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Rad Dewey

Web Content Strategist, Editor & Writer – Direct Response Copywriter

  • Rad Dewey’s Career Experience
  • [ Client Testimonials ]
  • Rad Dewey’s Client Experience (partial list)
  • [ Rad Dewey’s FAQ – frequently asked questions ]
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  • My Life So Far by Edith the Bouvier des Flandres

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© 2000-2022 radewey.com

Author: radeweycom

Rad Dewey’s FAQ – frequently asked questions

Thanks for asking about my copywriting services. . . .

You need a good copywriter, a strategist with strong marketing sense and customer awareness — someone who combines writing skill and sales ability with technical know-how and product knowledge. But, you want to know more about a writer before you hire one.

If we were meeting in person or over the phone, you’d ask me questions. Let me anticipate some of those questions.

“What are your qualifications?”

I’m a web editor, copywriter, and content producer skilled at creating direct response copy and web content that engages readers and draws them into a purchase funnel. As a web content producer, I have managed entire editorial operations and internal and external content providers. I’ve written a variety of user interaction flows that make websites easy to navigate and engaging for visitors. I know the art and science of writing websites that register highly with search engines.

I also have experience in creating marketing communications and public relations programs.

Some of my recent accomplishments include:

  • Building an editorial channel from scratch for Yahoo! that last year converted 35 million referrals into subscribers who contributed more than $6 million in incremental revenue to the business unit.
  • Attracting tens of millions of referrals from Yahoo!’s front page and driving conversions that produced millions of dollars in subscription revenue.
  • Recruiting more than 100 writers and experts who contributed articles at no cost in return for gaining exposure on Yahoo! — the world’s most-visited web destination — for their books, websites, and services.
  • Using a combination of lively writing and savvy story and feature selection to quadruple click-through from ThirdAge.com’s front door to articles within its various editorial channels.

Prior to moving online, I worked in marketing communications and public relations. I’ve written public relations, advertising, direct marketing and general editorial copy for more than 50 clients in business-to-business and business-to-consumer market situations.

Marketing communications and public relations campaigns I’ve created helped to launch a worldwide courier (DHL), the predecessor to AOL (Control Video Corporation), an Internet phone company (MediaRing.com), a web-based vacation rental services (GetawayZone.com) and a transcontinental airline (World Airways).

They have also inspired 500 Northern California schools to start aluminum recycling programs (Reynolds Metals), introduced woven graphite composites to aircraft builders (Hexcel Corporation), sold thousands of feet of chain saw chain (Omark Industries) and attracted bidders who paid astounding prices for baseball cards and other sports memorabilia (Wolffers Auctions).

I was also a partner and account team leader with public relations firms, an advertising copywriter and newspaper reporter. I even took a turn at being a press secretary for a presidential candidate. Here’s an outline of my career and a list of clients I’ve served.

“Do you have experience in my field?”

If you sell to business, industry, professionals or through direct response, chances are I already have experience dealing with your type of product or service — or with something very similar.

I’ve written about real estate, computers, chemicals, mining equipment, construction, electronics, engineering, architecture, medical devices, industrial equipment, marine products, yeasts that ate potato processing waste, software, banking, financial services, health care, seminars, training, telecommunications, consulting, corporate finance and many other areas including romance and relationships.

More important to you, I’m a marketing copy specialist.

Writing marketing copy isn’t something I do to pass the time between writing web pages and ads. Rather, it’s my bread and butter. I put all my skill, knack and know-how into every piece of marketing copy I write. And, after writing hundreds of web pages, articles, brochures, ads, and sales letters for people like you, I’ve learned how to sell to corporate executives, entrepreneurs, managers, purchasing agents, technicians, engineers, professionals, and other business and technical buyers.

Send for my writing samples or look at my portfolio. Does what you see seem “right up your alley?”

If not, give me a call and I’ll go through my files to find additional samples that are closer to your area of interest.

“What kinds of assignments do you handle?”

