Copywriting
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who peppers their speech with big, fancy words — just to show the world how smart they are? Yeah. I run into that person a lot. And, I have to admit (gulp!) I used to be that guy. I used to love big, fancy words —…
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There’s a movie I like called The Muse. Albert Brooks plays a screenwriter named Steven Phillips who has lost his “edge.” Everyone says he’s past his prime. So Steven gets a Muse. Not a figurative muse. A literal muse — as in a real-life Greek goddess, a daughter of Zeus. Her name is Sarah Little (Sharon…
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Last month, I sent an email encouraging subscribers to answer a few questions: Why do you subscribe to my list and open these emails? What do you hope to learn/accomplish here? Any marketing questions/challenges you’d like me to address in future emails? I got a ton of great feedback and questions, including this one from…
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Over dinner the other night, my pals and I had one of those “back-in-the-day” conversations. Back in the day, we said, people couldn’t stream music on their phones or computers. We had to buy vinyl records (big as a dinner plate) and play them on bulky record players. If you scratched the record (easy to…
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Happy National Speak in Sentences Day. Party on! Oops. “Party on” is not a complete sentence! My bad. Oops, I did it again. LOL! Darn it! I meant, “I am now laughing out loud.” That’s better, at least according to the “Speak In Sentences” police. I hear from them occasionally. “Your emails and blog posts…
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I recently noticed a new signature section at the bottom of emails from Dave Dee, one of my favorite marketing experts. The section described several ways prospective clients can connect and do business with him. Not a hard pitch, just a short catalog of available opportunities. I liked it so I asked Dave about it…
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Last week, I subscribed to a great email newsletter by Ann Handley. I immediately received a thank you email from Ann that’s so good, I swiped it for my own biz. In that email she: Thanked me for subscribing. Told me what she will send and when. Shared some examples of archived emails. Shared simple instructions to…
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In the 1920’s, a copywriter named Max Sackheim wrote an advertisement for a book entitled, “How to Master Good English in 15 Minutes a Day,” by Sherwin Cody. It was one of the most successful direct response advertisements ever written. The publisher hired other copywriters to try and outdo Sackheim’s. But every time they tested…
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Yesterday, I ran a group training for my Story Generator VIP members. I showed them how to boil down storytelling to a simple process of gathering the building blocks and then assembling them. “We don’t write copy,” I told the VIPs. “We assemble it.” When you learn the simple process (the gathering), the “hard part”…
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First a music recommendation and then a business lesson… I’m a big fan of Aaron Lee Tasjan. I recommend all of his albums, including his new one “Tasjan! Tasjan! Tasjan!”Maybe you’ve heard of him. Maybe you haven’t.Maybe my recommendation influences you. Maybe it doesn’t. But don’t take my word for it. Check this out… That’s this…
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