April 5, 2023

Happy spring break!

March 30, 2923

Do you know what a USP is? It’s a  unique selling proposition or unique selling point. You need it on your website in the about section above your bio.  You pick a skill you are good at that you acquired at a job and  write how it makes you a unique copywriter. Your UPS should only be two sentences long.

March 23, 2023

March 16, 2023

To get a domain email use Hunter.io or Snov.io then go to website about us page to get name of owner. That’s how you contact someone. Don’t use the contact form on the website.

March 9, 2023

Find beginning graphic designers to help you make spec(fake) ads for your portfolio. Check LinkedIn,Craig’s list in gigs and the art department at colleges.

March 2,  2023

After you pitch businesses and you get interest, make sure you do a discovery call. Its very important you find out if you and business are a great fit.

February 23, 2023

When if comes time to find the deeper benefits in your copywriting. Ask the questions: “So what?” or “Why does it matter?”

February 16, 2023

When you are ready to pitch to find work as a copywriter have a few people look at what you have written to see if it is to salesy or not. If it is it will turn people off.

February 9, 2023

Prices for copywriting . I figure I would charge $45 an hour. And it depends on how much research you are going to need to do. And how much SEO you will need also. Work out a good price you will be happy with and the client would be happy to pay.

February 2, 2023

With copywriting never do free work for the customer.  Never take a test to see how good a writer you are and not get paid.

January 26, 2023

Let’s talk about AI, like ChatGPT. You don’t have to worry about it. It won’t take over copywriting. It doesn’t have creativity or emotion or strategy to be a good fit for businesses. Yes, it can find things on the internet and put them together but that’s all it can do. So don’t worry about it. It won’t threaten to take your career.

January 19, 2023

If you need to write a blog and you know absolutely nothing about the idea you can interview a person that knows and he will go over the highlights.

January 12, 2023

Find products around your house that you really like and pitch to the company

January 5, 2023

Always treat copywriting as a business rather than a hobby or side gig.

December 29, 2022

Happy new year!

December 22, 2022

Happy holidays!

December 15, 2022

Write several headlines at once then pick the best one.

December 8, 2022

According to John Caples: Test everything. Doubt everything. Be interested in theories, but don’t spend a large sum of money on a theory without spending a little money to test it first.

December 1, 2022

Use pictures that are not too weird or far fetched. Or pictures that have nothing to do with the product. Use pictures that attract buyers not curiousity seekers.

November 24, 2022

Happy family gathering day.

November 17, 2022

Use you logotype name over and over to get people to remember it.It is used in radio

November 10, 2022

A model in a picture looking straight at you is a perfect attention getter. It brings more sales than other photos.

November 3, 2022

In copy always use photos when you have them. They just give out more information than drawing, or paintings.

October 27, 2022

People who saved up for a cruise want to see pictures of people smiling and boarding a ship and people enjoying a game while onboard a ship. So always put the right picture in your advertisement.

October 20, 2022

Be careful what picture you put in your ads. One time a man thought he was buying the model not the dress.

October 13, 2022

Make sure you tell your graphic designer what font and size of type you want to capitalize.

October 6 2022

According to John Caples don’t use at caps. in headlines because it chases off the reader.

September 29, 2022

I finished pitching my whole town of Brodhead Wisconsin and am now going to pitch Janesville Wisconsin as soon as my phone book arrives. I’m no quiter. I have been pitching for two years. I’m just a slow beginner. One of these days I’ll make it in copywriting.

September 22, 2022

Don’t use fancy fonts. If you want your text to be read use the same font as stories or articles. Use large font to make your ad stand out.

September 15, 2022

Salesmanship comes first art second.

September 8, 2022

If you shorten the headline title , it gives it more of a punch. Or you can give it more sales appeal by lengthening it. Or reconstruct it to give it greater interest.

September 1, 2022

Remember to test out your ads with different headlines. You will be surprised how a different headline will attract more customers.

August 25, 2022

Beware of words that have two or more meanings when you write copy.

August 18, 2022

You have to be aware of the literacy of where you live to be a good copywriter.

August 11, 2022

Simplicity is vital in copy. If you use too complex words you will lose your readers.

August 4, 2022

According to John Caples wording like exclusive and guaranteed has lost their punch because its everywhere.

