
Feet up, hands down – The Freelance Working Vacation
Copywriting SkillsThe idea of a working vacation may sound like a starry-eyed dream full of sand encrusted keyboards, but for a Freelance Copywriter with a passion for travelling, here are five reasons why it’s SO possible. Firstly, I’m not going to apologise…

WHY EXCLAMATION MARKS ARE NOT YOUR FRIEND
Advertising BrandingI’ll let you in on a little secret. One of the biggest giveaways that a client has written their own copy, without hiring a copywriter, is the over-use of exclamation marks. The world’s most over-used punctuation mark has a lot to answer…

6 REASONS YOU ALWAYS FALL FOR CLICK-BAIT (AND THE SECRET FORMULAS PUBLISHERS WON’T WANT YOU TO SEE)
Content & StrategySometimes we can’t help ourselves. Even if we have no interest in the subject, we find ourselves clicking irresistible links. But what is it that makes headlines from sites like Buzzfeed so compelling? Unless you spend your whole time online…

5 Places to Find Photos for Your Spec Ads
AdvertisingWhen you’re creating spec ads, whether on your own or with a design partner (recommended!), you’ll need to find images to use. And, since it’s bad karma to steal other people’s pictures, you’ll need good places to find them. Read on…

Why You Don’t Know Your Audience as Well as You Think
Advertising Content & StrategyBefore I begin writing content, one of the first questions I ask my clients is, “Who is your target audience?” For some reason, it usually stumps them, or the answer I receive is incomplete. I talk all the time about writing for people,…

Public perception – How General Mills Shot Itself in the Foot Over and Over
BrandingThe New York Times broke the news about new General Mills legal terms on April 16. Here’s a portion of the “announcement” from the General Mills website: We’ve updated our privacy policy. Please note we also have new legal terms which…

COPYWRITING EXPLAINED. A STORY OF ONE SKILL.
Copywriting SkillsCopywriting Explained. A Story of One Skill. What’s your passion? If you are lucky, it’s what you do for a living. If you are less fortunate, it’s just a hobby. Is it painting? Running marathons? Breeding penguins? Not the penguins?…

10 Signs You Have a Great Copywriter, Or Not…
Copywriting SkillsEverybody can write, right? Surely, then, finding a good freelance copywriter is about as hard as shooting fish in a barrel. Sadly not. The truth is that finding a great copywriter is a tricky task. We all have different specialities and…

Copywriting tips for key marketing channels
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsYou don’t speak to your boss the same way you speak to your friends. Like relationships, materials for different marketing channels have different language styles. The tone and text of an email promotion differs from that of a Facebook…

Trigger Emotions Deep Dive: Fear – Be Afraid… Be Very Afraid…
Content & StrategyThere’s a well-known acronym in the B2B marketing field called FUD. It stands for “fear, uncertainty, doubt.” It is a tactic used to undermine the competition. Fear exists just as strongly in the B2B world as the B2C world. Within B2B,…

12 Lessons I Picked Up from Attending Seminars
Content & Strategy FreelancingSo you just dropped a tidy sum to attend a seminar or some other three-day event. Now it’s over and you’re exhausted. Your client work is backed up. You have a fistful of business cards to connect with. And your family would like some face…

The secret to mesmerizing sales copy
Content & Strategy Copywriting SkillsYou’ve been there. We all have. It’s a day like any other. You get in the car and you’re driving down the street to the grocery store. Suddenly out of nowhere you wonder if you left that pot of water on the stove. Geez… it could boil…
