Before we get into this piece… A thank you. Thank you to all those readers who took part in my live webinar last Thursday (30th August). It was great to chat to you and from the feedback I’ve had, people found it really useful. That’s great. If you were unable to attend but you did pre-order the book, you should have received an email from me with the recording. Plus…you should have received a link…
“Er…it’s actually fruit infusion for me.” What? I’d just asked fellow copywriter, André Spiteri, if he prefers putting the milk in before the tea bag or after the water. I live a pretty controversial life myself by putting the milk in first… And in Earl Grey no less, an already-too-weak-tea in most people’s eyes. But blimey… This Spiteri chap blows my blasphemy out of the water. “Yeah,” he goes on, “I’m not a tea drinker…
A long copy sales letter can run to around 10,000 words… Writing so much copy takes a while. So, it figures you’re going to have moments deep into the writing process when fresh inspiration comes. I had this recently with a letter I’ve been working on for a financial newsletter in the US. The idea I’m writing about is a live one and new stories are breaking all the time about what’s going on in…
A few weeks ago I sat down to speak with expert copywriter, Vikki Ross (of Sky, The Body Shop and Hotels.com fame). The feedback I received was great and I’m glad so many people found it useful. You’ll be pleased to know I’ve got a lot more interesting interviews planned… In fact, next week, I’ll be sharing an interview I just recorded with the legendary Drayton Bird. But after our interview Vikki decided it would…
Imagine you’re living a roguish life as a bank robber in the Wild West… You drift from town to town ‘sticking-up’ the local bank… You’re damn good at it too. Just yesterday you moseyed on in, stuck your gun in the bank teller’s face and delivered your usual “this is a stick-up” line. The teller knew the score straight away and handed over the bag of swag. You moseyed on out. But you have a…
Reassurance isn’t a term that’s widely used in copywriting. Have a quick scan through the index pages of Cialdini’s Influence, Daniel H. Pink’s To Sell is Human or even Ogilvy’s On Advertising and you won’t find any special preference given to the word. Does that make it redundant? Does the fact that late greats and modern thinkers alike haven’t targeted the concept of ‘reassurance’ mean that it isn’t something to think about? No way. I…
Are copywriters born? I’m not so sure. I have a different theory. More often than not it is chance – a strange series of events lead us towards the discipline. It’s what happened to me and it’s what happened for freelance copywriter, Alastaire Allday. For Alastaire it was the perfect outcome – having already worked on campaigns for the likes of Sony, Nescafé, and Oasis, he’s also already penned his first book ‘Think Like a…
I know a lot of people have already got hold of Write Better Copy… But if you haven’t had a chance to get your copy yet, I thought it’d be useful to answer a few of the questions I’ve had from readers. First off, I can tell you that yes… rather than a 30 day money back guarantee that you’re used to finding for products like this, I’ve set the MBG for 60 days. I…
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 you’re a copywriter, a marketer, a designer, website builder or business owner… this is an idea you should drill into…
