Longhand
Longhand
What things cost, how brands end up sounding like every other brand, and what we got wrong lately. A new piece most mornings.
one a day. chai optional.
Everything so far
Written down.
- 19 Oct 2026Writing a hoarding: seven words at sixty kilometres an hourA hoarding gets one glance from someone driving at sixty. Seven words is plenty. Here is what to cut.
- 18 Oct 2026Email subject lines that get opened without lyingFake Re:, false Urgent, a quick question that isn't. How to get the open without the small lie.
- 17 Oct 2026How many revisions a writer should include, and what counts as oneTwo rounds of revisions means nothing until someone says what a round is. How to agree on one.
- 16 Oct 2026Writing a product description for an Indian D2C brandMost product pages say premium quality and stop. How to answer the doubts a photo can't.
- 15 Oct 2026Exclamation marks, and other ways copy sounds nervousExclamation marks, apologies and hedges make a business sound unsure. How to spot them, and a ten-minute fix.
- 14 Oct 2026Company page or founder profile: where a B2B brand should postA company page and a founder's profile do different jobs. What each is for, and who should post what.
- 13 Oct 2026Writing an FAQ page from the questions people actually askMost FAQ pages answer questions nobody asked. Where the real ones are, and how to answer them in one line.
- 12 Oct 2026Hinglish in brand copy: when it works and when it's a costumeHinglish works when it is how your customer talks, and reads like a costume when it isn't. Three tests.
- 11 Oct 2026Do you need a tagline?The line people ask for first and need last. When a tagline earns its place, and what to write before it.
- 10 Oct 2026The cold mail first line: what to write before they deleteThe first line shows in the inbox before anyone opens the mail. What it has to do, and what wastes it.
- 09 Oct 2026How to ask a customer for a testimonial you can actually useMost testimonials persuade nobody. The four questions to ask a customer instead, and when.
- 08 Oct 2026The paragraph on your Google listing, and how to write itThe paragraph on your Google listing, read by people about to call. What to put in it, and what to leave out.
- 07 Oct 2026How long an Instagram caption should beInstagram shows a line or two, then hides the rest. How long a caption should be, post by post.
- 06 Oct 2026How to give feedback on a draft, so round two is the lastMost second drafts miss because the feedback described a feeling, not a fix. What to write in the margin instead.
- 05 Oct 2026Copywriter or content writer: which one you actually needUsed as if they were one job. What each one is for, and how to tell which your project needs.
- 04 Oct 2026How to write a WhatsApp broadcast people don't muteIt arrives between the family group and the school group. The preview line, the shape, and how often is too often.
- 03 Oct 2026Your homepage headline has one jobA stranger gives it about three seconds. What it has to answer, and the five kinds that fail.
- 02 Oct 2026Nine words that make every Indian brand sound the sameSeamless, curated, bespoke, passionate, and one whole sentence shape. Why they're there, and what to write instead.
- 01 Oct 2026What a website should cost in IndiaThe real price bands, what moves a quote, and the line every budget forgets: the words on the pages.
- 30 Sep 2026How to brief a writer, with the brief we useMost rewrites are caused by the brief, not the writer. The six questions we ask before writing a word.
- 29 Sep 2026The About page test: what yours should sayCover your company name. If the page still makes sense, it isn't about you. What to put there instead.
- 28 Sep 2026What a LinkedIn ghostwriter actually does, and can'tIt isn't writing posts for you. It's getting your opinions out of your head, in your voice, without the engagement bait.
- 27 Sep 2026Gujarati or English: which should your brand write in?When Gujarati beats English, when it doesn't, and why translating your English copy fails in both languages.
- 26 Sep 2026What a brand voice is, with five you already recogniseIt isn't a list of adjectives. Five Indian brands you'd recognise with the logo covered, and how to write yours down in an afternoon.
- 25 Sep 202627 cold mails we sent, and what we'd change nowThe subject lines that earned the open, the five we would delete today, and what goes in the body after the joke.
- 24 Sep 2026What content writing actually costs in IndiaPer word, per piece, per month: what each one buys, the three things that actually move the price, and our numbers.