Tag Archives: COPYWRITING

A typical morning in the life of a copywriter

6.30am – Wake up in hotel in Walthamstow, briefly wonder where I am. Remember I’m in London for meetings. Driving home later today. Realise how much I have to do today. Worry I’m not going to get chance to write an All Good Copy email. Wonder if I could record my day and whether that would be interesting […]

Why it’s important to cultivate your own copy peers

Do you have a couple of copywriting friends in your contacts you can ask to review your writing? In fact, they don’t even have to by copywriters… Your partner…your friend from school…your Dad or Grandma? The key is you have a couple of people who you trust to be open with criticism and won’t be […]

Why I’m not an athlete and an update on my copywriting book

I am not an athlete. I can barely run. About two years ago, I managed to train enough to run a 10k around Richmond Park in London. It was tough. Since then, I haven’t run again. I wish I were fitter. My partner says she doesn’t mind. But still, I wish I were fitter. Everyone […]

Two-tier research: Write for your reader, not for yourself

Before I was born, I didn’t exist, which made it a lot harder to walk the dog. Sorry. A terrible attempt at a Groucho Marx-inspired joke that has nothing to do with what I want to write about today. Or does it? Stand back… Tenuous link approaching… You see, opening with my crap joke there […]

What’s in a blurb? An Interview with Sarah Topping

It’s one of those copy jobs you can’t imagine anyone actually has. You not only get to read loads of books… But your writing appears on every one you do read. Pretty cool. I’m talking, in case you haven’t guessed, about writing the ‘blurb’ on the back of a book. You know…that 200-or-so-word synopsis designed […]

You and I: The importance of putting your reader first

What’s the most important word in copywriting? Most people would say ‘you’. When I first started out in the industry, I remember one of the first direct response sales letters I wrote was for a personal finance newsletter. The idea was based around an article about the best ways to ask for a pay-rise. A quick […]

That time I tried to kill Drayton Bird

“Were you two trying to kill me?” This is what Drayton shouts at me across the room. There I am, loitering at the back of an AWAI copywriting conference in Florida a few years back with my good friend, Mike Ford. We’re chatting waiting for the first speaker of the day to come on. But, […]

She’s innocent, m’lord: An interview with Hayley Redman

If you’ve ever seen a smoothie in a shop wearing a woolly hat… You’ve probably come across the brand Innocent. Renowned for producing said smoothies – as well as veg pots and various juices made up entirely of natural ingredients – Innocent has become widely recognised around the world. Sure, a good product has helped its rise… But […]

Interviewed: copywriter and author, Andy Maslen

Andy Maslen is sick to the back teeth with kids and their smart phones… “Why doesn’t anyone read books anymore,” he laments. “Or just observe the bloody world go by? Everyone has their head in a smart phone these days.” We’re talking about one of the key skills you need as a copywriter… The ability to observe. Andy […]

Good collaboration makes for good copy

Copywriting can sometimes be like a lonely game… There you are, hidden away in your office, staring out over the rooftops, to the pavilion across the way… You see a man walking his dog and consider the fact that a few hours ago it would have been you walking your dog on that same pavilion. You wonder […]