This brilliant, practical, useful infographic by Chris Lake at eConsultancy is the best single overview of content marketing I've ever seen.
Once in a long while, nugget gets text emails that make her go, 'AHAHAHAHAHAHA!' before being compelled to share them with the world. I think the last time this happened, it was Kingdom of Loathing's come back and plaaaaay email.
This one from Firebox takes the cake as The Best Receipt Email Evarrrr.
The Liddell Brief
Here’s the big picture[1]: lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. This matters to us as an organization because of our vision to[2] lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. So we’ll know we’re successful if we lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Thus, the single-most-important takeaway our audiences should have from this experience is[3] lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Our competitors will wince at what we’ve created and punch themselves in the face because they’ve been off[4] lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. We all know this will be really difficult because[5] lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua but let’s do it anyway.
via teague.com
The rest of the article is shiny too. ;)
Corporatese is:
a) writing sucked dry of heart, soul, wit, and all purpose but the avoidance of responsibility
b) writing as whoring
Two or three short sentences, followed by a long one are a great way to get people reading.You get their attention. Kid them it’s an easy read. Then hit them with a few dirty facts in the third sentence, before they know they’re cornered. Then you start it all again. Quicken the pace. And ram another juicy fact down their throat.
This - this is beautiful. The entire article is worth reading just for this. It's been quite a while since I've read copywriting advice this good - most copywriting articles IMO tend to be fluffy and generic. Maybe because they're not actually written by good copywriters. ;)
Dear splugget,
Okay, I'm not good at this kind of thing, but I feel like I have to give it a try. So, here goes:I was hanging out the other night, listening to some old mp3s, and I was just overcome with memories of when we used to hang out all the time. Remember? You were an intrepid, fearless adventurer, and I was the free-to-play, fun-and-funny online role-playing game that won your heart. Do you still remember those goodtimes? I can't stop thinking about them.I mean, I know things got kind of messed up at the end, and believe me, I'm sorry. If I could take any of that back, I totally would. And I know people grow and change, and you're not the same person you were then, but hey -- I've changed, too! I thought and thought about how to win you back. I figured I'd make you a mix CD, but I couldn't decide what "our song" was. So I just concentrated on becoming a better game for you, and here's what I came up with:Remember how much fun you used to have with your clan? Alternately, remember how you never joined a clan because you didn't see the point? Either way, clans now have clan dungeons, group zones where your whole clan can work together. Crawl through sewers to Hobopolis, a vast underground vagrant vacation vista! Slide into the slime tube, and stir-fry sassy slimes!I know I wasn't the prettiest game when we were together, so I had some work done. Almost every interface got an interface-lift. You can even manage most of your inventory via chat commands! I also came up with a way for you to automate some of the things you don't love about the game, so you can spend more time with the parts you do love.Not only that, but there are way more animated .gifs than there were before. Don't worry; I haven't lost that low-fi edginess you love, but I'm a lot easier to play with now.You can also have a custom title now, just in case you didn't feel like I appreciated what made you unique as an individual.I should also say Haiku Dungeon's been revamped. See what I did there?Maybe you quit because you got sick of always adventuring above the water. I admit that seems unlikely, but I fixed that, too -- there are a bunch of underwater zones with new food, equipment, mechanics, and challenges.And that's just the tip of the iceberg, trust me. I'm still the silly, clever, deceptively-complex game you fell in love with, only with about 95% more awesome.So, I'm just sayin', if you can find it in your heart to give me another chance, I won't disappoint you.If you don't drop by, I promise I won't bother you again. I just really felt like we deserved one more try.Love,The Kingdom of Loathing.
http://www.kingdomofloathing.com