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? […]
Tag Archives: COPYWRITING
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 […]
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. […]
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… […]
A sales promotion landed on my desk recently… Nothing new there; being a professional copywriter, hundreds land on my desk every week. But this one caught my eye. Unfortunately, it was for the wrong reason. You see, it wasn’t the headline that caught my attention. In fact, when I got round to reading it, I […]
I took this snap on a weekend away in Minehead; a seaside town in the south-west of England. We were walking along the promenade when I spotted this sign planted above a ramshackle bookcase propped up against someone’s front wall. And just look at it… A nice big, bold headline that has an implicit benefit […]
No longer than this… And it should always end with those three little dots, or an ellipsis if you want to be fancy. OK, OK. Maybe the first line of your promo could be a little longer than that. I mean, it’s only four words. But really, it can cheap jerseys only be a LITTLE longer – definitely no more than ten or […]