The above email arrived in the spam filter of my email account today. That’s it in its entirety, apart from the blocked images, which I wasn’t about to open. Note the heading, which lacks any kind of promise, and actually starts with the word ‘Spam’. And look at the copy. Just two sentences that are … Is this the worst spam email ever?
This is aimed at people who have already worked as agency copywriters, particularly in the UK, but are looking to make the move from permanent to freelance. Here, in no particular order, are my top ten pieces of advice for going freelance. Avoid content mills and any request for lots of articles/blog posts that pay … 10 pointers for copywriters going from permanent to freelance.
A last word on this cleverness business. One way to get really, really clever (and effective) with your advertising is to be clever with your strategy. In the days when not many people had cars, Michelin had a problem. Not enough people were buying their tyres. So did they run ads extolling the virtues of … Clever advertising – or brilliant strategy?
As a follow-on from my previous post, ‘Should advertising be clever’, this entry is about wordplay. Perhaps the commonest form of wordplay is the pun. When I started out as an advertising copywriter, one of the first lessons I was taught was to try and avoid puns. For instance, if you’re selling an inexpensive shirt, … Clever copywriting – where does wordplay fit in?
As a follow-up to my earlier entry about whether copywriting should be clever, this post takes a closer look at what makes a clever ad, what makes a dull one, and what makes a largely incomprehensible one. The best print ads are normally those where the headline and the picture work in harmony, together communicating … Is your copywriting bent?
Someone once entered this question as a search string and ended up at my site. They wouldn’t have found a direct answer there at the time, so I thought I’d give you my take on it now. My response is no, not really. Not at the expense of far more important attributes. It’s much more … Should copywriting be clever?
With seemingly everything digital these days, many small business owners might ask whether they need a printed brochure at all. My answer to that, for the most part, is a definite “yes.” Let’s start with where we are. If you’re like most businesses, you’ve got a lot of information on your website. Perhaps some of it … Do businesses still need printed brochures?
It’s been a long while I updated my site, but I’ve finally got around to doing it. You can see several more entries on my testimonials page, and some new examples in my samples section. I’ve also updated my Google results page – rankings for sites I’ve written or rewritten. Projects I’ve worked on in the last few … News update – 25.2.2015
A recent survey found that 57% of people have Googled themselves at some time or another – that is searched for themselves online. It’s known as egosurfing, vanity searching or self-googling. I can well believe it. In fact if anything that figure seems on the low side (speaking as someone who has Googled himself quite a few times, … The Google egosurfing trap – ok for individuals, bad for businesses
Most people know the phrase about America and Britain being divided by a common language, whether it was originally coined by George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde or our old friend Anonymous. It suddenly struck me recently when I was watching a film (movie/picture/what have you) that we’re actually pretty divided when it comes to unspoken communication as … British and American English – it seems we’re also divided by unspoken language
How my copywriting has made a big difference to results and profitability
