Copywriting Services London Blog 2009
November 2009
Email marketing
I've just been writing launch emails for Stage on Screen. All eighteen of them.
That's not my record. I think the most variants I ever did was around 35. It's a bit of a sweat, even if the changes are minimal.
But it's well worth it. After all, that's one of the beauties of direct marketing (of which emails are but a variant). The targeting. Just a few simple changes, and you can talk to someone directly and meet their needs and desires. Even better, by addressing them by name, you can be that little bit more personal than in an ad.
Of course, it does depend on your data being spot on. There's nothing worse than getting someone's name or their details wrong.
But fingers crossed, I'm hoping for a good response. Watch this space.
October 2009
Site update
I've added a couple of new testimonials to my testimonials page
September 2009
Lies, damn lies and timesheets
One of the joys of being a freelance copywriter and out of agencies (for the most part) is not having to do timesheets.
Now, I appreciate these are important entities, in the sense that you need to have an idea of how much time you're spending on a project so you know what to bill a client. You also need to make sure that the people concerned are actually doing some work.
But I know, you know, everyone knows that most range from the lightly embellished to the highly fictional. Which is why they should be treated as guidelines rather than gospel.
And so we come to electronic timesheets. Oh the wonders of e-timesheets. Every five minutes the system is down. Or being 'improved'. And when you get to try and input your data, you don't have the code. Or someone hasn't electronically authorised the work. Or added a job number. Or put in the wrong code. Or there isn't a column headed 'time spent waiting for the suit to write the brief' or 'time spent waiting for the creative to get his act together'.
So the system gets bogged down. A lengthy round of email tennis between IT, the account handler and the creative ensues. And, eventually, the 'system' is satisfied as the necessary data has at last been inputted.
And, of course, it's every bit as inaccurate as the old paper system was. In fact, probably more so - given that there isn't a substantial space allowed for 'time spent getting e-timesheets to work'.
July 2009
Site updates
I've added some new work samples.
These include ads for Eagle Star insurance and RCI Affiliates, on my Press Ads, Posters and Radio Commercials copywriting examples page
Also, a press pack for NetNames, plus brochures for HR Consultancy and Stopgap Directors on my Direct Mail and Brochures copywriting examples page
June 2009
The world's first direct response letter
Nice little observation here from Dan Douglass. How long do you think direct response letters have been around? A hundred years? A hundred and fifty?
And who invented them? Surely it was either us or the Americans?
Wrong on all counts. The first direct response letter was written over two thousand years ago. It was St Paul's letter to Corinthians.
It has everything, including the classic AIDA formula (Action, Insight, Desire, Action), together with a great planning insight, a winning offer and a clear response mechanism. Not to mention a trusted brand to back it up - God.
Here's the link:
A biblical freelance copywriter?
April 2009
Book review: Search Engine Optimization - an hour a day
There are lots of good nuggets in this extensive book by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin. In fact it goes into far more detail than your average business would need.
As the title indicates, it suggests not just spending an hour a day optimising your website, but comes up with a formal, fully structured plan. Which is likely to be put off the vast majority of readers and be unsuitable for nearly all of the remainder.
That aside, it's well laid out and the information is easy to find and understand. There's a good index too, always important in a book of this nature. Perfect for checking out specific areas or just for thumbing through and picking up tips. Just don't expect it to change your life today, tomorrow, or one hour at a time.
March 2009
New article added
I've added a new article to the articles section.
It's called: small business website design - how to make the right choices
And don't forget, if you want a complete small business website from just £199 plus VAT plus £23.50 a month, check out my affordable web design and copy package
January 2009
Site update
I've added lots of images to the work pages.
On my Press Ads, Posters and Radio Commercials copywriting examples page you'll find a couple of examples of the many promotional work, brochures and press ads I've done for New Masters Wines.
Have a look at my New Media copywriting samples page for some fresh examples of online work I've written for Learndirect.
And check out my Direct Mail and Brochures copywriting examples page for the latest newsletters I've written for Affinity Sutton, plus direct mail for the charity Sparks.
Creativity starts with a blank sheet of paper - part 2
There's an interesting PS to the previous post on artist Peter Callesen. I first heard about him in a forwarded email, which contained about a dozen of his images.
Nothing unusual about that, except the email had nothing to do with Callesen. It was headed up 'Entries to a contest at the Hirshorn Modern Art Gallery in DC'. A bit of further research shows that these images - and the incorrect source - have spread far and wide across the web. There's film of it on YouTube and all sorts. It's only by reading some of the comments that it eventually becomes clear that it had nothing to do with an art gallery contest.
So who started promoting it as such and why? Did the art gallery look to gain some cheap and unwarranted publicity? Did the artist himself want to publicise his work, but was too shy to put forward his own name? Or did someone simply make a mistake and it all mushroomed form there?
Whichever, I'm just glad to have given the correct link.
Creativity starts with a blank sheet of paper - part 1
Every copywriter knows the occasional dread of being confronted with a blank sheet of paper and thinking: 'where on earth do I start?'
Of course, for artists it can be just the same, when inspiration fails to come calling. But there's one Danish artist for whom a blank sheet of paper is the source of endless inspiration. He's called Peter Callesen, and he doesn't need pen, pencil or paints. Or words, come to that. Just a scalpel, a steady hand and the odd drop of glue.
Take a look at his work - some of it is truly astonishing:
Creativity starts with a blank sheet of paper
Office speak phrases we love to hate
A few years ago it was phrases like 'Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes' (which gradually morphed into 'Put it on the floor and see if the cat licks it up'). Yes, it's management speak. It changes over time, but it's always there.
Every now and then there's a survey of the best (or worst) of them. This time around, it's from the BBC:
Office speak phrases that every freelance copywriter should avoid
Plenty of horrible expressions there to be getting on with, though a few recent ones seem to be missing. 'Modularity', 'Paradigm thinking', you name it. (Or rather, please don't…)