I cover the full spectrum. About 80 percent of my business is writing for the web — marketing, SEO (search engine optimization), SEM (search engine marketing), creating landing pages and microsites, and user interaction content. The rest of what I do includes creating marketing communications materials, press releases, feature articles, ads, case histories, newsletters, product guides, presentations (including PowerPoint), and an assortment of direct-mail packages and catalogs for business, industrial and high-tech clients.

My specialty is writing clear, credible, persuasive copy about a wide range of business products and services, from the simple to the highly technical.

I am able quickly to grasp complex marketing problems and understand sophisticated technologies. Clients appreciate that I can sit with engineers, scientists, and other specialists, ask intelligent questions and speak their language. For years, as a public relations practitioner, I’ve worked with top management. I know how to apply their goals and objectives to creating marketing communications materials that achieve the results they demand.

What’s more, my copy gets results:

  • I wrote email campaign that scored a 43% open rate and 10,613 orders — almost 2x the orders needed for the campaign’s success.
  • An interactive site tour designed to sell a subscription service converted 44% of tour takers into subscribers within 24 hours after completing the tour.
  • I wrote online health and personal-finance newsletters and a monthly newsletter for Yahoo! Personals that averaged 15-25% click-through rates.
  • A newspaper and radio advertising campaign I created brought more consumers with more aluminum to recycle into a Stockton, Calif., recycling center on one day than the company had ever recorded on a single day anywhere in its nationwide recycling network.
  • A house magazine I wrote for a maker of chain saw accessories regularly surpassed its two competing, independent publications for readership within its target dealer audience.
  • Product and sales literature news releases written for a cast-steel products company usually outscored the company’s product advertising for lead generation.

And, I’ve helped several non-profits boost attendance at their events, swell their membership rolls and reap more donations.

I can’t predict how many responses any ad, mailer or literature package will pull for you. However, I can — and do — guarantee your satisfaction with the copy you receive from me.

“You say you are a ‘copywriter and consultant’?”

Besides writing copy, I also work with many of my clients as a consultant, helping them plan marketing campaigns that generate maximum response. They’re pleased and happy to get on-target advice that works — at an affordable fee — and they like the fact that I don’t charge a monthly retainer for my copywriting services.

“You offer a service called ‘copy clinic.’ What’s that?”

A Copy Clinic provides an objective review of a webpage, ad, sales letter, and brochure or direct-mail package. You can have me review either an existing piece or a draft of copy in progress. It’s up to you.

When you order a Copy Clinic, you get a written report of two or more single-spaced typed pages that analyzes your copy in detail. I tell you what’s good about it and what works, what doesn’t work, what should be changed…and how. My critique covers copy design, strategy and the offer. It also includes specific directions for revisions and rewriting, although I do not write or rewrite copy for you under this arrangement.

A Copy Clinic is ideal for clients who want a second opinion on a piece of copy or who need new ideas to inject life into an existing direct mail package that’s no longer working. It also enables you to sample my services at far lower cost than you’d pay to have me write your copy from scratch.

“Speaking of money, how much does it cost to hire you for a project?”

For any copywriting assignment — web page, email series, sales letter, press release, case study, ad, brochure, direct-mail package, presentation script, or whatever — just let me know what you have in mind and I’ll quote you a price. I can send you a Schedule of Estimated Fees that will typical price ranges for a variety of projects.

“What do people say about your work?”

“Rad Dewey works for me as contract content manager covering two business units at PayPal. He tackles whatever project I give him with rigor and energy, producing clear, lively content, and matching PayPal’s style and voice guidelines. He is an amazingly quick study, has come up to speed on projects virtually immediately. He is a pleasure to have around the office, and has a good store of great stories, too.” — Janet Isadore-Barreca, Senior Manager, Global Content, PayPal (an eBay Company)

“Rad is one of the strongest and hardest working editors I know–and one of the most results-oriented. He did an amazing job radically increasing the number of people who came to Yahoo Personals because of the original content he assigned and edited and then pitched for placement on Yahoo’s front page–he was a master at making it all look easy, but his work drove a lot of eyeballs, page clicks, and revenue. Rad has great ideas and is a tremendous learner–he helped reformat the entire content area and refocus it with a fresher voice and feel. Rad is a great asset because of his skills and his work ethic. I would work with him again with pleasure.” — Susan Mernit, Senior Director, Product, Yahoo!

