Three tips for more profitable renewals
For many publishers, the cost per acquisition (CPA) for each new subscriber is enough to keep them awake at 3 am, palms sweating, heart racing. I’ve worked with publishers who are spending tens … hundreds of thousands of pounds (in a couple …
Why I hate teams
Do you remember your fifth birthday? You, know, the one when your parents bought you that really great toy you’d wanted all year. And there was a card with it. Who signed it? Did it say, “Happy Birthday Darling. Lots of Love, …
The sales secret many marketers ignore
Two salesmen decided to hold a month-long competition. The loser would have to fork out for a five-course dinner for both of them. Tom discovered something in the first couple of weeks. Each day, he’d wear a different suit. And on the …
How facts turbocharge your copywriting
Round about half-past nine on your first day as a copywriter, a greybeard will wander over to your desk and intone, portentously, “You know, features don’t matter, it’s benefits that make the sale.” They stroll off again to suck the end of …
Why grammar doesn’t matter
Driving home from London last weekend, we pulled in for lunch right in front of a huge poster for Goldfish credit cards. Part of the “Me and My Goldfish” campaign, it was the start of a short story by a British actor …
What links corporate brochures to ancient Greece?
What is it about corporate brochures that makes them both hideously expensive to produce and virtually unreadable? I suspect the culprit is our old friend hubris. In ancient Greece, hubris was the worst crime imaginable – desecrating your enemy’s corpse to inflict …
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. …
It came from outer space, or, why do so many otherwise rational marketing people forgo massive boosts to profits because they don’t think envelope messages work?
Think about the last email you wrote. Or opened. How important was the subject line? I’m guessing very. So why is that? Well, it’s not rocket science is it? The subject line tells you what the email is about. It entices you …
How to make your headlines work harder
As we all know (we do, don’t we?), headlines are there to draw your reader into your body copy. The most effective way of doing that is to either promise or imply a benefit. Why? Because people act out of self-interest. The …
Why humour doesn’t work
What makes you laugh? Slapstick? Wordplay? Cartoons? All of those tickle my funny bone – and a lot more besides. But I bet you’ve had the experience I’ve had. You’re at a party, in a bar, or making a speech … you …
Using offers to raise response (first published October 2001)
In business-to-consumer mailings, everyone uses offers. I’m sure you’re familiar with the kind of thing I’m talking about: get a free calendar, save £10, win a holiday. But in business-to-business, some marketeers are a little wary. “Our customers are too sophisticated; they’ll …
Selling gold coins online
I’ve just finished a big web copywriting project for The Royal Mint. It was an interesting writing job for me so I thought I’d use it as a case study for you. First a little background. As well as striking coins of …
How to profit from your own e-zine
Get your e-zine right and it acts as a source of highly qualified sales leads, orders, new clients, publicity and profits. Great, I hear you say. So we just migrate our current newsletter to the web then. Er, no. Here’s why. Old-school …
Words that (really) sell
This month’s article is adapted from the second half of a piece I wrote for the excellent InCirculation magazine. It’s aimed at subscriptions marketers, but keep reading if you’re not one. There are plenty of practical tips for general copywriting. Exciting, delighted …
How powerful language builds long-term sales
Selling subscriptions (or building any kind of relationship) is a long game. And to play the long game well, you need to use appropriate language for your title and brand, and use it consistently. But that’s not an easy thing to achieve …
How to double your profits by writing more
Our house is stuffed with story books. Some we can read in a few minutes, others take more like half an hour. Guess which ones my children prefer? This preference for engagement runs deep in the human psyche. And it may go …
How web 2.0 changes your copy
Have you heard of web 2.0? The latest buzzword on the net is all about user-generated content, social networks, new ways of hooking up with people, and, inevitably, new ways of making money. It also places a premium on truth over hype. …
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 …
Ten copywriting secrets
Secret #1 It’s NOT just business, it’s personal Remember at all times that your customers are people. Get to know them as individuals. Discover their innermost fears and desires. This goes double if you are in b2b. Where we are often told …
Three performance upgrades for your web copy
More and more of the copy I am asked for now is destined for the web. Banners, buttons, websites or e-zines. Sometimes the brief specifies a commercial goal for the copy. It might be to increase trial subscriptions. To generate sales leads. …
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