Why creating your online portfolio is a waste of time, and worse, a damaging blow to your potential revenue growth
I had an email from a student of mine recently. She wanted to know which web platform I recommended for hosting her online portfolio. My answer was, none of them. Not because they’re no good. Because online portfolios are a dreadful way …
The Future of Copywriting by Gemma Stride
Looking Back Before Looking Forward The craft of copywriting begins with a love of words from an early age. Being a keen reader, I can remember having my nose stuck in a book for a lot of the time. I would always …
Results of our 2014 blogging competition
The results are in. But before I reveal the winner and runners-up in our blogging competition on The Future of Copywriting – here are a few thoughts on how the event turned out. The first thing that surprised me was the apparent …
Why I Gave Up “A Day’s Wages” To Attend PCN2014
The annual PCN conference is the only national meeting for copywriters in the UK. That alone should make it a must-attend event for anyone serious about their craft. Or who just fancies a chinwag IRL with fellow writers. Last year I remember …
Is rigid thinking holding you back from copywriting greatness?
Being a copywriter is a lot like being a chameleon. Not the whole eye-swivelling, gross metre-long sticky tongue rocket thingy, but the ability to blend in with one’s surroundings. In our case, those surroundings are two-fold. The persona of the person on …
Story and its authority and impact (without a particular char.)
How hard is it to put out a blog post that has a point but still has no … in it? I took this on as a task to find out if it was worth it. My work follows. (This is not …
10 Controversial Truths About Content That Will have You Spitting With Rage Or Smiling Contentedly Over Your Keyboard
Now I know how Daniel felt. Me – Mr If-you-can’t-count-the-money-it-isn’t-worth-doing – and 30 or so content specialists getting ready to debate how content marketing might evolve to survive as a marketing discipline. After my pugnacious performance at the panel session of #pcn2013 …
I feel your pain
Understanding how your customer feels is crucial to establishing rapport, trust and, ultimately, the sale. In general, and perhaps a sad reflection on the human condition – or maybe just marketing – we are not selling to contented people. No, that’s not …
Where old skool meets new skool – how to integrate content marketing into your sales machine
I woke up the Saturday after PCN2013 prey to a mixture of emotions, one of which I can only describe as a hubris hangover. Did I really say all those things about content marketing? Without qualifying my opinions? I must have come …
The 7 telltale signs you’re reading “zombie copy”
She stands, screaming. Her feet refuse to move. She is rooted to the spot with terror. Slowly, inevitably, the bloody, walking corpse approaches. Arms outstretched, snarling, it reaches for her. It is hungry. Actually, that’s a metaphor. It’s not going to eat …
The Copywriter’s Prayer
Oh Word, Let me compose sentences providing both meaning and pleasure. Guide me towards clarity, simplicity and truthfulness, And away from the seductive path of waffle, and the words whereof the weasel availeth himself. Teach me to care about punctuation without sharing …
Three warning signs you’re running a ‘cheap’ business
One of the prerequisites for growing your business is thinking big. Here are three warning signs that you’re thinking small – and looking cheap. Advertising the fact that you can work with clients anywhere, “thanks to Skype” Of course managing your costs …
A sales blunder so huge it still makes me sweat 25 years later
I was 26, a fledgling marketeer with a research publisher. And I was about to commit a sales crime so horrible my clients would have left the building immediately if they’d known what was coming. Frankfurt Messe is the big exhibition space …
Maslen on Marketing June 2013: Why double-amputees can make great copywriters
Many laypeople (and not a few copywriters) imagine the job of a copywriter involves sitting at a computer and typing. Well, that’s true as far as it goes. It does involve typing. But in much the same way as the job of …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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