This week I’ve been rereading Caples’ ‘Tested Advertising Methods’… A book David Ogilvy said is “Without doubt the most useful book about advertising that I have ever read.” Here are my 3 key takeaways: Success in marketing comes from A/B testing, nothing else You can spend years brushing up on best practices and sales psychology. […]
Blogger in chief at The Copywriter's Crucible. A blog focused on helping other copywriters to enhance their skillset and be of more value to clients, and thus push up their pay grade. Also dabbles in internet marketing, cycling and jaunts abroad, in no particular order.
Harnessing the “Zeigarnik Effect” in Copy
Ever wondered how waiters can remember long orders in their heads… But forget them the moment they’re delivered to the table? It’s due to the “Zeigarnik Effect”… A principle you can harness in your copywriting. It works like this… The brain has an uncanny ability to store information that’s incomplete or unresolved… But it forgets […]
Four Winston Churchill Writing Tips
Sir Winston Churchill is famous for his rousing speeches that galvanized a nation… So he knew a thing or two about motivating people to take action. Churchill was a writing workhorse too… Penning more words than Dickens and Shakespeare combined. His published speeches stretch to eighteen volumes… While his memos and letters run into the […]
3 Ways to Harness the Power of Framing
Never underestimate the power of ‘framing’. Framing is what enables paintings sold for $5 on the street to demand $5,000 in an art gallery… Or why a famous violinist may get a standing ovation in a concert hall… But barely make $20 busking in the street. It’s all about how the offer is FRAMED. Here […]
3 NLP Copywriting Tips
Do you use NLP in your copywriting? After you read this post, you’ll know whether you do or not (see what I did there). Here are three diabolic NLP tricks you may be using without realizing… Embed commands you want the reader to take Wrap the action you want the reader to take in a […]
How to get high paying copywriting clients
How to get high paying copywriting clients. It’s a question I get asked a lot. Here’s what I tell people… Offer a ‘done for you’ service. Because here’s the thing… High paying clients are busy. They’re overwhelmed with information and decisions to make. You want to make the decision to hire you as easy as […]
Rolex and the Power of Framing
They were just another watchmaker. But then something happened that flipped the watch market upside down. Seiko unveiled the Astron – the world’s first “quartz clock” wristwatch. All of a sudden Rolex’s watches looked dated. Basic. Even cheap. Rolex knew they had to do something fast… Otherwise their goose was cooked. But rather than follow […]
Mastering your ego
Hollywood and copywriting. It’s hard to know which industry has the bigger ego problem. Sure, projecting confidence that you write great copy is great for your pride and ability to attract clients. But even the best copywriters in the world have only a 1 in 3 batting average that their sales letter will be a […]
How to Make Science Interesting
In science class at school… All I ever wanted was to see things explode. But mixing sulphuric acid with baking soda only ever happened once in chemistry class. Then it was back to studying the periodic table… And calculating the speed of waves nobody could see. BORING! Well, guess what… Readers feel the same way […]
Dopamine management
As writers we’re in the dopamine management business. Our job is to find ways of triggering tiny releases of the “reward” hormone… To keep people emotionally hooked to our words. So what can you do to trigger a burst of dopamine? Here are four ways: Open loops – Pose unanswered questions or share a paradoxical […]