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. Even a stop sign needs a little reassurance sometimes. Does that make it redundant? Does the fact […]
After spending an evening with social media expert and general ‘smart guy’, Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee), I decided to check out SlideShare. “Green light your ideas” Have you come across this yet? It’s basically a social network based around sharing slideshows. Sounds weird, I know. But I kind of like it and spent some time designing my own […]
With the help of the always excellent @rhinett, I’ve updated and expanded my popular copywriting infographic… It now covers an entire direct response sales letter. As you can see below, I’ve included the main sections you’ll find on a typical letter and offered some advice on how to handle each. Of course, this is by no means the structure every long […]
If you’re a copywriter wondering which books you should ask for this Christmas, or if you’re searching for the best books for copywriters… Help is at hand. Here you’ll find five recommendations that will help inspire and influence anyone who writes to sell. In fact, influence is actually the title of the first pick… Influence by Robert Cialdini Most copywriters will […]
For reasons that are quite frankly beyond me, I was recently reading a sales letter in the bath – Vince Stanzione’s Making Money from Financial Spread Trading, to be precise. I realise it’s not an image you want in your head… But there you have it. I’m sorry. The good news: There were three very clever […]
As a copywriter, you likely spend a ton of your time trying to come up with new and original subject lines to grab attention. It’s hard work, right? So let me ask you… Should you even bother? Especially when there’s a way you can hijack existing subject lines – that are otherwise considered boring – and use […]
A somewhat crime-heavy reading list this month! But that’s the thing with many crime novels: they’re often such easy reads that when you read one, you want to read another. It’s for this very reason that I think it’s worth dipping into the genre every now and again to look at what makes them so […]
Another copywriter has been amusing my girlfriend! But it’s OK. There’s nothing dodgy going on. In fact, if you’ve ever seen the famous copywriter Drayton Bird give a talk, you’ll already know he’s a charming old sod.And irreverent too, which is probably why I get on with him. (I guess our shared appreciation of swearing helps too.) I’ve […]
You know that feeling when you read something you agree with and you start nodding? Even though you’re just reading words on a page, the author has written something that strikes such a chord, you can’t help but crack a wry smile, nod along and think: yeah, I thought that too. Do you ever get that? […]
Let’s take a field trip… Indeed, I’m editing this following a field trip of my own to Delray Beach, Florida. I was there for the annual copywriting conference held by @AWAI_online. As it’s the home of many Agora affiliates, I’ve been visiting Delray for many years to regularly catch up with some of the top writers […]