Profile: Mike Russell, Pivotal Writing
Writing to grab attention, writing to communicate
Mike Russell of Pivotal Writing, LLC is turning his life-long passion for writing into a business. As a freelance copywriter, he sees writing as the often-neglected side of the visual identity coin. Without good writing, no amount of attractive graphic design will hold the audience’s attention. However, superb writing regularly goes unnoticed for lack of attention-grabbing design. The two disciplines need each other.
Having said that, writing shouldn’t draw attention to itself; the message deserves the reader’s focus. “Consider a TV reporter,” Mike said. “He must speak clearly, keep a calm voice and present a credible image. If those basic expectations aren’t met, he’ll distract his audiences’ minds, and draw attention away from his report.”
Mike recognizes that many business people have a hard time putting their ideas down on paper. With so many other responsibilities, few people have the time or energy to write well. Yet “in this day and age of short attention spans, compelling writing is vital to communicating your message,” he believes. As a freelance copywriter, Mike helps businesses turn their ideas into an attention-grabbing message.
Mike separates his process into three parts; research, writing and revision. With his clients, Mike first investigates the intended audience, the context and the objectives of the communication. He then drafts several potential cohesive solutions. Because most clients like to be involved in the creative process, Mike incorporates their feedback into the final product.
After a teaching career and years of living abroad, Mike, a Eugene native, moved to Portland in 2008 in search of a larger market.
So far, his favorite project was collecting stories of Catholic Community Services’ beneficiaries to put a human face on the organization’s fundraising efforts. Similarly, his most recent project has connected him with the executive faculty of Willamette University’s MBA program. “One reason I love this work,” Mike said, “is the opportunity to talk to people I would never otherwise meet.”
Mike sees business communication moving away from corporate jargon, towards a personable, conversational tone: “Readers are not interested in businesses or brands. They’re interested in human stories. Notice the growing popularity of the use of ‘we’ instead of ‘The XYZ Corporation’ and ‘you’ instead of ‘the customer’. It draws the reader closer to the message.”
(July 2009)
