As shocking as it might be to some writers, not everybody reads regularly. In fact, most stop reading books after they’ve left school. It’s questionable whether some even started. Many would suggest that TV and other modern distractions are causing literacy levels to drop. If reading levels are falling, will writing standards have to as […]
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.
Content Marketing: Interruption’s Smarter Replacement
Advertisers are struggling with the level of resistance, and stubborn refusal, of people to respond to their ads. People are fed up with being bombarded with messages that have nothing of value to offer them. Cynicism of advertising is now a badge of pride worn to show you won’t be duped by clever wordplay. It’s […]
Has Your Business Learnt that Teaching Sells?
Brian Clark released his ‘Teaching Sells’ report last week on the internet’s potential as a training medium and as a call up for freelance copywriters to think about creating and charging for educational content. No doubt the report will have got entrepreneurial brains racing on how they can build businesses around creating interactive learning environments, […]
Copyblogger Releases ‘Teaching Sells’ Report
Ever since I started learning about the rapidly evolving world of internet copywriting, Brian Clark’s Copyblogger has always been at the top of my reading list. He has finger on the pulse more than most and always gives the impression that he knows more than what he reveals, encouraging you to eagerly await every post […]
What Word Defines the 21st Century?
Languages are constantly evolving as new words are created or take on a new meaning to reflect the issues of the day. Suzie Dent of ‘Countdown‘ fame (a UK quiz show which splices the word game ‘Boggle’ with mental arithmetic, and is almost required viewing for many a university student, myself included) is now accepting […]
The Pendulum Swings towards Well Written Words
Regular readers of the Copywriter’s Crucible will be aware of my ongoing theme: businesses need to invest in well written, informative and useful content if they want to convert browsers into buyers. In an ad averse culture, marketing is no longer about carpet bombing sales messages. But about building trust and confidence with content of […]
UK Businesses Start Taking Business Blogging Seriously
Last year, I attended a small business exhibition in my home city of Milton Keynes to distribute leaflets on the benefits of blogging for businesses. I’d hoped it would be a new area in which I could differentiate myself and ride the crest of the wave of the revolution in business communication. Unfortunately, my attempts […]
10 Ways To Become A More Confident Writer
If you’ve arrived here from Google looking for advice on how to become a more confident writer, why not download my eBook ‘Using Words to Convince, Compel and Sell’. It’s packed with advice on how to write headlines that reel in readers, how to structure a sales letter, the mistakes many B2B copywriters make […]
Warning: People Are Ignoring Advertising. But They Do Read News
Just over 20 years ago, David Ogilvy noticed that people weren’t reading his ads as much as they were the editorial sections of newspapers. In fact, the main content was receiving five times the amount of attention as his well crafted copy. Ogilvy, never one to shy away from pushing boundaries, came up with the […]
10 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block
Have your fingers frozen over the keyboard waiting for your brain to warm them up with the right words? Do you have stage fright at the thought of thousands of people getting lost in your muddled sentences and meandering paragraphs? Writer’s block is a common symptom that afflicts every writer at some stage. There’s a […]