Adventures in Copywriting: From cliché to flipché
Cliches began life as a skillful telegraphing of a thought with precision words. Flip a cliche 380 degrees and you get a fresh new and surprising take on a cliché that is now a flipché.
Adventures in Copywriting: Nine popster answers to “how are you?”
Hi how are you? Rather than the usual “okay” as you walk on by each other, we look at nine catchy alternatives based on popular song titles. Because like good copywriting headlines, good song titles encapsulate the mood, idea or situation in a few tasty words.
Adventures in Copywriting: Why Quote Einstein When You Can Quote Yourself
Perhaps the most challenging (but definitely most rewarding) of all writing is to compose an original thought in the form of a quote. You only have to write one to experience the exhilaration of “poetic champions composing” (to quote Van Morrison).
Hey let’s Wordeate (Verb: To Create New Words).
William Shakespeare was such a prolific innovator of the written word, he created somewhere between 1,700 and 2,200 words — even more according to a New York data scientist who counted 5,170. Whatever the number, Shakey wordeated by changing nouns into verbs; changing verbs into adjectives; connecting words never before used together; adding prefixes and suffixes; as well as inventing completely original words…
Fire your copywriter and hire a journalist instead
How do you turn typical marketese-speak like this: Be inspired to travel on a journey with APT to a destination that will excite, thrill and leave you longing for more. India, so spectacularly diverse … Into story like this: For George Harrison it was spiritual. For E.M. Forster it was mystical. For Steve Waugh it […]
Speed is Bullets Points
While most of us like bullet points, scanners just love them. The more scannable the text, the faster it is to whoosh through. Bullet points are the bullet trains of copywriting…
Before and After Copywriting in Action
BEFORE & AFTER A Copywriting in Action Online Course One of the most valuable methods for learning and advancing your skills (in any endeavour) is through active observation. In my Copywriting in Action® courses, active observation is enabled by the Before & After (B&A) component of the sessions. And participants find it fascinating. We all […]
The First 5 Reasons Why You’re Not Great at Copywriting: Part 1
In the job of copywriting, empathy is all. As you know, solid relationships are made from mutual respect and rapport that leads to trust. In most human encounters, it mostly starts with a conversation for relatedness.
The Next 2 Reasons Why You’re Not Great at Copywriting: Part II
Not-Greats #6 and #7 continue to thwart many a copywriter’s effort to suspend their audience’s disinterest. So let’s dig in and root out the bad habits of garden variety copywriting.
The Last 3 Reasons You’re Not Great at Copywriting: Part III
Like any good communication, properly practiced copywriting employs focus, intention and empathy — three essentials easily overlooked when the mind is wishy-washy and the heart is half-half. The next three pointers are the difference between the forgettable and the memorable.