Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician, logician, physicist, and theologian of the 17th century, wrote in a letter, “Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parceque je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte.” (“I have only made this letter rather long because I have not had time to make it shorter.”) As copywriters, we don’t have the option Monsieur Pascal had. We … [Read more...]
How To Learn From the Copywriting Greats
One of the surest ways to improve any skill set is to identify the people who are the best at doing what you want to do. If you're an actress, watch other great actors and actresses perform. If you're an artist, study the works of other great artists. But where do you go if you're a copywriter? One of the interesting things about copywriting is that it's kind of a … [Read more...]
The Anatomy of a Good Ad: 6 Elements to Include
In the course of a day, you'll come across about a bazillion ads (I'll have to cite that study later...). Some are good, but many are not so good. As a copywriter, it's crucial that you learn to tell the difference. Being able to tell if an ad is any good is crucial since you'll need to be able to apply that same discernment to your own work. After all, if you can't tell … [Read more...]
The Attention Dilemma
When you have a problem to solve or a creative project to write for, it can seem like the best thing to do is just sit down and motor on through until you come up with the perfect solution. In truth, that can be one of the worst ways to get to the answer. When you're trying to access your creative mind, sometimes the best course of action is to step away from the problem … [Read more...]
What Is Direct Response Copywriting?
Copywriting work often has different focuses. Some is designed to sell people on a company—that is, to get people to be aware of, trust, and like the brand. Other copywriting work is designed to get an immediate response. Here we look at what the term "direct response copywriting" means and what makes it different from other writing. There's a fairly decent chance that … [Read more...]
How To Pinpoint the Deep Benefit in Successful Copywriting
As a copywriter, to create truly effective copy, you know you have to lead with the benefit to consumer (what's in it for them), but what else can you do to make your audience take action? You already know to lead with the benefit, give a strong call to action, and keep your copy within your brand/company's tone. However, there is something else you could be utilizing—a … [Read more...]
What Makes Copy Powerful?
It's definitely useful to know what the most powerful words in copywriting are. That said, though, I'm going to answer your question in two parts—first with the most powerful words and then with the true effectiveness silver bullet. Many people have lists of the most powerful words you can use in copy, so you'll see some discrepancy among them, but here are the ones most … [Read more...]
Conquer Blank Page Panic For Good
If you're the type of person who freaks the f#!% out every time you have to start a new copy project, you're not alone. Sheer, unadulterated, new-project, blank-page, "What if I can't do this?" panic is common when you're first starting out. But I have two pieces of good news for you. First, it gets better. With some practice and some patience, eventually, you'll get to the … [Read more...]
What’s a Persona?
As a copywriter, you will write a variety of different pieces of copy. Writing a "persona" is one of them. A "persona" is a description of an imaginary person that represents one of your brand's target audiences. It's basically a composite of all the most pertinent details of the demographic (age, interests, income) and things relevant to what you're trying to sell like … [Read more...]
Copywriter Email Snippet Strategies
If you're writing emails as a copywriter, you know you need to provide your client with subject line options in addition to the copy of the email itself. But if subject lines are the most important piece of email copy, email snippets are probably the most overlooked email tactic. Snippets, sometimes referred to as "pre-headlines" or preheader text," are often-overlooked, but … [Read more...]