Many startups think their "brand" consists of a logo and a color palette. Maybe a tagline. And that's often why they remain startups.

If you don't establish a brand voice and personality, you're missing an opportunity to become memorable with every sentence you write: Web copy, email, video scripts, even your interface text.

I'll help you develop a brand personality and voice that guides whoever's doing the writing for your company — marketers, engineers, vendors, etc. — keeping your brand compelling and consistent.

Here's a secret about naming: The best name won't always be your favorite. Is someone else using it in your area? Does someone already have the URL? "Favorite" isn't the only box to check.

My naming system takes these and more elements into account to give you vetted, brand-consistent, memorable naming options.

A brand book is your company's "north star", defining the details about your brand that a person needs to know.

Send new hires and vendors your brand book. You'll save onboarding time and get them working sooner. Share them with the whole org. Engineering doesn't get why they have to use *those* colors? Marketing doesn't get why they shouldn't use certain words? Brand book.

Whether I'm writing them from scratch, contributing pages on brand voice, or polishing the full text, I have a philosophy for writing brand books: Keep them streamlined, intuitively-organized, and written in the company's brand tone to get readers on board at the first sentence.

I've been fascinated by the cannabis industry since the first US states went medical-use legal. I set out to learn more about it through Oaksterdam University's excellent Business of Cannabis program and it only enhanced my appreciation of this rapidly expanding sector.

Most of my projects have been for Telegrafik, an outstanding branding studio whose founders' industry roots go back a decade. I've been fortunate to apply my industry knowledge and an understanding on when (and when not) to use industry jargon or cannabis-culture tone. Pro tip: Easy on the weed puns.

I penned the script and copy for the rollout campaign of Skype's latest Mac edition. We based the campaign around a testimonial from AppyParking, an actual London startup that depended on Skype to communicate, share files, GTD, etc. A pre-interview with them garnered the quirkier parts of the piece, including the founder’s adorable dog. Social and email followed. 

The fight for Bay Area talent is, to many, epic. Why not bring super powers into the mix? That's the idea our marketing team at MuleSoft plastered over every available inch of media space in the San Francisco Caltrain station, hanging dramatic, powered-up photos of our team members on pillars, walls, floor spaces etc.

I created the characters, inspired by our “Muleys"‘“ jobs and skillsets — our DevOps engineer as "protector of the stack," a sales rep as a Green-Arrow-style "hunter," etc. — and paired each with copy that paid off their powers. Result: a 20% spike in traffic to our Careers site.

Qik was a Snapchat-type ephemeral messaging app. Not only was it Skype's first new product in 15 years, it presented a chance to market to a younger, faster audience. 

My copy work touched every piece of media in the launch: taglines, banner campaign, email, app store, and even the brand guidelines. 

One gorgeous stop-motion montage, two scripts…all to remind folks that Lumosity brain games aren’t just for the desktop.

The first script showcased Lumosity’s mobility. The second focused on how Lumosity makes it easier to keep your New Years Resolution…provided that resolution is to keep your brain sharp.

How do you convey how simple (and catch-less) a rebate site can be? You show it's so easy a seven-year-old could explain it. 

Written for Funworks with the able animation of Paper Dog Video, we created this video to instruct DealAction.com visitors how to use the site, and even brought the "easy to use" point home with a voiceover from the founder's son, Asher.

I concepted the video, wrote the script, and storyboarded it. Funworks liked my crude storyboards so much they used my “art” in the video. 

Not sure what APIs are? Watch even the first twenty seconds of this and wonder no more.

This first video in a partnership between Visa and MuleSoft explained API tech to the layperson using fun metaphors and simple language. I added humor to keep the viewer engaged. My estimable art director/animator, Chris Payne, added another layer or two of creative flair on top. An accompanying infographic quickly followed. If Visa and MuleSoft collaborate as well as Chris and I did on this project, they're in for a treat. 

The second leg of Skype's Ones To Watch sponsorship was suffering from fatigue and needed a new hook. Since this leg would sponsor six bands touring across six cities over six weeks, I pitched calling it “The Skype Six” — and  the name stuck. I also wrote all site collateral, video text, and email.

I mean c’mon: What’s the first thing you think of when you pair Halloween and brains? Kudos to Lumosity for letting designer Greg Damiani and I have more fun than usual with our annual Halloween sale. I wrote, he illustrated, we both giggled a little.

If nothing else, I can take credit for using “BRAAAAAAINS!” as an email subject line.

This email campaign for MS Office apps remains one of the favorite email campaigns I've written. We introduced a new design for the promotion, and a more engaging copy style that you don't normally find in Microsoft campaigns.  

Lumosity launched their Mindfulness product in 2017 with a science-based approach, leveraging our brand and avoiding the more “woo woo” and secular connotations of meditation. I had the good fortune to write and help concept the launch materials, both marketing and in-product.

We later phased out the moon man, but the friendly, science-based language I crafted here has set the product’s tone ever since.

Skype is no stranger to music-industry integrations, but in Spring 2014 we went even bigger, giving every festival-goer at Washington’s three-day Sasquatch! Festival their own chance to perform. We built the Skype Music Room, an interactive installation where you could make a Skype video message and send it through a processor that broke it up into samples, which you could trigger on a MIDI touchpad and jam for a dance-floor crowd. I wrote the materials, banners, videos, signage, even the t-shirt slogans.

An ad I scripted and co-concepted, supporting the release of MuleSoft's 2016 Benchmark report. We used a friendly visual conceit to convey the difficulty of enterprise digital transformation, and presented APIs as the saving grace. 

Shopping with a smidgen of snark: That's what the discriminating Aldea Home customer likes. These ads, placed in the holiday issues of national pubs like LUCKY and DOMINO, resulted in a 36% boost in traffic to Aldeahome.com, not to mention their brick-and-mortar San Francisco store. 

Leveraging Aldea's innate taste in tasteful artisan gifts and furnishings, the ads played to complimentary sensibilities: people who gift to impress, who don't mind picking up a thing or two for themselves why they're out.