5 essential personality traits of the expert
1 Be humble. Even if you are an expert, be ready to acknowledge others’ opinions and admit to your mistakes. 2 Be arrogant. Nobody likes a fence-sitter. If you have a strong opinion and it’s based on something stronger than gut feel, …
6 ways to price non-standard projects
I was talking to a very well respected freelance copywriter and author a week or so ago about fees. He’d emailed to ask me how I could apply my Never-Charge-By-The-Hour doctrine to what he called “fuzzy projects”. Like these. A client asks …
17 rules for being paid what you’re really worth, instead of what doesn’t feel scary
1. Realise that your client has the problem, not you. They need copy. And they’ve come to you for help. 2. They probably spend more on instant coffee in a year than you’re about to quote. 3. If they say no, you …
7 deadly myths about freelancing … and 15 proven ideas that will actually bring in clients, kudos and cash
I have been a freelance – er, sorry – an independent copywriter, for over 15 years now. During that time I have heard a few fairly standard remarks about freelancing that group naturally into seven themes. In fact they’re not just themes, …
The bad word I no longer use
I have spent years running workshops and writing books in which I have advised copywriters to forget about writing to an “audience” and, instead, focus on their “reader”. That’s OK as far as it goes, because my intention was to implant the …
What to buy for the copywriter in your life
What do you give to the copywriter in your life? Well, unlike the man or woman who has everything, this person is likely to be a little more needy. And, it turns out, easy to buy for. To round off this year …
How to banish presenter’s nerves
I was talking to a freelance copywriter last week. She first contacted me a couple of years ago just ahead of a speech she had to deliver. I asked he how it went. “Brilliant!” she said. “I was nervous, but it went …
How to profit from simplicity
“In the last few years, the number of electricity tariffs has gone up, from 180 to over 400. In the same period, consumer applications to switch electricity suppliers has gone down by 25%.” I heard that on the radio last month and …
Buried copywriting treasure
For this article, I’m reviewing and recommending the five best books I’ve read on copywriting. Each one is worth its weight in gold and will, at the very least, ensure you get off work a little earlier. (I’ve provided Amazon links for …
Five tips for getting your book published
Everybody has one book inside them, apparently. Maybe that’s why sales of digestive remedies are skyrocketing. It’s certainly a painful process getting them out. Leaving aside novels, which, apart from the gilded few, are a route to long-term penury and waitering jobs, …
How to beat writer’s block
Wouldn’t it be great if you could start writing fluently the moment you opened a new document? Plans, pitches and presentations, ads, emails and web pages: all would flow effortlessly from your keyboard. No false starts, no staring at the blank screen …
R-E-S-P-E-C-T (and how to win it for your writing)
You know the old joke about consultants? You ask them the time, they borrow your watch and tell you the time, then bill you £100. But year after year, companies (and governments) shell out millions of pounds, dollars, euros and yen to …
A Christmas fable
“Yo! Elves!” The burly, leather-clad man grunted with effort as he swung himself down from the menacing-looking black SUV, and pushed the wraparound mirror sunglasses high on his shiny forehead. “Where’s my posse?” he yelled. Three or four diminutive figures shuffled out …
Eleven copywriting tips from 2007
January – cleaning up your copy I reviewed, for a publisher, a two-page sales letter that managed to use the word fantastic six times. Any offer begins to seem a little desperate when it is described this way half a dozen times. …
Advice to letter-writers from an expert
The old man trudged to his front door, opened it and smiled wearily at the postman, who himself was staggering under the weight of the mail sack slung across his aching back. “Another one for you, Guv. See you shortly.” Dragging the …
The most important letter I’ll write this year
In my job, I get to write a lot of letters. Maybe you do, too. Over the last 20 years or so, I have, I think, developed certain skills that help me write good ones. But recently, I have been struggling with …
Presentations? No sweat
A few years ago I was staying with some very good friends of mine and their neighbour called. She was hyperventilating. “There’s a…really…really…big…SPIDER!” Down the road I went to dispatch the beast, armed only with a rolled up copy of Precision Marketing. …
Don’t just do something, sit there
Let me ask you a question. Thinking back over your last full working day, how long did you spend doing just that? Thinking. a) More than two hours? Oh, come on! b) Between five minutes and half an hour? More likely. c) …
How to look stupid in one easy lesson
Nothing marks you out as uneducated or lazy faster than spelling mistakes. You’re insulting your reader if you send them a document with a spelling error. The subtext is, “I care so little about you that I haven’t even bothered to check …
Doing the PowerPoint tango
Exec to boss: I don’t use PowerPoint because other people use it. I use PowerPoint because LOTS of other people use it. * I use it. You use it. I’ve been to a christening where the priest used it. (Truly, I have.) …
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