I did an interview recently with David Garfinkel in which we did a deep dive into a long-time fascination of mine: pitchmen. Look, in times like these especially — and I hope you’re doing well and staying safe – you may not want to SOUND like a pitchman. But you do want to THINK like one if you want to write great copy at [...]
If you want to be a better copywriter, watch a good magician at work. See how he shows us a coin in his hands, for example. And suddenly, “before our very eyes”... It vanishes. Although we know there must be a logical explanation, we can’t help but stare in slack-jawed, open-eyed wonder. And that is — or should be — what we do as [...]
Early in my direct response copywriting career I was fortunate to work under one of the greats: Jim Rutz. Jim was one of the most in-demand copywriters in the world. Clients would wait up to a year for him to put his pen to work for their products. That’s why he was able to charge some of the highest fees of any copywriter — [...]
How do you communicate with prospects and customers in times like these? How do you write and design your communications to strike the right tone AND get maximum results? I recently did a presentation with Lori Haller, a top direct response designer and strategist, on what’s working in copy and design right now. I’m sure you realize how important it is, in these anxious, [...]
When it comes to getting people to agree to an interview and prying their best secrets out of them, Ray Edwards has an unfair advantage. He’s one of the nicest, friendliest, most down-home guys in the business. So naturally I agreed to an interview. And naturally, he was able to pry out of me my NINE secrets of succeeding as a copywriter in today’s [...]
Have you heard the bad news? A few years ago it was discovered that most people have the attention span of a goldfish. But that’s no longer true! According to a new study done by Microsoft, the goldfish now have us beat by a second. That’s right, the study concluded that the attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds – while people generally [...]
What happened to you? As a baby you were one of the most persuasive beings on the planet. Out you popped from your mom, a dripping-wet, wrinkled, bawling mess. And yet somehow you had managed to persuade people to love you, feed you, clothe you and change your diapers. Masterfully, you alternated goo-goo-eyed baby charm with attention-getting cries at precisely the right pitch and [...]
Hey, thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog. Whether you came by link or by search… …whether you’re a current or aspiring copywriter, marketer, entrepreneur, creative thinker, or none of the above… …I’m darned glad you’re here. My goal is to provide you with all sorts of great info and insights on persuasion … creativity … copywriting … marketing … direct response [...]
Copywriting is about being persuasive. So if you want to get better at copywriting, practice being persuasive. In person as well as in print. Practice convincing your friends, family and business associates to try a particular food, accompany you somewhere, watch a certain show, or just to do “A” rather than “B”. Notice what works. Notice what doesn’t. How do you deal with objections? How do you [...]
The most interesting and most successful people I know are smart. The best writers I know are frighteningly smart. So being smarter and raising my IQ has long been a goal of mine. Some say you’re stuck with the neural cards you’ve been dealt. But I’m convinced that intelligence can be increased and IQ raised. Increasingly, researchers are, too. Here are some ways to [...]