July 28, 2022

“Watch out for style copy- the kind of copy that pays more attention to how a thing is said than to what is said,” Said John Caples.

July 21, 2022

When you get done writing you copy have someone read it out loud. You don’t want to stumble. Also don’t use sentences that use a lot of punctuation which can distract from your copy.

July 14, 2022

According to John Caple’s don’t use exclamation marks in your copy because it looks like a letter “L” in under-case and can confuse people.

July 7, 2022

Other ways to make copy easier to read is not to use contractions.

June 30, 2022

Short paragraphs, short sentences, short words to pull your power.

June 23, 2022

Offer a coupon in your copywritting that the customer has to bring to the store. People love this idea. Make sure you have a limit on it too.

June16, 2022

It’s possible to write interesting copy for dull products. Just find an angle that hasn’t been used and you can add drama to anything.

June 8 , 22

20 ways to increase selling power of your advertising according the Caples.

1. Use present tense, second person.
2. Use subheads.
3. Put captions under pictures.
4.  Use simple style of writing.
5.  Choose simple words.
6.  Give free information.
7. Selling copy vs style copy.
8. Arouse curiosity.
9. Make your copy specific.
10.  Use long copy.
11. Write more copy than is necessary to fill the space.
12. Avoid helping your competitors.
13.  Use mail order methods in direct mail advertising.
14. Overstatement copy verses understatement.
15. Avoid trick slogans.
16.  Get help from others.
17.  Do not say that salesperson will call.
18. Study the selling copy in mail order catalogs.
19. Make every advertisement a complete sales talk.
20. Urge the reader to act.

June 2, 2022

Copywriting is different from  editorial writing or novel writing so I recommend taking Nicki Krawezyk’s Copywriting Academy.

May 26, 2022

3 kinds of copy to avoid according to Caples:

1. Poetic copy
2. Affected copy
3. Unbelievable copy

May 19, 2022

3 kinds of copy to use with caution according to Cables are:

1. Card copy. So few words it could be put on a business card.
2.  Clever copy.
3. Humorous copy

May 12, 2022

How about Competitive copy?  Which is a table of figures comparing the leading brand to another brand of product.  It didn’t used to be recommended but now it is.

May 5, 2022

How about News page copy? The space that is bought looks like a typical editorial matter, with headline, pictures, and copy. It has to be labeled as advertisement because the product is sold just as hard as the news advertisement. But if used too often it can lose its effectiveness..

April 28, 2022

How about teaser copy to get people to read by discouraging the reader from reading any farther? Sounds like it would get lots of readers.

April 21, 2022

Title Copy- mail order book advertisers used titles that sold the most. That had three or four words. It was done by trial and error.

April 14, 2022

Signed copy in another way to do a commercial.

April 7 2022

You can do Superlative copy which is just shouting out facts.

March 31, 2022

Then Caples talks about Forthright copy and that just means to tell the truth about what you are selling.

March 24, 2022

Then John Caples talks about the facts-plus-style copy. That’s where you write with a certain style and selling arguments.

March 17, 2022

John Caples talks about Factual Copy. Where you tell every fact about a product in the retail business.

March 10, 2022

Also John Caples talks about Imaginative copy where the copywriter gets the reader’s interest by telling an imaginative  story.

March 3, 2022

John Caples talks about “you and me copy” And that’s when the ad is written by the manufacturer. Speaking in a way that is friendly and chatting. Making the customer feel comfortable and reading for an extended length of time. And in the end closes with an appeal

February 24, 2022

Then John Caples talks about story copy. Which is a human interest situation.Then comes a story of morel of which is buy the product advertised. But it is old fashioned and people do write this way anymore unless you write TV commercials.

February 17, 2022

One of the best types of copy John Caples recommends is: straightforward copy. Mr. Caples goes on to say: This type of copy presents the advertiser’s story in a simple, logical manner. It’s devoid of style or rhetoric. It merely states the facts in the most understandable way possible.

February, 10 2022

Six formulas discovered by Caples:

• Interrupting Ideas
• The Shocker
• News
• Preview
• Quotation
• Story

February 3, 2022

Remember to put in the benefit. What do I get out of it? What can it do for me? Make your first paragraph short. If its too long. people won’t stick around to read it. 

January 27, 2022

When you first start writing the ad you can get rid of the first part because that’s where you were warming up to write. It will still have all the vital information you need in your ad so don’t worry. They are fact-packed, telegraphic, specific, few adjectives and they arouse curiosity.

