Two Decades of Compelling Content
Sharp Content is a San Francisco-based branding & copywriting firm focused on service industries. Hundreds of clients have used our approach to reposition themselves with a powerful marketing message that helps them bring in more business with less effort.
I’m Tom Bruein, the brand strategist and copywriter behind Sharp Content, founded in 2003.
After 10 years in large corporations, I discovered I had a talent for creating persuasive messages that get stellar results.
Maybe it’s because I’ve always had a love affair with language and a fascination with how the mind works. My broad business background (Shell Oil, Levi’s, Fujitsu Consulting) provided valuable insights into what motivates behavior. No matter the industry, persuasion is always at the core of how companies get big and stay big.
Understanding human motivation is also why I’ve devoured over 1,000 books and programs on marketing, business, psychology and copywriting. I’m even a certified Clinical Hypnotherapist. (No, I can’t guarantee to put your readers in a trance. Let’s just say they’ll develop a sudden urge to buy from you.)
Persuasion not Manipulation
The hype I observe in the copywriting industry irritates me.
Then I realized — that’s exactly why clients turn to me instead. I focus on true persuasion. That means identifying — and then managing — the tension¹ that already exists in your reader. That’s why I always seek first to understand the needs and motivations of your audience before writing a single word.
It took years, but I formulated my approach and distilled it down to the Brand Roadmap method. It helps pinpoint what your customer wants and needs most. Specifically, it reveals why people are motivated to buy from YOU.
I call this unique quality your Dramatic Difference. I distill it down to a clear concise message, slogan, and company story that shapes all your marketing efforts.
Every piece that goes out the door is my own work — not something produced by AI or a junior copywriter for me to review. I don’t know any other way to deliver the powerful content my clients seek.
¹ I owe this insight on “managing tension” to my good client T Falcon Napier at The Institute for Productive Tension (the company name that I coined for them during our rebranding process).
Note: Sharp Editing was renamed Sharp Content in 2010.