The Details That Close Sales
Any good copywriter also knows that when you really… really… want to make for a powerful sales pitch, digging into the small details can be your most powerful technique… Continue Reading
Writing Process
How writers write.
Beat the Natural Limit on Creativity
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
How to Tell if You’re a “Natural Born” Copywriter
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
The World’s Most Famous Copywriter?
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
Ego-Butter: How to Give a Copy Critique
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
Seven Toxic Habits That Could Wreck Your Writing Career
“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
Better Than Money
“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
Why Only Some People Are “Creative”
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
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… Continue Reading
Brainstorming For One
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