Taylor

Taylor

Taylor Lindstrom (fondly known as Tei) is a twenty-something copywriter and journalist from Boulder, CO. She’s the team’s rogue woman who wowed us until our desire for her talents exceeded our desire for a good ol’ boys club. She loves the color green, micro-point Uniball pens, and medieval weaponry.

How to Please Your Client Every Single Time

Photo credit Gualtierro Boffi I have the secret. The never-fail secret to making sure your client is thrilled with the web copy you write 99.999% of the time. Gather round me, children, for I am about to speak a word of power. Contained within this word is the secret to web copywriting that knows the heart and mind of your client – yea! Knows even their hopes and dreams and deepest desires for their online presence. Come closer. I shall whisper the word in your ear. Questionnaire. That was rather anticlimactic, wasn’t it? Yeah, okay,

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What To Do When You’ve Been Insulted

The other day, I got an email from a client whom I like very much. He’s a cool guy, profitable business, generally fun to work with, pays on time, all the good stuff. His emails are usually brief, casual, and mention something like, “Have a nice weekend,” or “Hope everything’s good with you.” So it was weird to get an email that was so stilted and formal that it sounded like it was written by the Queen of England’s chamberlain to someone she was too polite to outright call a waste of space. I sat

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Imperfection is a Good Thing

Do yourself a favor and look around the blogosphere. Look at the people who have almost obsessive cult-followings. The people who have started their own movements and revolutions. The people whose fans would knife you if you said an ill word against their favorite blogger. Realize something with me: We are not looking for perfection. If anything, perfection kind of pisses us off. The high and mighty are not our favorite people. We like people who can acknowledge their imperfections, people who admit they screw it up not just sometimes, but often, and the people

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Are You Becoming a Lazy Blogger?

As your readership grows, it’s easy to think you’ve got this blogging thing down pat. Everyone likes you, you have lots of subscribers, and your posts are Tweeted and Dugg and Stumbled all over the place. You can kick back and relax, right? Afraid not. There’s a growing trend around longtime bloggers: newbie mistakes. Producing Lackluster Content This is perhaps the most common problem among longtime bloggers. If you’ve been around for a few years and you enjoy even moderate popularity, it’s almost a guarantee that newbies show up, all wide-eyed and open-mouthed, to gape

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Do You Ask for Permission or Forgiveness?

You’ve heard the old saying, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission,” right? It may be easier. But it’s still not a good idea. I’ve been seeing a lot of this sort of thing lately. I’m on a bunch of lists I never signed up for. I have people following me on Twitter who say things like, “Hey, if you’re looking for new writing markets, you should try this website.” I get snail mail from credit card companies who could not possibly have my new mailing address unless they scammed it off some

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Should You Go Back to School?

Don’t fret, good people. I’m not here to tell you that you should consider going back to school for a second degree. Most freelancers have enough trouble scrapping together money for the rent without having to worry about paying another couple of tens of thousands. Especially since no one cares about your degree. That’s right. No one cares what degree you have. You’re a freelancer. People want to see your portfolio, your testimonials, and your professional-looking website. But maybe you should go back to school. And what kind of school gets you more of what

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How to Write Sales Copy When the Standards Don’t Apply

Recently, we did some work for a couple of folks with a product marketed to rock fans. Specifically, fans of one particular band. These folks needed a sales page to sell their product, and since James is a ridiculous rock freak, he was falling all over himself to oblige. I came along for the ride. Passive observer here, people. I am just reporting the facts. Usually, in a sales page, you want to make sure the benefits of purchasing this product are obvious to your audience. Your two go-tos are as follows: This product will

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What To Do When Your Client is Boring

Clients often contact us hoping we can jazz up their current copy. They’re looking for something a little funnier, a little more out-of-the-box, a little less like the next guy. No problem, we say. Why don’t you answer a couple of questions for us about who you really are, and we’ll use that information to make your web copy sound more like you? Because we’re sure you’re a really awesome person with an interesting take on your industry and lots of good reasons your business is way better than the competition’s. We say to our

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What Would You Do If You Only Had Two Hours?

I’ve only taken to using Twitter as a regular thing fairly recently, so it’s entirely possible that Dave Navarro (@rockyourday) has been doing this for years and I never knew about it, but I’ve been kind of taken with the way he often starts off a morning: “What would you work on if you only had 2 hours today? Okay, do that first.” Combine that with a T-shirt from Woot.com that I love called Procrastinate. The shirt reads, “Because if the world ends tomorrow, you don’t have to do it.” It’s official, you guys: I

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How to Organize Huge Copywriting Projects

We often get requests to write ebooks, and most of them are a fairly moderate 5-10 pages in length. Little ebooks. About the amount of information you’d get in five decent-lengthed blog posts. But we also get requests for huge ebooks – upwards of 50 pages. We’ve also had requests for manifestos, white papers, and from one particularly memorable client, three books. Actual books. For publication. These are all extremely lengthy projects. In an online world, such projects are not exactly commonplace. Usually copy comes in nice bite-sized chunks: a webpage, a blog post, an

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James and the team at Men with Pens helped us write a number of pieces to be used for marketing purposes. James was quick to respond to our questions at...