Here are some first line formulas that work.

1. Interrupting ideas
2. The shocker
3. News
4. Preview
5. Quotation
6. story

January 20, 2022

Get excited when writing copy. Act as though you are rushed but get it down on paper. You need emotional copy to bring in the customers It goes deeper. Maybe the first few lines may sound bad but keep writing over and over. Until you get good selling copy.

January 13, 2022

Yes people are going to look at your copy like :

The copy chief

The account executive

The ad manager

The sales manager

The president of the agency

But turn the critic voices off in your head and write with passion. Then edit anything that needs to be cut. That way you will make the best advertising for the agency.

January 6, 2022

So before you begin writing copy you have to warm up your brain. And in order to do that its best to start writing your thoughts and ideas down on paper. As you warm up your ideas will flow and you will have some decent copy.  Get your enthusiasm out on paper right away. If you have to use a recording devise and take it wherever you go. Whatever you do don’t lose your excitement.

December 30,2021

Have a great New Year!

December 23, 2021

Happy Holidays!

December 16, 2021

Enthusiasm is just as vital in advertisement as in selling., according to John Caples.

December 9, 2021

According to John Caples,  only copy ads that are successful like mail order ads, the direct response ads, the direct-marketing ads the department store ads.  If they are repeated you know they are successful ads. It’s these ad ideas that will pay off for you.

December 2, 2021

I’m getting this from John Caples book: Tested Advertising Methods.

As If philosophy for advertising.  Prepare every ad “as if” it were a mail order ad. Apply yo your ads everything that can be learned about what works best to sell the type of product or service you’ll advertise.

Then make everything mail order and most importantly, give readers a personal reason to do what you want them to do. The chances are, more often then not your “as if” will turn into a reality.

November 25, 2021

Happy family get together day!

November 18, 2021

Attention-value in ads is one of the most important factors. You must hook the reader in in an instant.  If an ad fails to attract attention it will also fail.

November 11, 2921

John Caples in his book:The copywriter’s job is totally different than the salesperson or entertainer because he or she lack close and intimate touch with their audience. Their job is hard because they lack the quick reaction of customers to guide their efforts into the proper channels.

November 4, 2021

There are two kinds of businesses. The kind that can change it’s media from the feedback of the crowd of the advertiser.

October 28, 2021

According to John Cables in his book: Tested Advertising Methods.  He says, What you say is more important than how you say it. The technique of finding and using  a successful appeal can be summed up in four basic steps as follows:

1. Have a reason-not just a “feeling”-for chosing the appeals you are going to use.
2. Test a number of appeals.
3. Determine the winning appeal by an analysis of results.
4. 4.Cash in the winning appeal by featuring it in all your ads, whether it be space advertising, broadcast commercials, direct mail or billboards.

This method of finding the best appeal has brought success to the worlds greatest advertisers. It can do the same for you.

October 21, 2021

Sometimes Appeals can create bad feelings if the reader doesn’t understand the ad. Be careful to make your message clear.

October 14, 2021

According the John Caple’s book: Tested Advertising Methods, he says the appeal is everything. The headline and the appeal are the same thing.

October 7, 2021

According to Hahn’s advertising career, in John Caples’s book, successful advertising was based on one or more of three appeals: Sex, greed, or fear.

September 28, 2021

According to John Caples in his book: Tested Advertising Methods. You are to use in the beginning of headlines:

1. Introducing
2. Announcing or  Kellogg’s introduces a different cereal. Or An important announcement…
3. Use announcement words.
4. Begin with the word “new”.
5.  Start with “Now”
6. “At Last”
7. “How to”
8. “How”
9. “Why”
10. “Which”
11. “Who else”
12. “Wanted”
13.  “This”
14. “Because”
15.  “If”
16.  “Advice”

Also write your headlines with:

1.  a date
2. News style
3. Price
4. reduced price
5.  special merchandising offer.
6. easy payment plan.
7.  feature a free offer.
8. information of value.
9. Tell a story.
10. Use testimonial style headline.
11. Offer the reader a test.
12. Use a one word headline.
13.  Use a two word headline.
14. Use a three word headline.
15. Warn the reader to delay buying.
16. Let the manufacturer speak directly to the people.
17. Address your headline to a specific person or group.
18. Have your headline ask a question.
19. Offer benefits through facts and figures.

