Can you guess who’s the world’s highest paid TV star of all time? No, it’s not Sheldon from Big Bang Theory. Nope, it’s not Dr. Phil. It’s not even Simon Cowell or Ellen DeGeneres (despite both banking a bumper $75 mill each). Coming in waaaay ahead is TV’s ‘Queen of Media’ Oprah Winfrey. By the […]
3 Ways to Wage War on Bigger Competitors
This post is based on Mark Joyner’s talk “Business as Asymmetric Warfare” at Project Persuasion Goes Dark 3.0. “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” – Sun Tzu Plucking away on a keyboard may not feel like an act of war. But one day a client will come along who’ll […]
4 Easy Ways of Doing Buyer Persona Research
Ever find yourself staring at a screen as blank as your brain? If so, you probably haven’t done enough research on who you’re writing to and why. Research should take up two thirds of your time. Your goal should be to keep going until you reach the ‘a ha’ moment when everything clicks into place and you […]
How a Dog Helped De Beers to Sell More Diamonds
Did you know that a dog invented branding? Tis true. It wasn’t devised by an ancient sect of theologians, psychologists and savvy Greek business owners of luxury spas. Branding was invented by a dog. Allow me to explain… If you’ve read Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion (and if not, add it to your list […]
6 Steps to Writing Winning Copywriting Proposals
How you respond to enquiries can be decisive in winning projects or eating baked beans for dinner. It can also turn a one off project into the start of a long-term relationship. So try to be tactical in how you make your offer. Apply the same rules as you would to any other piece of copy – find out what your prospect’s […]
Can You Sell Without Selling?
The game is up. Turns out copywriters aren’t needed anymore. The days of clever wordplay being effective at tricking people into buying stuff are over. People are just too savvy to fall for the same old mind tricks. There’s a new show in town called ‘attraction marketing’. You can forget about prodding at people’s pain, using exclusivity […]
Define Your Client’s ‘Why’ to Give Them a USP Competitors Can’t Copy
‘Why’? It’s an important question. As copywriters, it’s something we ask relentlessly. Why should people buy this product? Why is it better than the other options? It’s also a much deeper question than I realized. As you know, people buy things based on emotion or subconscious decisions, whether it’s fear, hope, greed or any of […]