Nick Domino – Water Damage Defense

James and the team at Men With Pens have been absolutely amazing to work with. When I came to them, I had only the vaguest of vague ideas of what...

Johnny B. Truant – The Badass Project

James and MenWithPens listened carefully to what I wanted and needed , then designed a site and accompanying twitter and facebook pages that went way beyond my expectations. They finished...

Dr. Cory Annis – Unorthodoc

When I hired Men with Pens for the web design (doesn’t it look awesome?), I also kicked off one of the most rewarding professional relationships of my life. James Chartrand...

Peter Shallard – New York Business Psychology Consultant

Working with Men with Pens for my first site redesign couldn’t have been a better experience. Their design and technical knowledge is second to none, they’re scary-fast in terms of...

Amber Naslund – Brass Tack Thinking

Men with Pens? These guys are fantastic! When saw their design, I was so happy, I just couldn't get the wrap-around-grin off my face. Communication skills, creativity, know-how - they...

Mary Jaksch – Write to Done / Zen Habits

I can’t thank you enough for what you and your team has done for our company. Our marketing presence has taken on a whole new attitude, and I think it...

Scott Gin – Better Basketball

I have worked with a lot of designers and copywriters and Men With Pens surpasses them all. After just a few emails they were able to capture my style, tone...

Melani Ward, Marketing Consultant

With a sweep of their magic wand, MWP took my old site and redesigned the look. My traffic went up 35% in two weeks, and book sales have doubled. These...

Mike Davenport – Max Rigging

Men with Pens is a great company, because they are a) smart b) talented c) quick d) funny. What else do you want in a web design firm?

Pamela Slim – Escape from Cubicle Nation

Covered in goals, and bogged down by the steps to accomplish them, I was in need of serious help. That's when I turned to James. One call with her, and...

Adam King – Adam King Studio

My first observation after the Google Analytics code went in is that users are spending 10 times (yes, that's right) as long on the site as they were on the...

Matthew Needham – Big Red Tomato Company

The art in web designing truly lies in the designer's ability to accurately capture the essence of what the client wants, and the skill to translate that into an overall...

Dr. Angelica Perez, Ph.D – New Latina

Our products sales have increased drastically after adding the new copy to our website. Thank you so much! I'll look forward to using your services again in the near future.

Bryant Tutas – Short Sale Superstars

I feel like no words would do them justice and please don’t say, “No pun intended”. This team is out of control good. They do a better job of getting...

Melani Ward

A gal in my yoga class made a huge point of telling me how much she loved the way my blog was written. So personal, so fun, so absolutely ME!...

Andree Kehn – AndreeKehn.com

I liked your straightforward advice to writers re: voice and style advice.

Margaret Atwood

What a delight working with Men with Pens. They acted as great advisers, fabulous designers and thoughtful counselors, guiding me through a website upgrade and new blog design. In addition,...

Dr. Peter Gratale

Men with Pens has this uncanny ability to take my rough ideas and turn them into something great. I am a professional writer, and working with MWP on writing projects...

Marie Rippel

Not only did James Chartrand and the whole Men With Pens team get us everything before our deadline, they were instantaneous in response pretty much all the time and very...

Jaime Mintun

As seen on Third Tribe!: Just had to share a resource for an outstanding team of copywriters, web developers, and all around rockstars that I've worked with several times now:...

Amber Naslund – Brass Tack Thinking

I was recommended Men With Pens, and I have never looked back. They seriously ROCK! I live in Asia and despite a 12 hours time difference, communication was smooth. They...

Tomas Bay – Beat The Monster

Thank you for all the effort you have put in to capturing the essence of what I am truly about and helping my voice to come out, loud and proud,...

Ali Davies

These guys rock. They quickly got to the heart of what we wanted to do, produced brilliant copy first time round and were really lovely to work with.

Marcella and Michael Bungay Stanier – Find Your Great Work

Fantastic! Men with Pens were tremendously helpful in reviewing content for my company's new website. Their critique was right on the mark, and their insights have allowed me to greatly...

Chris Sutton – Easy Ear Training

Men With Pens were just great! They listened carefully to determine what I wanted, then created a website that fit perfectly with my vision but still managed to surprise me....