September 23, 2021

Should the copywriter emphasis copy or let the designer do it? The copywriter and designer have to work as a team . Remember, it’s important to emphasis text  in your ad’s headlines to get results.

September 16, 2021

5 things headlines need:

1. self interest
2. News
3.  Avoid curiosity unless it’s with news and self interest.
4. Have positive views only.
5. Make it quick and easy to get.

September 9, 2021

Do not rely on opinions when writing ads. Use an objective test to find the effectiveness of advertising.

September 2, 2021

Negotiating with confidence can be hard because it has a stigma.  We negotiate at restaurants all the time. Practice and try to step outside your comfort zone. Push for what you want. This may be harder for women. It would probably  surprise you to just ask and they oblige you. If you do a good job why shouldn’t you get paid more? Ask what their budget is and tell them you just want to have a conversation.  Don’t ever say yes to their first offer. If they say no have the courage to ask them a different number. Show curiosity and ask was it the timing or something else? Give me more context. Use silence to your advantage. It’s powerful.

August 26, 2021

5 points in headlines you can use to get attention.

1. self interest
2. news
3. curiosity
4. quick,easy way to get something.
5. believably- use specific figures.

August 19, 2021

Headlines can be divided into 3 classes.

1. reader benefits
2. news
3. curiosity

And in that order. A benefit is far better than a curiosity any day.

The best headlines are ones that aim at a certain audience and give them what they dearly want. And make it as simple as you can.

August 12, 2021

If you can’t write the headline first, do your research and get to know about the product or service. If your headline is poor and excellent photo or illustration will pull readers in. But if the picture is poor you better have a good headline. If both headline and image is excellent then you have an irresistible ad.

August 5, 2021

Headline in an ad will make or break you. The headline is 50 to 75 percent the whole ad.

July 29 2021

The two most important things to learn about advertisement success are:

1.There are scientific principals learned by advertisers:
a. In testing they know what kind of advertising sell the most product.
b. Which headline attracts most readers, which publications are best.
c. Which kind of advertising pictures and layouts are most effective.
2. Using the methods of testing to determine what works best for you the copy writer.

July 22,2021

When you can’t test before hand. Learn from others who have tested and apply their results.

The three W’s

1. where to advertise.
2. When to advertise.
3. What to say in ads.

Often the person whose opinion matters works as a vice president or works in manufacturing. What a waste. Many advertising methods are still in the dark ages.

July 15, 2021

Discovery of the best appeal for copy takes some work in testing to get it just right. It can be difficult. You might have many great appeals but you need to find just the right one. It may very well take a whole year to find the perfect appeal. Every advertising medium should be tested. The season  and dates should be checked. Location of advertising should be tracked for results. It has to sound and look good.

July 8, 2021

According to advertisers, there is a three pronged approach to advertising.

1. Initial testing. Put out the same size commercials with different wording to see how people respond.
2. Expand the testing of winners. Put them into different publications.
3.  Learn from the results.

This takes time to do. So let it work.

July 1, 2021

In Ogilvy’s book it says: Political commercials are the worst advertisement.  You can say anything about your opponent as you want and people will believe it even if it was a lie. Because under the US Constitution  the people running have the right under the first amendment and nothing can be done about it.

June 24, 2021

Copywriting is great for people with chronic illnesses. The pieces of copy can be very manageable for the disabled.

June 17, 2021

In Ogilvy’s book it says people who write commercials need to do research for their ads. It’s  very important. Some people say research prevents creativity. But Ogilvy disagrees.  Names are very difficult to come up with that aren’t already registered with someone.

There are 3 kinds of names for products.

1. Someone’s sir name, which is easily remembered and you know there’s a human behind the name.

2. Meaningless names which take forever to get inside people’s brains.

3. descriptive names that have sales appeal, but you can’t have line extensions.

June 10, 2021

Hi, I just read in Ogilvy’s book that a lot of people don’t want children to be sold to. Or even tested like guinea pigs to see what opinions they have over a product. So now there are laws set in place to make sure of it.

June 3, 2021

According to Ogilvy, most ads don’t have a benefit written into them. You will get 4 times more readers if you state a benefit in your headline.

