Creativity secrets and insights of the great ‘idea’ innovators.
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
I’m sure, by now, you’ve heard that there are “right-brained” and “left-brained” people. The idea is that “left-brained” people are the type you’d expect to find at, say, your accounting firm’s Christmas party. “Right-brained” people, on the other hand, tend to be more artistic and possibly a little eccentric or scattered. Like, say, the bulk of ex-poets and actors working the tables at your local coffee shop. Like most generalizations, this isn’t quite right… 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
Great design can’t do diddly to help bad sales copy. Great sales copy can often succeed despite bad design. But when great copy and great design work together? Watch out. So how can you make sure you’re getting the best work from the person who will layout your lovingly crafted sales letter? Continue Reading
Why thank customers? The short answer, of course, is “why not?” Unless you were raised by wolverines, it’s a common courtesy you’re proud to offer… am I right? The longer answer is that it’s practically money in the bank for… Continue Reading
Analogies can be a powerful tool when used well. But, like a parachute made from a volleyball net, they can sabotage your message when they’re terrible… 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
I’ve noted often how strange it was that so many copywriters play instruments. And wondered, too, whether listening to music… or even playing it… makes for better writers. Two new studies suggest that might be exactly the case. Turns out,… Continue Reading
You brainstorm to get ideas when you have none. Ideally, you do so in a group. So you can feed off each other. So you can legitimize sitting around drinking coffee. So you can get others to do all the hard thinking for you. In all those respects, group brainstorming is a good thing. But what do you do when you’re writing in isolation? Continue Reading