 

When asked, Kevin Plagman, principal of Communications West, San Francisco, praised my, “Immediate grasp of objectives and subject material and fast turnaround of tight, crisp copy that only a veteran can bring.”

Michael Dean, vice president, public relations of MediaRing Inc. (mediaring.com) says, “You are insightful and understand what news is and how to put it in news worthy release” and “You were available and quick to respond upon any request I had.”

Please visit my “testimonials” for more comments from my clients.

“How long will it take you to write my copy?”

Ideally I like to have two to three weeks to work on your copy. That gives me the time to polish, edit and revise until I’m happy with every word.

However, I realize you can’t always wait that long. So if the job is a rush, just tell me the date by which you must receive the copy. If I take on the job, I guarantee that you will have the copy on your desk by this date or sooner.

No matter what the deadline is, the copy I submit to you will be right. You can depend on it.

“What happens if we want you to revise the copy?”

There is no charge for rewriting. Revisions are included in the flat fee we have agreed to for the assignment, as long as you request them within 30 days of your receipt of the copy and you are not basing them on a change in the direction of the assignment made after I submitted the copy.

Most clients are pleased and enthusiastic about my copy when they receive it. Nevertheless, if you are not 100 percent satisfied, I will revise the copy according to your specific guidelines — at my expense.

“How do I hire your services?”

Putting me to work for you is easy. First, just tell me what you are selling and to whom you are selling it. Send me a link to your website, your brochure, catalog, whitepaper, or any other literature that will give me the background information I need to write your copy. However, do not worry about organizing anything — I will do that. If I have any questions, I will pick up the phone and ask.

If you’d like to get together to go over the job in person, we can do that, too. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ll be delighted to meet with you, wherever and whenever you wish. Or, we can set up a web conference.

When you give me the go-ahead, I’ll write the assignment for you. You will receive your copy on or before the deadline date. And, remember, it is guaranteed to please you.

Dozens of firms — including Yahoo!, PayPal, Ancestry.com, Reynolds Metals, Hexcel, DHL, Tektronix, World Savings, ThirdAge.com, Omark Industries and WICAT Systems — have found my copy ideal for promoting business, industrial and high-tech products and services and direct-response offers.

So…why not try my service for your next writing project? I promise you’ll be delighted with the results.

If you have an immediate requirement, call me at 415-722-4386 or send me an email at radewey@radewey.com. There is no charge to discuss your job and give you a cost estimate. And you have obligation to retain me. I want to hear from you.

Home

Rad Dewey
415-722-4386
radewey@radewey.com

Posted on May 14, 2016January 11, 2017Tags advertising, bylined article, copy clinic, copywriter, copywriting, creative, direct, direct mail, direct marketing, direct response, email marketing, interactive marketing, internet marketing, mail, marketing, marketing communications, permission marketing, press release, public relations, Rad Dewey, response, Web content, web developer, writing

Rad Dewey’s Career Experience

PayPal, San Jose, California
2008 – 2009
Content Manager (contractor) for Global Platform User Experience Design Team

Writing user interaction content for the company’s payment service operations in Asia and Europe. Wrote transactional content that guided customers in the U.K. and Australia through the process required establish their identities and comply with anti-money-laundering statutes enacted in those countries.

Zazzle.com Inc., Redwood City, California
Oct. 2008 – June 2009
Marketing Copywriter (contractor)

Wrote site content, marketing, and promotional materials including emails and advertising for the company, an online, on-demand manufacturer and marketer of a potentially infinite number of customized personal apparel and accessory items.

Yahoo!, Inc., Sunnyvale, California
2003 –  2008
Site Editor and Copywriter for Yahoo! Personals

Built a relationships and romance editorial channel from scratch with an outstanding roster of writers and experts who attracted substantial readership through featured placements on Yahoo!’s front page. Wrote a monthly newsletter, marketing emails, and various user interaction pages for the site. Teamed with product managers, user experience designers, Web developers, engineers, and marketers at all levels.

