Like a GP or primary care doctor.

Consulting is for when you have many moving parts, a particularly tricky problem, or you’re just not sure where to start.

It’s hard to generalise about consulting, since by its nature it’s tailored. So think of it like going to your GP or primary care doctor: your first port of call when you need an expert. You come to me with your ailments, and I ‘treat’ you myself, refer you to other specialists, or tell you’re absolutely fine. In every case, I’ll reassure you that it’ll all be okay.

Even though it’s tailored, could you give me an example?

Maybe you’ve noticed your customers are mixing up your products, and you worry your website is confusing. But once we’ve audited the site and interviewed a few customers, we realise that actually, your naming system is sending customers for a loop. So ultimately, we revamp how you name, rename a few products, and then tweak your product copy.

Tone of voice

 

You already have a tone of voice, whether or not you’ve thought about it

If you write, you’ve got a tone – even if you haven’t (yet) deliberately created one. Tone of voice is how your brand sounds: your word choice, your register (how understated or blunt are you?), how much detail you delve into, even the kinds of metaphors you use. When done well, it smooths out customer experience, and adds a dimension of personality, even in mundane spots.

Little decisions build to a big impression – and big results

Tone can feel intangible when you’re dissecting it, because it’s not one thing you can point to. It’s a series of small choices that add up to something greater than its parts. But it’s worth doing: it makes people remember you, and makes you more money.

It can’t be done in a day

When you do it properly, tone of voice isn’t a single page with a few adjectives, nestled in your design guidelines. (Though that can be a great place to start.)

I look at what you already have, talk to your people, iron out a strategy, create the tone of voice, test it out by rewriting some important pieces (things you write a lot, or anything high-profile), and roll it out.

There are two ‘levels’ of tone you can create, depending on your goals

There’s no point in creating a layered tone that your people never use. Nor is it worthwhile to go basic when your brand is already carefully defined. There are two tracks you can take:

  • Raise the bar: Build a strong foundation with the basics of better writing. For when you don’t have the appetite for a very distinctive TOV, but still want to improve consistency and clarity.

  • Stand out: Create a distinctive tone of voice. It’s harder to do, but with a bigger payoff. Usually a good choice for brands who’ve done some strategy work already, and have experienced writers. 

  • (Bonus) Style guide review: Best served as an add-on. For those questions of standardisation, like how to write out dates or capitalise job titles.

Naming

 

Names tell a huge story in a very small space – so you have to get them right.

I name it all. Mostly companies, brands, products and services. But I've also named awards, internal initiatives, job titles – even buildings. I clarify your strategy, generate hundreds of options, winnow them down to the right ones, and help you get your favourites over the line.

Behind every great name is a strong strategy

The best names aren't accidents – even if they look effortless. When you’re generating hundreds of ideas, you need parameters to guide you. And you’ll be grateful for clear criteria when you're deciding between options.

Sometimes it's simple: go descriptive, name this product after exactly what it does. But more often, it's complicated. You need to be memorable. Stand out against stiff competition. Convey a more complex business. So you need to consider descriptive and evocative names, probe the nuances of words, play with sounds, spin out the stories you can tell.

Naming without an eye to legal is like tennis without the net

Your first 100 names are going to be great! And completely unusable, because someone else has already thought of them. Naming is a numbers game: creativity with legal constraints. Which means you need many names, and original ones.

While I'm not a lawyer (nor do I play one on TV), I have a solid understanding of trademark and IP. I've got a spidey sense for what'll work in different trademark categories, and I'll do a basic screen for every name I give you. I won't waste your time showing you names you can't have – like Greek gods if you're in financial services – and I'm always happy to work with your lawyers to tweak names until they're satisfied.

Getting it over the line

Naming can feel like an obstacle course: you find the right strategy, then you find 100 ways to tell a story in 10 characters, then get it through legal. But the biggest hurdle can be getting sign-off from someone who wasn’t always involved along the way.

