
What’s it like to be an Advertising Copywriter? The Inside Story on Iced Tea and Rejection
Advertising Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsHoused along many inner streets of major cities across the world, there’s a magical place where scatter-brains get paid to think and dink around all day. To pump nerf balls and adjust swivel-chairs from the ground up and then back again. A…

How to Write Copy: Step 1, Be a Woman
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsA while back, I was invited to contribute something called "How to Write Copy" to the website of a large, well-known women's networking organization with numerous "star" participants and a robust online presence. However, my contact at this…

Writing catchy headlines and staying credible
Copywriting SkillsI’m a firm believer in evidence-based medicine and credible health writing. I try and sell a message accurately and focus on evidence and facts – even in sales-related health copywriting projects. Sometimes, I need to think of a catchy,…

Copywriting Typos and Why We Don’t See Them
Copywriting SkillsEven the most vigilant copywriting means making typos. And sometimes, those typos get published. Some are hilarious, some are just downright embarrassing. But all are due to the fact that we see what we expect to see. Seeing copywriting that…

How Bewitched Helped me in Becoming a Copywriter
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsIn my household, we sometimes debate the merits of science fiction vs. fantasy. (You’ve got a copywriter and a composer living under one roof so stuff like this comes up.) To make matters worse, I study people and their motivations, even…

Going with the flow – copywriting to engage the reader from start to finish
Content & StrategyI’ve not been on a copywriting course. I don’t read every single tips and tricks article that gets published around my area of expertise. My success stems from three things: - Engage the reader, getting an understanding of what the reader…

Struggling With Your Website Copywriting? Try The Iceberg Theory
Content & StrategyCopywriting is hard work for anybody other than a copywriter. Add website architecture into the equation and you end up losing 3 things: time, money and sleep. Fortunately there is a solution that will help you. Ernest Hemingway, one of…

How to Write Copy That Sells – Use Benefits
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsAs copywriters we’ve all read that the best way to write copy that sells is to use benefits. But what these articles don’t tell us is how to identify and communicate the benefits that are truly going to compel your readers to reach for their…

Copywriting Pet Peeve Numero Uno
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsThere are a lot of things that annoy me. People who chew so loudly I can hear them on the other side of the restaurant. Arrogance in any style or form. Air conditioning blasting through the vents so hard that it makes you put a sweater…

This experience taught me some important freelance copywriter lessons
Content & Strategy FreelancingA couple of years ago I was contacted by the communications manager of a high profile organisation. It was 3.05pm on a busy Wednesday afternoon. It was the kind of phone call freelance copywriters only dream about. Getting straight down…

Active Observation: Before and After Copywriting in Action
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsStudy leads to more knowledge, but observation leads to wisdom. This was the opening hook line by my current RMIT Copywriting students for their Group Project calling for less feasibility studies and more action on Solar Thermal Energy. I…

From Socratic Dialogue to Communication Brief
Advertising BrandingAs many of you who’ve done Copywriting in Action will know from experience, the Communication Brief is a remarkably effective and reliable vehicle for getting the mind focused and the thinking clear. But harvesting knowledge and insight from…