  • Increased year-over-year (2007 vs. 2006) page views by more than 360% and unique visitors by more than 500%. Increased PV (page views) and UV (unique visitors) results every year — 2003-2008.
  • Introduced features that drove creation of user-generated content through responses to experts’ and other readers’ responses to relationships questions posed by readers.
  • Earned an estimated $6 million in incremental subscription revenue for business unit in 2007 derived from converting people from among the 35 million front-page referrals received from 111 feature articles successfully pitched to Yahoo!’s front-page editors.
  • Recruited more than 100 writers, experts, and publishers who contributed articles at no cost in return for the exposure for their books, websites, and services.
  • Seamlessly switched to a content management system from a hard-coded content publishing process without interrupting publishing schedule.
  • Wrote an email that scored a 43% open rate and 10,613 orders — almost 2x the orders needed for the campaign’s success.
  • Wrote an interactive site tour credited with converting 44% of tour takers into subscribers within 24 hours after completing the tour.
  • Received a Yahoo! marketing “Purple Cow” award for editorial contributions to a joint promotion with Starbucks.

ThirdAge Media, San Francisco, California
1999 – 2002
Senior Editor (originally Marketing Copywriter)

Wrote the daily front page and all audience email communications — 2 weekly newsletters and 4 daily topical newsletters — reaching more than 1 million daily readers. Created catalog copy for an e commerce area, co-branded sponsor pages, banner advertising, and other promotional vehicles including radio and magazine advertising. Project-managed webpage, ad and banner production, worked with Web designers, engineers, and IT staff at all levels.

PAT MEIER & ASSOCIATES PR, San Francisco, California
1998 – 1999
Senior Account Supervisor

Managed public relations accounts and mentored junior staff members in writing and account management skills. Wrote press releases and press kits, new business proposals, and communications plans for high-tech and Web-based companies, developed strategies and product positioning plans.

Independent Consultant – Marketing Communications and PR, San Francisco
1989 – 1998

Established press relationships for clients and wrote marketing communications copy (brochures, sales letters, print advertisements, and direct mail packages), public relations plans, news releases, feature, and bylined articles, as well as annual reports and investor relations materials for clients including Reynolds Metals Company (Reynolds Wrap and consumer recycling services); Tektronix, Test & Measurement Group; Western Independent Bankers Association; Consolidated Freightways, and San Francisco Opera Guild.

Education

  • Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon — BA, English
  • University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon — completed coursework for a MA in journalism
Home

Rad Dewey
415-722-4386
radewey@radewey.com

Posted on May 14, 2016January 11, 2017Tags advertising, bylined article, copy clinic, copywriter, copywriting, creative, direct, direct mail, direct marketing, direct response, email marketing, interactive marketing, internet marketing, mail, marketing, marketing communications, permission marketing, press release, public relations, Rad Dewey, response, Web content, web developer, writing

Rad Dewey’s Client Experience (partial list)

  • Yahoo! Personals (leading online dating site)
  • PayPal (an eBay company — the leading way to pay online)
  • Zazzle.com (where you can create, buy, and sell retail-quality apparel, postage, skateboards, tote bags, coffee mugs, greeting cards, posters, and more with your own designs and images)
  • Ancestry.com (leading genealogy site)
  • ThirdAge.com (good health & good living for baby boomers)
  • MyFamily.com (connecting families throughout the world)
  • DHL (worldwide courier)
  • Hong Kong Tourism Board
    MediaRing Inc. (VOIP – Internet telephony)
  • Tektronix, Measurement Business Div.
  • Control Video Corporation (the forerunner to AOL)
  • Reynolds Metals Company (Reynolds Wrap and consumer recycling services)
  • WICAT Systems (minicomputers and computer-based education and training)
  • Zircon International, Inc. (electronic hand tools)
  • World Airways
  • Hexcel Corporation (engineered aerospace materials)
  • Paragon Group (commercial real estate developer)
  • ITN-Internet Travel Network (Web-based corporate travel booking and management system)
  • GetawayZone (Web-based service for renting vacation houses and condos)
  • Western Independent Bankers (association)
  • Double Rainbow Gourmet Ice Creams
  • World Savings (Saving & Loan association)
  • Cabot, Cabot & Forbes (industrial park developer)
  • Chemical Industry Council of California
  • Woodward-Clyde (geotechnical engineers)
  • San Francisco Fall Antiques Show
  • Richard Wolffers Auctions, Inc. (sports memorabilia)
  • Update Newsletters (home sewing techniques and sewing machine usage)
  • TMI North America (consultants in TQM and human resource development)
  • Omark Industries (Oregon Saw Chain Division)
  • San Francisco Opera Guild (membership marketing campaign)
Home

