Joanne Wilson – fill the gap marketing
This much I know… A series of interviews with copywriters You can recognise great copy because … … it jumps off the page, demanding to be read. Before I know it, I’ve finished the whole piece, left wanting more and desperate to …
No sex please, we’re copywriters
Recently, scholars have unearthed a long-forgotten text advising copywriters on how to live harmoniously with their clients through the practice of certain sexual positions. Here, we reprint the first 10 positions. 1 When the client comes to the copywriter and asks her …
Sarah Turner – Turner Ink
This much I know… A series of interviews with copywriters You can recognise great copy because it … … doesn’t feel like copy. It feels like a friend telling you something you need to know. I know I’ve done a good job …
5 Content Marketing Ideas That Will Actually Make You Money
I do it. You do it. (Or you’re thinking about doing it.) Everybody’s doing it. Content marketing, I mean. But here’s the thing. 99.99% of what’s available isn’t worth the pixels it’s rendered from. In the copywriting field, there are about 7 …
Maslen’s Hierarchy of Fees
Here is a diagram, no, wait…here is an INFOGRAPHIC that maps the relationship between supply, demand and income for freelance copywriters. I call it the Maslen’s Hierarchy of Fees. (In the hope that someone will pick up on the Maslow link and …
How I Kicked Valium and Found Peace and Success as a Public Speaker
I used to be terrified of public speaking. Sleepless terrified. Lost appetite terrified. But my job demanded that I do it. Regularly. I remember one particularly stressful conference I attended, where, two days before my speech, I had to rush off to …
Brand it Like Beckham: a Quick and Dirty Guide to Branding Yourself as a Copywriter
Try a little experiment with me. Close your eyes and picture David Beckham for a few seconds, then open them again. I bet you weren’t seeing DB in football strip. He slipped the surly bonds of footie a long time ago and …
The marketing director, the air stewardess and the copywriter: a cautionary tale.
Here is the next installment in my thrilling series: How my repeated cock-ups nearly cost me my clients, my reputation and my business. She was the blonde-tressed European marketing director of our most important client. Behind the velvet headband was a marketing …
The Stupid Mistake That Made Me a Better Copywriter
Like Mary Poppins, many copywriting ‘experts’ are practically perfect in every way. Well, not this one. Over the years I have made some honking great mistakes. But I have, I hope, learned from them. Here is one of my top five (believe …
The “Childish” Sales Technique Your Clients Will Actually Thank You For Using
What is that for? Why? How did I get here? When is it my birthday? Are we there yet? Children have an unquenchable thirst for knowledge (or maybe just for answers). If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of an interrogation …
Q. Andy, should I become a freelance copywriter? A. Do you have a hide like a rhinoceros?
Should you become a copywriter? Here’s the good news. Copywriters get to spend their days writing. Copywriters can make good money. Copywriters generally enjoy what they do. And here’s the bad news. Copywriters have to deal with people who think they can …
Five people who make you look bad (3 of them are copywriters)
Lurk on a copywriters’ forum for long enough (about three seconds) and you will come across a post complaining that, “clients don’t respect me”. The copywriter has slaved over a keyboard for hours, days or weeks to produce something they feel …
18 questions you should ask (and answer) before investing in a copywriting course
There are quite a few copywriting courses being advertised on the web. Ours, of course, but also offerings from the Copywriting Apprentice, American Writers and Artists Institute (AWAI) and others. Everyone will try to sell you their course with the usual benefits-copy. They …
3 old-fashioned ways of winning new clients you’re proud to boast about – without giving up on social media and content marketing
Every few days or so a freelance copywriter emails me asking for advice. And one of the most common topics is getting clients. Either the precious first one, or just more. The topic crops up on our LinkedIn group discussion board too …
The uncomfortable truth about content marketing that content marketing experts will never tell you
Hey! Have you heard the news? Every form of marketing before content marketing is dead. Old fashioned. Out of date. Not tuned in to the zeitgeist. Great! You can’t stand still. So let’s plough ahead with our own content marketing. Yes, let’s. …
Why content marketing is a great idea and why the last people to tell you how to do it are content marketing experts
Here are 11 tips of my own for writing effective content. 1 Don’t start with your goal. Clickthroughs, signups or whatever. Instead, begin by thinking about your reader. What would they find interesting, compelling or downright unmissable? 2 Resist the temptation to …
Why wasn’t I told this before? Oh, wait a minute, I was.
I have just read a post by one of the most popular bloggers on content marketing, full of such pearls of bleeding-edge wisdom as: Home and other key pages should have a prominent headline. Poor colour contrast, like grey type on grey, …
When did freelance copywriters get so whiny? or how to get out from under and start earning a decent living.
“Clients say stupid things.” “They don’t pay enough.” “They don’t pay on time.” “Other people are setting the wrong prices in the profession.” “They aren’t playing by the rules.” Sometimes it can seem that freelance copywriting is dominated by whiners, moaners and …
The Tao of Freelancing: 15 Rules for a Happier Life
Be positive – nobody likes dealing with whiners. Charge what you know you’re worth – not what you see others charging. Do not mix your business and personal social media – clients aren’t interested …
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