An Australian study has found that txtngs fstr till sum1 trys 2 rd it. Um, I think they mean that using abbreviations and shorthand makes it much faster to write text messages — but twice as long for the poor recipient to read and understand them. Writing can be a lot of fun. That’s why […]
Category Archives: copywriting
Free gas and the psychology of copywriting
It will be the hottest marketing promotion of the summer — until it runs out of gas. Companies of all kinds are giving away tankfuls of free gas as long as you buy something: a new car, hotel room, even Calloway golf clubs. With $4 a gallon fuel prices and $50-75 fill-ups becoming part of […]
Direct response "complaint" letter
When is a complaint letter like a sales letter? When it gets the immediate, affirmative response you’re looking for. Take the letter “professional complaint letter writer” Bruce Silverman wrote to the Ritz-Carlton that ended up getting him a week, totally comped, at the company’s Kapalua in Hawaii. As today’s Consumerist detailed, Silverman has been amazingly […]
Google says I'm the #1 copywriter
Well, for the search term “b2b sales letters” anyway. It’s true. Of all the millions of copywriters in all the gin joints in all the world, my modest copywriting site shows up first when you Google that term. That’s way cool, I gotta admit. Even cooler is how I found out. I got a call […]
Direct mail marketing: Hot or not?
If you’re hot for blogging and viral marketing — or any other narrow marketing channel — it’s easy to forget that many of the traditional methods are still thriving. It’s the old Nobody I know is still doing THAT mindset. Understandable, but often inaccurate. Take Direct Mail marketing: postcards, sales letters, catalogs, magalogs, etc. Sure, […]
Two secrets that make your message seem personal
To make your writing seem personal, write like a person, for cryin’ out loud. That goes for most corporate communications as well as speeches and presentations, as Dick Cavett pointed out in a recent NY Times blog post. The former talk show host was referring to political candidates’ speeches, but the same principles hold true […]
Is your writing wimpy and wishy-washy?
Strong, powerful, confident words communicate and convince. Lame, wimpy writing kicks the legs out from under your message, and waters it down. The most common kind of wimpy writing are “qualifiers.” If you remember what your 7th grade English teacher told you, qualifiers are adjectives and adverbs that limit (“qualify”) your message — thus modifying […]