May 27, 2021

According to David Ogilvy, Proctor and Gamble may be a juggernaut but they can still be beaten in advertisement. Because he did it many times. Saying they are predictable. Their Achilles Heel is their consistency.

May 20, 2021

When sending out a great email you need a great subject line also. Use: You’re invited, or Get some help from a friend.  Urgent reminder. Always try to include the benefit. Don’t use gimmicks or vague subject lines. Write out several subject lines and even test them to see which ones get opened.

May 13 ,2021

If you plan on putting a TV ad on Television. The short ones -like two minutes don’t really get more sales. The longer ones do much better. Especially if you are solving a problem. Those are the best commercials. Ogilvy said it doesn’t matter how many people are watching the commercial. What matters how many sales you make.

May 6, 2021

Remember to test out different versions of your ad to see which brings in the most customers. Use black lettering on white paper. Make the ad tidy and appealing to the eye. Then make the ad like 5 pages long.

April 29, 2021

Ogilvy on Advertising book states the headline you write will see the most customers, so make it good! The body copy is only seen by ten percent, and they are the people who are straight up buyers of your product.

April 22, 2021

Hi, I’m still reading Stillness Is The Key by Ryan Holiday. He talks about the troubles Tiger Woods and Micheal Jorden are having even though they are very successful players.  Tiger Woods seems to have a death wish. And Micheal Jorden is very angry about his life and how it turned out.  The book also talks about how  everyone needs to embrace a higher power to find stillness.

April 15, 2021

I’m a freelance writer so I’m writing short stories and articles for magazines in my spare time. For copywriting: Always know what is a benefit and what is a feature of the product you are advertising. It’s the benefit that will sell your product. Also repeat it often in your commercial. 

April 8, 2021

The book: Ogilvy on advertising is a book I’m still reading. The pictures on travel advertising are just gorgeous. I would absolutely love to write copy for foreign countries. I’m hoping I will go someday. Ogilvy said the pictures in Britain angered the British because the advertisement didn’t show a futuristic Britain with their nuclear power plants and other inventions. Still, they were soon surprised to see so many tourists.

April 1,2021

Happy Holiday! I sent out two emails and four letters to prospective clients for this week. Try to keep plugging away. I know it’s hard with the pandemic and everything. The book Stillness Is The Key, the author Ryan Holiday says, ‘The toxic form of ego has a less-assuming evil twin–often called “imposter syndrome.” ‘ The copywriters in the Facebook group always talk about feeling this. I’m not sure why they keep bringing it up.  Oh well.

 March 25, 2021

I’m reading the book Stillness is Key by Ryan Holiday. According to him, you need to slow down and give yourself time to think without all the distractions around you every day. Get off Social media and find a quiet room where you can just be alone with your thoughts. Try to spend time there every day. Also, keep a journal and try to take it with you every day. And write any ideas you have in it.

 March 18, 2021

Make your headline with ten words if you want. On rare occasions, does one-word work. Make a lot of excellent copy for the ad, like 4000 -6000 words. Not everyone will read all the compositions, but most will take it seriously and buy your product worldwide. You don’t want your ads to look like ads. You want them to look like editorials.

March 11, 2021

In the headline, the ad needs to show a benefit over a feature. And also need to offer something that is news. It could be a new flavor potato chip or an improvement in a computer, or maybe a new way to garden. Use tried and true words, like Suddenly, Amazing, introducing, and now. To get a reader to remember the ad, use helpful information.

March 4, 2021

As a copywriter, never under- sell yourself. You offer a service that is very important and worth every nickel.  To be a good follower is to anticipate what the leader will say next and do it before they can even issue an order.  As a leader, inspire to motivate with an excellent speech. Terrific ghostwriters make the best Presidents.

February 25, 2021

It is always a good idea to read what you have written out loud if you are a writer. So you can hear if there are any stumbling areas. You want to be smooth. Also, use common words that laypeople know. Don’t use words that might cause the reader to stop and look up a word in a search engine. It would pull them away from your advertisement. And you wouldn’t want that.

February 18, 2021

When you start pursuing copywriting you need to be passionate about it according to David Ogilvy in his book: Ogilvy on Advertising. That’s probably so you stick with it because it can be pretty hard to come up with a winning advertisement every time. The Comprehensive Copywriting  Academy Facebook page shows how people struggle with ads some times.

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