Copywriters can be precious people… I should know… I am one. And sure, tell me my copy doesn’t work or that I could do something better and once upon a time I would have sulked for a week. Yup, I used to be like that. But these days, I’ve calmed down. I’m wiser. You see, […]
Author Archives: GLENN FISHER
Aristotle’s idea was to start in the middle… And I have no doubt that in creative writing classes all around the world they’re preaching the same message as we speak. But hey, I was brought up under contrarian copywriter supreme, Bill Bonner, so why not throw a spanner into Aristotelian theory. Someone’s got to, right? […]
You could have the best sales promotion in the world… But if the copy you’re using to direct readers to that promotion is rubbish… Then your promotion is ultimately pointless – regardless of how good it is. Some people call if ‘lift’ copy… Some call it ‘endorsement’ copy… Some call it ‘ad’ copy… And I’m […]
Copywriters aren’t often too kind to subheads… In fact, most of the time subheads are treated as nothing more than punctuation. Indeed, one of the uses of subheads in long copy sales promotions is to punctuate copy… but it is just ONE use. There are many more. The fact is, having strong subheads throughout your promotion […]
It was about four years ago… Michael Masterson flew into London to meet with us young copywriters to teach us a thing or two. He actually taught me a fair bit, but one thing stuck above all else. Ironic really, because that one thing was his concept of ‘the power of one’! Seriously though, whether […]
As a copywriter, you’ve got one major problem that no one really talks about: no one wants to buy anything. That would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that, as a copywriter, it’s your job to encourage people to buy things. Actually, I’m being dramatic. There’s hope… there’s something you can do to fix it… […]
Legend has it that direct marketing giants Bill Bonner and Mark Ford sat down to analyse all the direct mail promotions they’d written, all those that had worked and all those that had flopped. They considered what fundamental factors the successes shared. They identified what was missing from the failures. And then they put it all together. […]
Like any good copywriter, I don’t just write copy… In fact, in my experience I’ve found that all the most successful copywriters and ad men I’ve met and trained also write some form of ‘non-copy’ too. Mark Ford (Michael Masterson) and Nick Laight are poets, for example… Dave Fedash writes film scripts… Bill Bonner has published […]
Brainstorming is a bit crap. Or is it? It’s a difficult one. I say this: You should never disregard brainstorming as a tool for generating ideas. As a copywriter, when it comes to generating original and engaging headlines for a promotion, you’ve got to develop your own style. Me; I tend to pace up and […]
Poor old Boris… Who writes his copy? Because they need their wrist slapping! Seriously, when it comes to communicating with your customers (or rather in this case, constituents) you’ve got to make sure you avoid one thing above all else… You should NEVER patronise them. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Boris’ recent letter to Londoners does… […]