Naming is subjective – I’ve heard ‘I’ll know it when I see it’ more times than I can count. (And no one ever does.) I can help you present up the chain, or give you tips on persuading the powers that be.

Naming systems

(also called nomenclature)

 

Naming systems are about how and when you name

Naming systems are to naming what tone of voice guidelines are to writing. They tell you when you need to name, and shape what kinds of names you can explore – for instance descriptive or evocative names, or continuing a theme for a product suite.

Plan to grow gracefully

If you’re small, you might not need a ton of names yet. But naming systems help you grow gracefully. For example, how do you name subsequent versions of a hero product? Does a product name sound great, but make it hard to expand the set thematically?

Tame your naming now

If you’re a sprawling org with lots of products, you want to make sure no one’s going off piste. One product in a suite called CoreXT, and another Clean Room. Or giving hard-to-remember names to small features, which may not need names at all. And it’s always helpful to lay out a clear process for approval.

I can help you at any point

Whether you’re planning for a name-filled future, or need an audit of existing names alongside guidelines.

Baby naming

 

We all know that corporations are people, but babies are people too.

And both need names.

The tricks for naming companies and products also work for your newest addition.

I can help you come up with ideas, set a strategy for deciding, sift through what you have, break ties, add middle name(s), and most importantly, win the argument with your partner (or parent, or in-law…).  

A wise proverb says: you’ll never know how many people you can’t stand until you try to name a baby. But as you make this momentous decision, you can be grateful that at least there’s no trademarking involved.

Messaging & content creation

 

Nailing the what

In both messaging and content creation, you need to get your core ideas right.

Messaging: Not everything. The most important things.

Messaging goes by many names: houses, charts, grids, or keys. What do they have in common? They’re about picking out the important things for your readers to know. I’ll help you make decisions – about what to include, and matters the most.

It’s easy to get bogged down in detail, whatever you’re writing. Messaging gives your people high-level ideas to come back to, and approved phrasing to borrow.

Content creation: Pen for hire.

I can also help you create any content, from sifting through your thoughts, to creating a new piece from scratch, ideas and all. Whether you need a blog post, some tweets, or a chunk of copy to reuse in a few spots.

Transatlantic lens

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: you’re a global brand, and you have to sound global.

Or this one: you’re a UK company entering the US market and you need to sound more ‘American’. Or vice versa.

You don’t need a translator – except that you sort of do.

You might think because you watch American TV that you can write for American audiences. Or because you love British detective fiction that you know what to do with that web copy.

But sharing ‘English’ doesn’t mean you’ll hit the right notes. You might not even realise you’ve used an unfamiliar metaphor, or an idiom that feels ‘off’. Or you know you’ve got to switch up the spelling of centre and honour, but you’re worried you haven’t caught everything.

I review and ‘translate’ US, UK and Canadian Englishes

I’ll look at your writing and ‘translate’ it from one to the other, looking at:

  • Spelling, grammar, and punctuation

  • Vocabulary

  • Idioms

  • Metaphors (turning cricket into baseball and back again)

  • Register (like understatement)

  • Innuendo

  • Units of measurement

  • Regionalisms

I’ve done this every day for a decade

Personally and professionally. I’ve worked in London and New York, and in both places acted as unofficial translator for the other side of the pond.

I’m also happy to trade embarrassing experiences about things like fanny packs, pants, and rubbers.

Training

 

Making it work in real life

Everyone can improve their writing.

But telling people ‘write clearly’ never makes them better writers. A tone of voice only works if people use it. And it can feel impossible to make progress if you’re shaky on the nuts and bolts of standard English grammar. It’s not enough to toss some guidelines at people and expect them to feel more confident or improve their writing. That’s what we have training for – to get people doing and learning.

A tailored roll-out, or general ‘better writing’ sessions

I can help you with specific training, like rolling out a tone of voice, or turning writers into skilled namers. I also design and run sessions on standard grammar (that won’t put people to sleep), or sessions that work for whatever you’re writing, like ‘getting to the point’ or ‘getting rid of jargon’.