Comments for Good Copy, Bad Copy http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy A blog about good business writing and bad. Especially the bad. Because there's so much more of the bad. Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:48:31 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Comment on “Advise”, “revert” and the importance of empathy by Dey Alexander http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/02/20/advise-revert-and-the-importance-of-empathy/comment-page-1/#comment-15784 Dey Alexander Sat, 30 Mar 2013 03:48:31 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=1955#comment-15784 'Revert' is very common in Indian English - of the business variety of course. I've never seen it even in the dreadful government writing I see a lot of here in Australia. I'd be interested in seeing if your search queries were coming from the sub-continent. ‘Revert’ is very common in Indian English – of the business variety of course. I’ve never seen it even in the dreadful government writing I see a lot of here in Australia. I’d be interested in seeing if your search queries were coming from the sub-continent.

]]> Comment on Targeted to mislead? by Shooting Parrots http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/03/07/targeted-to-mislead/comment-page-1/#comment-15736 Shooting Parrots Wed, 27 Mar 2013 15:13:16 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=2016#comment-15736 Inadvertently perceive? Surely that should be misperceive since misperception is what this sort of gobbledegook is all about, Inadvertently perceive? Surely that should be misperceive since misperception is what this sort of gobbledegook is all about,

]]> Comment on Targeted to mislead? by Alexandra Shiels http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/03/07/targeted-to-mislead/comment-page-1/#comment-15389 Alexandra Shiels Fri, 08 Mar 2013 20:59:20 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=2016#comment-15389 Thank you for this! Working in the financial sector, I slap my hand to my forehead 99% of the time when I read financial ad copy. Paul--It's the same here in the U.S. My friends and I wonder why physical education classes are required in high school but basic financial education classes are not. Especially considering that credit card companies here specifically and aggressively target college kids who know next to nothing about credit cards, fees, APR, etc. Even as a financial services professional, I'm still amazed at how much I have to learn and de-code everyday! Thank you for this! Working in the financial sector, I slap my hand to my forehead 99% of the time when I read financial ad copy.

Paul–It’s the same here in the U.S. My friends and I wonder why physical education classes are required in high school but basic financial education classes are not. Especially considering that credit card companies here specifically and aggressively target college kids who know next to nothing about credit cards, fees, APR, etc. Even as a financial services professional, I’m still amazed at how much I have to learn and de-code everyday!

]]> Comment on Scenes from corporate life by Patrick Neylan http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2009/09/18/scenes-from-corporate-life-6/comment-page-1/#comment-15378 Patrick Neylan Fri, 08 Mar 2013 10:03:55 +0000 http://www.daccreative.co.uk/goodcopybadcopy/?p=572#comment-15378 Ah, remember Bill Hicks? "If you work in marketing or PR, kill yourself. It's the only way to save your soul." Ah, remember Bill Hicks? “If you work in marketing or PR, kill yourself. It’s the only way to save your soul.”

]]> Comment on Targeted to mislead? by Paul Eveleigh http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/03/07/targeted-to-mislead/comment-page-1/#comment-15367 Paul Eveleigh Thu, 07 Mar 2013 21:16:13 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=2016#comment-15367 Financial literacy is abysmal in Australia. It's not on school curriculums. I guess it's the same in England. But people need to know how money markets work. How to invest. How to decode bank-speak. Face it. If you don't take care of your money, someone else will. Someone like IMA. Anyone in Australia who invests in the top ten listed companies makes more money than they would with managed funds. It's been like that for years. Financial literacy is abysmal in Australia. It’s not on school curriculums. I guess it’s the same in England. But people need to know how money markets work. How to invest. How to decode bank-speak.

Face it. If you don’t take care of your money, someone else will. Someone like IMA.

Anyone in Australia who invests in the top ten listed companies makes more money than they would with managed funds. It’s been like that for years.

