Category: Healthcare
-
The Courage to Kill Good Ideas
—
by
One of the biggest misconceptions about our industry is that the best creatives are the ones with the most ideas. In my experience, the opposite is often true. The people who consistently produce the strongest work aren’t trying to fit every clever headline into the campaign or every interesting insight onto the slide. Instead, they’re…
-
Taste Is the Last Competitive Advantage
—
by
I think we’ve been asking the wrong question about AI. The conversation has mostly centered around whether it can create, but the more interesting question is who decides what’s worth creating in the first place. We no longer live in a world where ideas are scarce. If anything, we’re drowning in them.
-
The Shift from Getting it Done to Getting it Right
Five years ago, if you brought me a project, I would have gotten it done. Even if the brief was messy, the direction was unclear, or the timeline was unrealistic, I’d figure it out. That’s what I was known for, and for a long time, that worked. However, getting it done and getting it right…
-
From the Archive: On Voice, Editing, and Trusting Your Instincts
Creative work is often measured by output, such as campaigns, launches, content, or messaging. But the most important work usually happens earlier. It happens in decisions about what deserves to be said, what needs to be simplified, and what should be protected from being overexplained or over-optimized. Across years of writing, strategy work, and brand…
-
What’s Changing in Copywriting (and Why It Matters)
I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that most “trends” are just new labels for old ideas. What does change, however, are the deeper shifts that drive the way clients think, how audiences behave, and how work gets made. After nearly two decades of writing for brands across healthcare, tech, and consumer, here…
-
The Dreamer and the Disruptor
The song “Imagine” taught me the power of plainspoken truth. Lennon didn’t hide behind metaphors when he could aim directly for the heart. He wrote as if the emotional center of a message was the whole point, and not an afterthought. That instinct has followed me throughout my career and is the part of copywriting…
-
From Freelance to Fractional: Rethinking How You Hire Creative Talent
The creative industry has a language all its own: Freelancer. Contractor. Fractional. Full-time. They sound interchangeable, until you’re the one trying to hire the right partner for your brand. Let’s be honest: choosing the right creative partner isn’t just about budget or bandwidth. It’s about chemistry, trust, and the kind of energy you want in…
-
Storytelling vs. Selling: Why the Best Copy Never Tries Too Hard
Early in my career, I thought good copy was about cleverness. The sharper the hook, the better the headline. I could sweat over a single line for hours, convinced that the right combination of verbs and punctuation could make someone care. But the more I wrote, the more I realized that the harder I tried…
-
Why Your Brand Voice Isn’t Sticking (And How to Fix It)
Brand voice is one of those things that everyone nods about in meetings. Yes, yes, we have guidelines. We have a tone. We even have a PDF to prove it. But then you look at the work, and it doesn’t sound like anyone, let alone your brand. If your brand voice isn’t sticking, it’s not…
-
The Secret Sauce of Great Copy: CTAs That Convert
Writers obsess over headlines, subject lines, and hooks, and rightly so. But a brilliant headline without a strong CTA is like a beautifully plated meal that no one tries. Your CTA is where you turn interest into action. It removes friction by making the next step obvious and guides behavior by answering the unspoken question,…
Sara Barton 