Dave Rowley – Creative Chai

That looks fabulous, money well spent. I have yet to see a bad design by Men with Pens, and they have certainly surpassed themselves on yours. If I were a...

Judy (for Billybrew.com) – Judy of the Woods

Wanted to thank you for your endless patience throughout this process. You produced a site we're thrilled with. Maybe more important, you made the entire development process a fun ride!...

Janus Javier – Real World Supply Chain

If you're looking for a copywriter, a website architect, an eBook designer ... stop. Here at Men with Pens you've found a wonderful company of professionals who will be with...

Austin Briggs

Working with Men with Pens was one of the best business experiences I have had as a customer. The team was knowledgeable and engaged and provided valuable insight that helped...

Karen Swim – Words for Hire

HOLY HOT COPY, BATMAN!! Ok...can I just TELL you how much I love this copy? Seriously! I just read it to one of my colleagues and she had goosebumps!! THANK...

Jodi Ojo – Model Per4Mance

The feedback I’ve received on the site has been all good. Thank you so much for EVERYTHING. You’ve been a joy to work with, a patient instructor, quick witted, and...

Karen M Hollman, Esq. – The Law Office of Karen M. Holman, PLLC

I've used many web developers from the solo freelancers to the big national firms and have always been disappointed. And then I found Men With Pens. Great rates and amazing...

Kevin Kruse – Kru Research

I have had Men With Pens design two sites for me now. I described what I wanted and how I wanted the sites to feel. Somehow they took the images...

Elizabeth Fayle – Make Way for Biz

James and the gang at Men with Pens totally rock! The cool new site they created for us went live about six weeks ago. Already it’s generating traffic at levels...

Frank and Lou Anne Reddon – EnZepplopedia Publishing Inc.

I simply have to rhapsodize about the following website design from MenWithPens. The site is http://www.petershallard.com - the design is resplendent, the copy compelling, and the content magnificent to boot....

Barbara Ling

I wasn’t really thinking of designing a new website. But curiosity (or my ego) had me intrigued for detailed feedback about how I could improve my existing website? Who could...

Penny Hoff – New Hip Tips

For nearly a year, my associates and I tweaked and edited our online web hosting business website in an effort to generate more customer sign ups. Despite our efforts, new...

John Hoff – eVenture Biz

James challenged us to dig deep and truly understand what we wanted to accomplish, and then built a site that captures the essence of who we are. The site is...

Mark Dyck – Regina Lakeview Community Association

Our school is booming. We're having easily the best January ever, and it's only, what, the 11th? Our new site has had an impact on our overall attitude and perspective...

Shifu Ahles – Blue Dragon Kung Fu

I am thrilled to say that we have had a fabulous response to the new website and in fact we're already starting to see clients (it's only been seven days...

Sasha Stricker – Alberta, Canada

Great customer service, James. It created trust right away. You seem like an honest, stand-up guy, very professional and caring about the client. Your designs are superior to what I’ve...

Michael Toebe – Quick Help Now

Men with Pens took a site that I had built a six-figure business around and that was already "pretty good" and made it spectacular, improving product sales and boosting opt-in...

Brian DeChesare – Mergers and Inquisitions

Your ability to communicate clearly, spec a job realistically, meet a deadline and completely fulfill the work to your client's satisfaction is exceptional. And in short, code is scary to...

Elizabeth Pendleton

I'd never dealt with an online web designer. My family told me I was crazy. How could I put a large amount of dollars into someone's hands I'd never met?...

Dan Miranda – Knicks Vision

When I hired Men with Pens to design my site, I hired them for two reasons: 1. they are capable of creating artistic looks while retaining functionality; and 2. great...

Patrick Vuleta – Silvered Copy

A massive thank you for designing my blog as quickly as you did. It met and exceeded my expectations and I really couldn’t be happier with what you delivered. Keep...

Linda Iruoha

If you’re considering hiring a writer for your website or Blog, you can’t go wrong with James over at Men with Pens. He really takes the time to understand your...

Marc Chase – My Credit Group

Your original website review gave me plenty of great information that allowed me to take another step in the right direction. One thousand thank-yous for offering that insanely awesome offer...

Michael Lindstrom – Strolen's Citadel

I would strongly recommend working with the Men with Pens team. I came to them as a client who knew nothing about web design. I was nervous, didn't know how...

Wendi Kelly

Thank you so, so much for your website review, it was very enlightening! I've been listening to it again and again and had more than a few light-bulb moments (as...

Julie Duran

James is a Genius! I am thrilled and amazed at how much talent she has. Where to begin? The price was excellent for what Men with Pens did for my...

Yvonne Oliver – Dallas Relaxing Massage

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