Author: Mark Zukor

Want to write great headlines? Sure you do! And we’ll try to help with that in a future post. But before we give you our tried-and-true secrets for writing great headlines, let’s spend a little time talking about how to recognize a great headline in the first place. After all, [...]

I love smart, funny, insightful quotes. They’re like succinct little shots of wisdom. Not only can they help you see the world differently, they’re also usually excellent examples of clever wordplay and sharp thinking. Which are things we marketers can always appreciate. So with no further ado, here are 25 [...]

Marketing is by its very nature an extroverted activity. It’s all about being outgoing, promoting oneself, getting people’s attention, being heard, standing out. But that doesn’t mean your marketing can’t borrow some lessons from the quiet ones, the introverts. Sure, introverts aren’t known as stellar self-promoters. Actually, it’s usually the [...]

Here in snow-battered Minneapolis, where we just barely survived a brutal, record-breaking February (fourth snowiest month ever—yippee!), the weather seems to be on everybody’s mind all the time. And mine more than most, possibly. Which is why when I was thinking of topics for this blog post, I let my [...]

For most of us in marketing, we’ve become so used to using our computers for everything, we have little or no occasion to ever write by hand anymore, save for a Post-It note here and a shopping list there. In fact, cursive is such an old school skill that it’s [...]

Businesspeople—and marketers in particular—are kind of obsessed with creativity. Which only makes sense, since so much of what we do, and so much of our success, depends on our ability to improve upon existing ideas, and come up with new ideas—and to do so every day. No pressure, right? It’s [...]

Consult Professor Google and you’ll be rewarded with hundreds of rules for how to write effective marketing copy. Many of these are based on solid, time-tested practices proven to generate positive results. Well, I’ve got a few to add to the list. In no way backed by science or any [...]

I just finished reading a blog post written by my d.trio co-worker Beth titled, “Is a designer an artist?” In the excellent post, she explores the differences between a designer and a fine artist—writing that she usually feels more like a craftsperson than an artist. Beth says it’s partly because [...]

There’s a common misperception among marketers that white space is empty space that needs to always be filled. I get it, of course. If you’re spending big bucks for a marketing agency to produce an ad, a website, a glossy brochure, or a fancy direct mail piece, it only makes [...]

For as long as I can remember, my team has been the New York Yankees. I know, I know. It’s not fashionable to talk about the Yankees here in Minnesota. (Understatement alert!) So, I’ll try not to behave like one of those obnoxious New York transplants who blabbers on and [...]