Before we get to into this, some great news… I’m writing today from a hotel room in east London, where I’m looking out over the Tower of London. I made the trip down from my usual northern seaside hideout to attend the shortlist reveal event for the Business Book Awards 2019. My book, The Art of the […]
Category Archives: COPYWRITING
I’m in the nurse’s office. What do you do, she asks? A writer, I say. She stops. Gives me the look. We’re looking around a house for sale. What do you do, the estate agent asks? A writer, I say. She stops. Gives me the look. A mortgage advisor comes round to value our house. What do you do, he asks? […]
Regular reader Jared wrote in to say: “In Thomas Friedman’s book Thank You for Being Late he talks about the capacity of computer algorithms to write like humans. Friedman gives examples of algorithms writing sports columns or even poems that sound like they were written by humans. Jared goes on to ask: “Is there a danger that […]
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” So wrote old Bill Shakes, the frilly-collared play-dude. I’m not a massive Shakespeare fan, but try as I might, I couldn’t get that quote out of my mind whilst writing up the interview I have to share with you here. You see the ‘rose’ we’re […]
It’s an objection often raised, especially when it comes to longer pieces of copy. If handled badly, it can ruin your work. But get it right and it could be one of the most important tools you employ. I’m talking about repetition. A reader asks an interesting question on this very subject: “Is there a good […]
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“All my experience says that for a great many products, long copy sells more than short…” Those are the words of David Ogilvy, in Ogilvy on Advertising. He was a pretty experienced guy when it came to copywriting… Did a few good things, apparently. Interestingly, Ogilvy went on to suggest one of the reasons behind this idea […]
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At the end of the 80s there was really only one widely recognised skateboarding company: Powell Peralta. Started by two of the biggest names in skateboarding – particularly Stacey Peralta – the company was very successful. Indeed, it was pretty much the team to ride for. Its elite skating team – the Bones Brigade – included a young Tony […]
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It’s the early 1900s. You’re in Paris. Specifically, you’re in Gertrude Stein’s home at 27 Rue de Fleurus. On the walls surrounding you are hung what will become some of the most important works of art ever to have existed. But that’s all to come. Right now, the talk around you concerns two specific artists. Both […]
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You may know him as Kento. Or you may know him by his Spanish name: Pedro. For a short while, I knew him as Hector. Before a fellow writer and marketer, Thomas Goosey, enlightened me. In case you don’t recognise his name, he looks like this: He’s a children’s television character that’s become a meme. He’s usually […]
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Writing copy to grab your reader’s attention is hard. You might spend weeks testing different ideas for nothing. Even if the product or service you’re selling is great, it doesn’t necessarily make writing captivating copy any easier. But there is an exercise you can do to write copy with a much greater chance of success. […]