Society, teasers and my early drive.

This morning I heard an ad on the radio (giving up my iPod and books on CD for a brief second). The ad had several different students and faculty members talking about a specific school. They didn’t name it, but you could tell it was a smaller school with “hands-on” learning. Because of my interest in Stephens and other colleges in the area, I sat at my destination and waited the entire commercial (30 seconds-ish) to learn where in the world they were talking about.

It was Metro Business College. I could sing the catchy “a small college can make a big difference” jingle (did you just do it?). But the name of the school - which is so great according to my blaring radio - wasn’t mentioned until the end.

What do you think about this strategy? Holding information till the last possible second to keep listeners (viewers) hooked? If I didn’t have an active interest in advertising I would have never listened to the entire commercial. But I’m not really that important.

What about their target market? Do you think a person considering college will listen to that commercial to learn the name of this amazing school?

TV shows do it, radio stations do it. They tease you with what’s coming next to keep you around.

But with the short attention span of our society, will this strategy continue to work?

Rachel

Stop being boring

What captures you? What type of copy draws you in, makes you want to keep reading and reading and reading?

And how in the world can you write like that? Well I’m no expert, but I like to think a thing or two has sunk in over the past couple years…

1. Don’t be too fancy.
Avoid long, pretentious words that no one uses (or understands). It makes you look like a donkey. And nobody will like you. Seriously. Nobody.

2. Benefits over features
People don’t care how many watts your new tanning bed has. They care how sexy they will look after they visit. Focus on the benefits in your writing.

3. Be specific
Vague clichés are so last season. You’re going to make “my dreams come true” ? Huh? A bank can do that? No. Really. What can you do for me, and why should I care?

4. Study copy
Read, read, read. Seths Blog,
The Daily Blur and Fuel Your Writing are some of my favorites

5. Be authentic
Don’t fake it. The bs monitors out there will get you.


As students, we tend to write in clichés. It’s what we know. It’s easy. Do you really want to be easy? This is my discovery of the day. How to Use Clichés Hope you enjoy. I hope you go buy Dictionary of Clichés too. I did.

Ok, that’s what I know. What don’t I know? What are other copywriting tips for students?

Stressed at School

Do you ever feel like you are running on empty?

You have an assignment due in one class. A case study in the other, a design due by Tuesday and you don’t even know how to start. Oh, and on top of all that, you are expected to be a twitter/blog/facebook whiz, and keep up with the current events. Not to mention the time that you put in volunteering or as a member of an organization. And if you want a social life, well, goodbye sleep.

But, do you wonder if there is a better way to stay on top? How do some students work full-time while juggling school, organizations and life in general? Here are some tips I’ve read about and have learned (the hard way) are necessary.

Time management – We’ve all heard this one before. It’s so over used I don’t even want to add it to the list. But the fact is that many people still haven’t grasped simple time management. Consider checking your e-mail at specific predetermined times, or limiting your Facebook stalking to twice a day (for 15 minutes). Start the day out with a plan (and a bit of optimism).

Deadlines – have a paper due at the end of the semester? Plan to have it done by the end of March. Scheduling large projects into your life in small increments will be easier than doing all the researching and writing it two days. Oh and you’ll get to sleep.

Filter – It can be difficult handle and respond to all the updates/latest news/gossip online. But then again, maybe you don’t need to be following celebrities on Twitter… Decide what is the most important to you, and control the other stuff.

Get out of your room – or the library, or wherever you hole yourself up to work. Give yourself time to breathe. If you block your entire day off for work, you will be burnt out by Friday… get little quality work accomplished over the weekend and start another long week. Yuck.

So suck it up, live it up and don’t stress out. College isn’t forever, but the habits you learn might be.

Do these strategies help you? What other things can students do to make the most of their college career?

-Rachel