Rad Dewey
415-722-4386
radewey@radewey.com

Posted on May 14, 2016January 11, 2017Tags advertising, bylined article, copy clinic, copywriter, copywriting, creative, direct, direct mail, direct marketing, direct response, email marketing, interactive marketing, internet marketing, mail, marketing, marketing communications, permission marketing, press release, public relations, Rad Dewey, response, Web content, web developer, writing

Client Testimonials

 [See my recommendations on LinkedIn]

“Rad Dewey works for me as contract content manager covering two business units at PayPal. He tackles whatever project I give him with rigor and energy, producing clear, lively content, and matching PayPal’s style and voice guidelines. He is an amazingly quick study, has come up to speed on projects virtually immediately. He is a pleasure to have around the office, and has a good store of great stories, too.” — Janet Isadore-Barreca, Senior Manager, Global Content, PayPal

“Rad is one of the strongest and hardest working editors I know–and one of the most results-oriented. He did an amazing job radically increasing the number of people who came to Yahoo Personals because of the original content he assigned and edited and then pitched for placement on Yahoo’s front page–he was a master at making it all look easy, but his work drove a lot of eyeballs, page clicks, and revenue. Rad has great ideas and is a tremendous learner–he helped reformat the entire content area and refocus it with a fresher voice and feel. Rad is a great asset because of his skills and his work ethic. I would work with him again with pleasure.” — Susan Mernit, Senior Director, Product, Yahoo!

“Wonderful wonderful wonderful. I copied the (marketing email) subject line and first paragraph and sent them to my boss all by themselves as an excellent example of how to subtly do all the right things. Just great stuff.”
    — Mark Doty, marketing manager, Ancestry.com

“Rad is one of the best writers I know…Rad used to produce the front door and much more each day – he more than me was the heart and soul of the company.” — Mary Furlong, founder, ThirdAge.com

“Rad is a real pro. I was impressed with the quality of his work and dedication to my project. In fact, I was so pleased that I happily paid a bonus for a job well done! Highest recommendation.”
    — Daniel Goevert, proprietor, Heritage Coin Books

“Rad has made an outstanding contribution to ArtByNorva.com as he conceived and promoted his idea of my web page designs. This was a big project which required a great deal of thought, promotion, and detail work…(He) relates well with others and has the wisdom to “listen”…I highly recommend Robert Dewey as he was a valuable asset to this firm….” — Norva Mestayer, proprietor, ArtByNorva.com

  Michael Dean, vice president, public relations of MediaRing Inc. (mediaring.com) says, “You are insightful and understand what is news and how to put it in a news worthy release” and “You were available and quick to respond upon any request I had.”

Kevin Plagman, principal of Communications West, San Francisco, praised my “immediate grasp of objectives and subject material and fast turnaround of tight, crisp copy that only a veteran can bring.”

“Dewey has been extremely responsive in adapting to our ever-changing needs through the years,” says Walt Amacker, marketing communications manager for Reynolds Metals Company’s consumer recycling business.  “We have been very pleased with his professionalism.  He goes the extra mile in keeping abreast of all external and internal influences which affect our business. I would highly recommend him to anyone who has marketing or communications needs.”

Home

Rad Dewey
415-722-4386
radewey@radewey.com

Posted on May 14, 2016January 12, 2017Tags advertising, bylined article, copy clinic, copywriter, copywriting, creative, direct, direct mail, direct marketing, direct response, email marketing, interactive marketing, internet marketing, mail, marketing, marketing communications, permission marketing, press release, public relations, Rad Dewey, response, Web content, web developer, writing
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