Sara Rosinsky • Shiny Red Copy
  • home
  • about sara
  • speaking
  • blog
  • portfolio
    • social media
    • articles
    • dandy candy
    • freezer treats
    • money matters
    • online ordering
    • raise a glass
    • fundraising
    • hair we go
    • education
    • branding
    • thinq smart
    • how entertaining
    • spread the word
    • a few faves
    • sears screed
  • kudos
  • unflubbify
  • freebies
    • resources
    • word search
  • store
  • contact sara
  • home
  • about sara
  • speaking
  • blog
  • portfolio
    • social media
    • articles
    • dandy candy
    • freezer treats
    • money matters
    • online ordering
    • raise a glass
    • fundraising
    • hair we go
    • education
    • branding
    • thinq smart
    • how entertaining
    • spread the word
    • a few faves
    • sears screed
  • kudos
  • unflubbify
  • freebies
    • resources
    • word search
  • store
  • contact sara
  Sara Rosinsky • Shiny Red Copy

sara's Shiny red blog

For the love of small spaces.

11/24/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
When I was a kid, I had the opposite of claustrophobia. I'd call it claustrophilia, but I don't want to pathologize it. I just enjoyed tucking myself into little hideouts and cozy spots: cabinets, closets, an oversized drawer... even the top of the refrigerator, for a spell. (Maybe I don't want to scrutinize this behavior too much.)

Anyway, this proclivity has carried over to my professional life today. I've discovered that my favorite copywriting challenges are those where space is limited. A billboard that people need to take in while driving 70 miles an hour. A thirty-second radio spot. A digital ad that's half the size of a credit card. The back of a frozen entree. Subject lines. Headlines. Taglines. Tweets.

Related: For the past few years, I've been creating little language lessons about grammar, spelling, punctuation, etymology, etc. (See a sampling below.) Each of these social media posts measures only 1080 x 1080 pixels. That's not a lot of room to explain when you should use "loath" instead of "loathe," or how to avoid committing a comma splice. But that restriction is a big part of why I love creating these things. They're like Rubik's cubes. The challenge: How much memorable information can I fit into the square without it feeling like a Dr. Bronner's label?
Now, If you're one of the millions of people who freelance, you've likely heard the mantra that to succeed, you need to "niche down." (Don't ask me to say that out loud—whichever way you pronounce it, you're sure to annoy somebody.) The more specific your expertise, say all the career coaches, the better. You're supposed to specialize in some industry "vertical": dentistry, landscaping, badminton... something.

But I don't want to. I love promoting all sorts of products and services: beer and banks and boarding schools. If I particularly love the work a client does (like Invest in Girls, say), then that's just icing on the cake. (Oh—I've gotten to write lots about cake. And icing.)

So I think that rather than niching down in the usual sense, I'd like to focus on small spaces. I'll take a pass on the long white papers and ebooks. Bring on the ads. The emails. The out-of-home. I want to work on posters and postcards and packaging. Give me a small space, and I will do big things.℠ 
2 Comments
Wink
10/16/2020 02:16:42 pm

Wait, there's an alternate way to pronounce niche? //runs to dictionary// Oh my gawd, my whole life I'm not even using the "preferred" pronunciation. I die of shame.

Reply
Sara Rosinsky link
10/16/2020 02:24:00 pm

How have you escaped the angst? I can never commit to one pronunciation and have to say "nitch…or neesh…or however you say it."

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    May 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    May 2024
    December 2023
    September 2023
    March 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017

    Categories

    All
    Advertising & Marketing
    Books
    Boston
    Colorado
    Comedy
    Creativity
    Design
    Dogs
    Etymology
    Florida
    Freelancing
    Language
    My Life
    Other
    Podcasts & Audiobooks
    Punctuation
    Skepticism
    Travel
    Typography
    Words
    Writing

    RSS Feed


​Copyright © 2024