If you’ve read my stuff before, you’ve probably seen me banging on about ‘brand’. Who your brand is. How they sound . And how you can write better for your brand. But brand is a bit of a weird word. And you might be sat there thinking: “What is a brand? Am I a brand? Is this even for me?” Here’s the answer.

How it sounds.

A tone of voice audit can help your brand codify what’s already working, solve copy problems or seize brand opportunities. Find out how.

Let’s look at the business case for tone of voice. Why does tone of voice matter? Why is this something that companies spend so much time and effort getting right?

It’s easy to know the safe middle ground of your tone of voice. But what are the limits. Can you use humour? Can you use slang? What about a swear? Learn from this real-life example to find the limits of your brand’s tone of voice.

Learn from a fellow small business how to write an About page that pops with personality and fizzes with fun.

We talk a lot about customer pain points in marketing. But should we be amping them up or downplaying them, making them seem more manageable? Let’s explore with real-life examples.

I won’t lie, I hated this brand’s copy when I first saw it. What the hell are “flattering style solutions”?

As a brand or business, there’s so much to learn from your competition. Find out how to do competitor analysis and what to do with what you learn.

Should you bring customer voice or competitor research into tone of voice development? My thoughts? Our brands don’t exist in a vacuum, so why create like they do? Check out my reasoning with some fun copy examples along the way.

You can name your favourite chocolate bar or brand of shoes from the logo or colours. Tone of voice does the same thing for the written word. Find out the answer to the question ‘what is tone of voice?’ and how it helps your customers.

Maybe you already have a set of tone of voice guidelines for your business, or perhaps you’re looking to develop your first and you’re wondering what they should contain. This breakdown of tone of voice guidelines will help.

If you’re about to embark on a tone of voice development project, you might be wondering how involved your team should be. Get help with your decision here.

Find out how to make the copy you write day in day out feel on-brand while still keeping it human.

What is the power of a swear? Why do some brands do it while others don’t? And can you (or should you) swear in your brand copy. Get all the answers here, with plenty of real life examples.

Rather than letting  your brand values gather dust, why not use them to shape and inform your brand’s tone of voice?

If you run a sustainable business or have an element of sustainability to your business, you’re going to want to write about your values. The trouble is sustainability copywriting isn’t easy. So, here are my top tips for hitting the right note with your purpose paragraphs.

This tube ad from Bubble ticks all the boxes. It’s unusual, fun, ethical and a little bit silly. Find out how you could steal some of that messaging magic for your brand.

At some point your business will change. You might cultivate a new target customer, expand into new categories or markets, shake up your pricing, or update your visuals or words. But it isn’t always easy. So, when change is on the cards, what can you do to guide your customers to the other side with confidence?  

Your new tone of voice is ready and you want to start putting it into action. But how do you get your team on board? And where do you begin with updating all your old content? Check out my guide to changing your tone of voice and bringing it to life across your organisation.

Before you go splashing your distinctive tone of voice across every corner of your business...hold your horses. There are certain places and scenarios where your tone of voice could do more harm than good. Find out when and how to flex your tone of voice to keep your customers on side.