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 people really harming the image of the copywriting industry (it’s not clients)
Spend longer than an hour on Twitter and you’ll come across a copywriter (OK, a lot of copywriters) moaning. We moan about other copywriters’ work, which is usually shit. We moan about politics, although we do this on social media rather than …
How to get well-paid work as a freelance copywriter
Congratulations! You kicked the corporate career to the curb (or maybe you never had one and went straight for the good life). You did some training. You hung out your shingle as a freelance copywriter. You, um, waited in by the phone …
Young, gifted and male. Say what?!
My friend Vikki Ross recently tweeted this copywriting job: First of all, as Vikki herself said in the conversation on Twitter that followed, she wasn’t recruiting or even endorsing the client’s requirements. But it’s an interesting topic, isn’t it. Why specify a …
Here comes the judge. An interview with #copywritersunite creator and copy maven Vikki Ross
Now and again I meet someone who, it seems to me, really gets copywriting. Not only that, but they have a refreshing perspective on the business itself, rather than merely a rehash of 50-year-old ideas about headlines. Vikki Ross is one of …
Why being a ‘curator’ is a lame choice for reputation-building
In a moment I’d like to tear into the Curatorial Myth that collecting links to other people’s work like a trainspotter with an iPhone is somehow valuable work. But first, I’d like you to take this short, ten-question quiz. And make a …
Are You So Old-School You’re Cool?
Think you’re a copywriting cool cat? Take our lighthearted, but deadly-serious 10-question quiz to find out your Copywriter Cool-Rating 1 Which of the following do you own: a) A fountain pen b) A Filofax c) A fax machine d) A typewriter e) …
How to be a wildly successful copywriter
I was inspired to write this post by a piece on the Valuable Content blog about the need to write content your audience craves. Craves? Really? Tough ask! So what is it, I thought, that copywriters crave? Is it how to be …
Twas The Deadline Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when at her pine desk The writer still strove for lines Ogilvy-esque. O’er keyboard her hands hovered, limp in the air, While she waited for insight that just wasn’t there. Her colleagues had long since …
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 …
The Future of Copywriting – by Chris Smith
Here is the winning entry in our 2014 Blogging Competition – “The Future of Copywriting”. Among a strong field, Chris Smith triumphed. According to the judges: “A tightly structured and newsworthy article. This piece has a strong and original tone of voice …
Seven (more) reasons why copywriters should blog
Some time ago, I read a blog post by my friend and fellow copywriter, Tom Albrighton, titled, “7 reasons copywriters should blog“. It’s a great post, and in an attempt at provocation (which, I have to say, succeeded all too well) I …
18 free copywriting ebooks
Here is a list of 18 sites offering free or almost free copywriting ebooks and PDFs to help budding copywriters find their feet. I have linked directly to the download/signup pages so you don’t need to hunt around once you’re there. I …
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 scariest blog post you will read this year
What are your goals as a freelancer? Higher sales? More free time? More respect from clients? A reputation as the go-to-guy or go-to-girl in your town, industry or profession? And how are you going about achieving them? Well, here’s the bad news. …
Seven reasons why copywriters shouldn’t blog
Yesterday I read a great blog post from my friend Tom Albrighton. Its title is 7 reasons copywriters should blog. Tom is one of the more thoughtful copywriting bloggers out there and doesn’t clutter the Internet with statements of the bleeding obvious …
5 rules for getting your pricing pitch-perfect
Many if not most freelancers share this problem. They’re good or even great at what they do… … but they can’t figure out, or are to shy to ask for, what they’re really worth. Here are my five rules for setting your …
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 …
7 Sure-Fire Recession-Busting Tips for Staying Healthy, Wealthy and Wise
I don’t know what business conditions are like where you are, but round our way, it’s been tough going for most of 2013. I want to share seven techniques I have used over the years to win new clients, keep my fees …
The true meaning of “Baby on Board”
What is it with those little yellow squares new parents stick to their rear windscreens? Baby on board. Cute little person on board. Cheeky monkey on board. At a copywriter’s gathering this morning we got to discussing this twinky little sign. Clearly …
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