Failure, success, and how to gap the difference.
I’ve written before about what marketers and business owners can do in rough markets. Looking at what’s going on right now, maybe I should trot out that piece and run it again. Meanwhile, I came across someone else’s ideas on the same. I liked it so much, I just want to share a little of it here… Continue Reading
Once in awhile, you can’t beat a good case study. And what better case study for a copywriter or direct marketer to learn from than the profile of a legendary direct-mail publisher: Rodale. Continue Reading
A personal confession: I don’t just like being a copywriter. I also happen to like copywriters in general. As people, I mean. Why? Before you accuse me of being too kind to my own, consider. How many copywriters do you… Continue Reading
Claude Hopkins looks like a crotchety chemist. Or a vacuum cleaner salesman. At least, he does in most of the pictures you’ll find of him online. Which is appropriate considering that he sold both, as a house copywriter, until at… Continue Reading
I’ve gotten a few copy critiques in my day. I crave them, no matter how harsh, because that’s what makes the writing better. I’ve also given a few copy critiques, too. And I’ve discovered that when I’m on the handler… Continue Reading
“It is a great thing,” said Cicero, “to know our vices.” With that in mind, let’s dig in and take a look at some positively poison habits that could dash any aspiring copywriters career… Continue Reading
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… Continue Reading
“We must not be free because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” – William Faulkner My friend Paul Hollingshead is pretty smart fella. He recently wrote a piece that shared the math on this career path we’ve chosen,… Continue Reading
I shaved this morning thinking about “commodity hell.” That’s when a market for a product is so crowded, every product is virtually the same. Interchangeable with the competition. And the only way to get ahead is to slash prices until the pain of profit loss squeezes either you or those competitors out of the business. This is not a position, generally, you want to fall into. But it happens… Continue Reading
On D-Day, hundreds of thousands of Allied troops pulled off the largest invasion in history, forcing their way into Nazi-occupied Europe. Strategy was key. So was equipment. But the real mettle of the moment came from the soldiers staging the… Continue Reading