Updates. Ideas. Rants. Techniques. Opinions. Blog.
Please Stop Sulking About Copywriting Rates
I’m a copywriter. I’m freelance. I’m all for fair rates for good work. But I’m also a human being. So I’m dead against grown adults acting like little babies.
Four Things I’d Do To Your Email Copy
I like being helpful (and I’m particularly helpful if you book me). So here’s what I do when I’m faced with some email copy that’s not working – and how in-house writers can make their emails more interesting, engaging and high-performing.
Three Things I Learned in 2015
When your seasonal blog post starts life as relevant, passes through 391 days of making your website look dated, then becomes relevant again, you have two options. You make the most of that fact and get on with some real work, or you finally accept that it’s time to put a new post online. And what better topic than the issue of not blogging? What exactly have I been doing for the past twelve months? And, if I’ve not been sharing things I’ve picked up during the year, could I share them all at once now? Yes, I can.
You Lost Me At Model
It's Christmas! Almost. And (spoiler alert) Christmas is all about selling you stuff. Retailers are having the time of their lives, but they're also facing cut-throat competition where only a perfect little Penguin will do. Everyone's trying hard for a heartwarming Christmas ad. But not everyone's doing a great job. Sorry.
You Haven’t Got Time to Read This
So, I haven't been the world's best blogger lately. In fact, I haven't posted for what seems like an age. There's only one person to blame. Wait, no. It's not me! No, I'm innocent in all this. The only person to blame is you. If you're a client, you've taken up my time with, you know, writing copy. Copywriting. You should be ashamed. But I'm not writing this to diss you on the internet. I'm writing this to say thanks. Because it made me realise something quite useful.
An Incredibly Original Copywriting Blog Post
A look at what it means to be original, how what you think is original isn't original at all, and why Rush Hour and Life on Mars are basically the same thing.
Four Obvious Things About Running a Copywriting Business
Nobody's asked, but you might be wondering why I keep stating the obvious. Well, when I wrote Four Obvious Things About Copywriting, it was because these were things people sometimes seemed to forget. The very basics of copywriting. The things you know instinctively, automatically, and from the moment you write your first piece. They're forgotten because they're too obvious. They're not creative. They're not clever. They don't make people say 'Wow, you're such an imaginative little fellow.' But they do help sell things. Which is good. Now, I've decided to state some obvious things about running your business. You can read Four Obvious Things About Running a Copywriting Business as a guest post over at Copywriter Collective.
Why Microsoft’s Copywriters Need To Be Better Liars
Empathy's a powerful tool. But it's frustrating when it's not used intelligently. You find that frustrating, don't you? I know how you feel. I've worked on lots of copywriting projects which demanded a touch of sympathy. A friendly voice that understands your financial predicament, or shows the warmth of a family GP. Of course, empathy isn't always real. It's slight of hand, a trick we use to make copy connect with people. In short, it's one of the irresistible lies we tell. But, as I found out when dealing with Microsoft's Live Support, some people aren't very good liars.
Swiped: .rising’s Incredible Generosity
You don't get something for nothing. Take this blog. I spend my time writing and promoting posts, sharing thoughts and advice on life as a freelance copywriter. And I don't get paid for it. But I still expect a return. It's nice to see my subscribers list growing. It's lovely to get some feedback. It's great that people share my website through social media, and Google (reluctantly) starts caring about what I do. If I didn't believe that blogging delivered some kind of return, I wouldn't do it. I have better uses for my time. So you get to read the blog for free. But not for nothing. And it turns out that giving something away is a particularly potent form of persuasion.
Swiped: Econsultancy’s Presumption
Copywriting is about getting people to do things. You might want someone to buy. Or think about a specific idea. Or hire you as a freelance copywriter (hello). But there's a problem - people don't want to do what you say. In this Swiped post, we'll look at an example of overcoming that natural resistance to persuasion - by putting the initial decision firmly in the past.
