Are YOU Creative?
In the last post, we asked why some people are creative and others aren’t. This time around, let’s put it even more plain: Are YOU creative? Even though I.Q. tests supposedly measure your brain...
The Copywriter's Roundtable
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How Curiosity Can Save a Copywriter
Somebody once asked David Ogilvy for a list of traits that matter most when hiring copywriters. Above all, he said, they have to have an unwavering, overpowering, enormous sense of curiosity. I can’t help but think that has to be right. Why?
Ten Years After
This has almost nothing to do with copywriting, but if you don’t mind — and even if you do — I’m going to continue anyway, yes? See, these days, you’ll already seen and heard...
What This Past “Black Friday” Can Teach You
After reading all the rosy reports about this past “Black Friday” post-Thanksgiving shopping excitement… along with the rush of buying online buying frenzy that’s just been dubbed “Cyber Monday”… why do I think we should all feel, well, a little torn?
The One Thing Good Copy Can’t Fix
Have you ever seen a movie with a great director… an all-star cast… and a screenplay you wouldn’t use to line a litter box? No matter how good the direction and performances are, they can rarely save a miserable script. Something similar is true in sales copy…
What You Don’t Need to Get Ahead
Turns out that a survey of marketing execs from 32 different consumer-product companies showed a distinct disadvantage for companies that carried a Masters of Business Administration grad at or close to the helm…
How Other Writers Get “In the Mood”
What’s the parallel between writers? No matter how different their writing routines, each of these writers — and thousands of others who actually produce — had just that: a routine…
Why I’m a Fool For Cupertino
It’s shameless, really, the way I dote. To some of my friends, it’s even downright embarrassing. Yes, I confess, I’m crazy for Cupertino — particularly the stuff that comes out of you-know-which-company. The iPad...
Seven Ways to Say Thanks…
‘Tis the season of giving — giving “thanks” that is, at least in the U.S. Yes, it’s Thanksgiving week, where my American compatriots are prepping to stuff turkeys, stuff themselves, and welcome family and...
Gene Schwartz’s 33-minute Secret
Get a kitchen timer and put it on your desk. Set it for 33 minutes. Now start writing. Write anything. Just fill the page. If you can’t write, then sit there and stare until you...
“Need to Tell” vs. “Want to Tell”
Dumping a gut full of “want to tell” copy onto the page can feel cathartic. It can make you feel smart. It can make you sound funny or witty or clever. But it’s no way to sell…
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