The run up to Christmas is a time to reflect on the past year. It’s a time to think about which areas of your business are working, and which need an overhaul in the New Year. Some people are taking this reflection seriously, with copywriting legend Bob Bly and blogging supremo Brian Clark both being […]
Are You Ready to Greet Curious George and Doubting Thomas this Christmas?
It would appear that online shoppers on both sides of the pond are oblivious to the credit crunch, and are whipping out their credit cards faster than ever. Nearly half will be increasing their online spend this holiday spend, with £40 billion added to shopping carts in the UK alone this Christmas. This year’s increase […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Power of a Tailor’s Tale
Once upon a time, there was a young tailor who was struggling to make a living selling his handmade suits. Every month he would scramble around to find the money to pay the rent, hoping he would eventually be able to find enough wealthy customers to keep his business alive. But as time went on, […]
Johnson & Johnson Sues the American Red Cross. Were Marketing Consulted?
With brands falling over themselves to try and build a closer affinity with consumers and a positive association with their products, the mind boggles as to why a leading brand such as Johnson & Johnson saw it fit to launch a lawsuit against the American Red Cross. I can only imagine the eruption in J […]
‘Why You Must Invest in Content to Build Trust and Succeed Online’ report
Whilst I was experiencing the summer lull, I thought I’d take advantage of the free time to compile a summary of my posts from the last year. After all, with the dreadful weather we’ve had in the UK I couldn’t really spend it lazing in the garden. As every week has passed and the stats […]