]]> Comment on Targeted to mislead? by Tony http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/03/07/targeted-to-mislead/comment-page-1/#comment-15359 Tony Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:42:38 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=2016#comment-15359 I'd never heard of the 'Absolute Returns Sector' and so I looked up some of the funds on Trustnet.com. Every one of the fund managers in this sector have 4 or 5% initial charges and take 1 - 1.5% of your fund each year as management charges. All of that with no gaurantee of an 'absolute return' or even a 'targeted absolute return'. They need to make 5% above the FTSE every year to make it worthwhile investing in them rather than a bog standard tracker. They need all of those additional fees to pay for their marketing activities to find more suckers to invest in their doubtful products. Stay clear of people who wrap their obscure products in fancy jargon. They will destroy your wealth. I’d never heard of the ‘Absolute Returns Sector’ and so I looked up some of the funds on Trustnet.com. Every one of the fund managers in this sector have 4 or 5% initial charges and take 1 – 1.5% of your fund each year as management charges. All of that with no gaurantee of an ‘absolute return’ or even a ‘targeted absolute return’. They need to make 5% above the FTSE every year to make it worthwhile investing in them rather than a bog standard tracker.

They need all of those additional fees to pay for their marketing activities to find more suckers to invest in their doubtful products.

Stay clear of people who wrap their obscure products in fancy jargon. They will destroy your wealth.

]]> Comment on Targeted to mislead? by Brad Shorr http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/03/07/targeted-to-mislead/comment-page-1/#comment-15358 Brad Shorr Thu, 07 Mar 2013 13:30:12 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=2016#comment-15358 Hi Clare, I actually feel sorry for financial services marketers. There must be more than 10 million funds in the world, and each one pitches a "secret sauce" that's so nuanced and arcane that no investor could grasp it without doing an hour of research. How do you name something like that? They probably ran out of legitimate names about 100,000 funds ago and are now reduced to grasping at straws. In my opinion they'd be better off not even attempting to be descriptive. Instead, why not use automobile brands as a naming convention? A global precious metal funds could be called Land Rover. If you want something speculative, buy into the Explorer fund. Energy's hot -- get yourself a piece of Volt, or if you're old school, some Electra 225. Hi Clare, I actually feel sorry for financial services marketers. There must be more than 10 million funds in the world, and each one pitches a “secret sauce” that’s so nuanced and arcane that no investor could grasp it without doing an hour of research. How do you name something like that? They probably ran out of legitimate names about 100,000 funds ago and are now reduced to grasping at straws. In my opinion they’d be better off not even attempting to be descriptive. Instead, why not use automobile brands as a naming convention? A global precious metal funds could be called Land Rover. If you want something speculative, buy into the Explorer fund. Energy’s hot — get yourself a piece of Volt, or if you’re old school, some Electra 225.

]]> Comment on Readability scores – and how to use them by Clare Lynch http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2011/06/02/readability-scores-and-how-to-use-them/comment-page-1/#comment-15357 Clare Lynch Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:51:36 +0000 http://www.daccreative.co.uk/goodcopybadcopy/?p=1094#comment-15357 P Bhinder - that's something I do every day! Contact me if you'd like to know more: http://www.dorisandbertie.com/contact.php P Bhinder – that’s something I do every day! Contact me if you’d like to know more: http://www.dorisandbertie.com/contact.php

]]> Comment on “Advise”, “revert” and the importance of empathy by Chris http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2013/02/20/advise-revert-and-the-importance-of-empathy/comment-page-1/#comment-15342 Chris Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:49:28 +0000 http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/?p=1955#comment-15342 'advise & revert' - gibberish. As a native English speaker I'd feel excluded by such nonsense. @tony. keep fighting the good fight. 'that’s what you say in business’ - yes, if you want to be branded a duffer by anyone who has read a book. ‘advise & revert’ – gibberish. As a native English speaker I’d feel excluded by such nonsense.

@tony. keep fighting the good fight. ‘that’s what you say in business’ – yes, if you want to be branded a duffer by anyone who has read a book.

]]> Comment on Readability scores – and how to use them by P Bhinder http://www.dorisandbertie.com/goodcopybadcopy/2011/06/02/readability-scores-and-how-to-use-them/comment-page-1/#comment-15333 P Bhinder Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:07:18 +0000 http://www.daccreative.co.uk/goodcopybadcopy/?p=1094#comment-15333 Can you tell me if you know any financial services writers that can edit material to increase the flesch readability score of the material? Can you tell me if you know any financial services writers that can edit material to increase the flesch readability score of the material?

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