Creative Insights Journal - Copywriter Collective

An empty, dimly lit conference room lit by a chandelier, waiting for a pitch meeting to begin

What Agencies Want From a Copywriting Agency

Half our briefs come from other agencies. What they want from a copywriting agency isn't writing — it's a name they can put in the room on Thursday.

A row of identical numbered metal mailboxes, one of them open — a visual metaphor for choosing one name from a shortlist of interchangeable candidates

The Shortlist Is the Worst Way to Hire a Copywriter

A marketing director rang me last month with a request I've had a thousand times. "Send me three writers. I'll pick." It's an entirely reasonable thing to ask. It's how you buy nearly everything else — three builders' quotes, three agencies…

Your Brand Narrative Is What Strangers Can Repeat

Branding Content & Strategy

Before we match a writer to a company, I do something that sounds almost too simple to bill for. I ask three people at that company — usually the founder, the head of sales, and whoever runs marketing — to tell me what the company does and…

Red neon open sign glowing in a dark shop window at night

SEO Copywriting Services: Why Ranking Is the Cheap Part

Copywriting Skills Hiring a copywriter

SEO copywriting services promise rankings. After twenty years placing writers, I can tell you ranking is the cheap part. Persuasion is what you're buying.

An orange origami crane standing out from a crowd of identical folded paper shapes

What a Copywriting Agency Actually Sells (It Isn’t Writing)

Agency Life Hiring a copywriter

After 20 years running a copywriting agency, I can tell you the product isn’t writers. It’s judgement — and the shortlist of one.

The Copy Brief That Was Really a Brand Strategy Problem

Branding Hiring a copywriter

After 20 years placing senior copywriters, here’s how a simple copy brief exposes a brand strategy problem — and what to fix before you brief a writer.

Vintage metal letterpress printing blocks with Chinese characters in a movable-type cabinet

Transcreation: Why Great Campaigns Die at the Border

Hiring a copywriter Transcreation

Every few weeks an email lands that I've come to think of as the most expensive kind I receive. A marketing director — smart, experienced, fresh off a campaign that worked — writes: "Can you get this translated into German? Nothing fancy,…

Two armchairs facing each other in front of a brick fireplace

How to Interview a Copywriter (When You’re Not One)

Freelancing Hiring a copywriter

How to interview a copywriter: after 20 years placing writers and hearing how every hire turned out, here's what actually predicts great work.

Copywriter's desk with a laptop, coffee and printed drafts

Copywriter or Content Writer? You’re Hiring the Wrong One

Content & Strategy Hiring a copywriter

A client called me a few months ago, frustrated. They'd hired a writer six weeks earlier — sharp, well-reviewed, fair rate — and the work was landing flat. "The blog posts are fine," they said, "but the campaign line we asked for is just...…

Creative Insights

Creative thinking from the world’s leading copywriters

What Agencies Want From a Copywriting Agency

The Shortlist Is the Worst Way to Hire a Copywriter

Your Brand Narrative Is What Strangers Can Repeat

SEO Copywriting Services: Why Ranking Is the Cheap Part

What a Copywriting Agency Actually Sells (It Isn’t Writing)

The Copy Brief That Was Really a Brand Strategy Problem

Transcreation: Why Great Campaigns Die at the Border

How to Interview a Copywriter (When You’re Not One)

Copywriter or Content Writer? You’re Hiring the Wrong One

See our freelance copywriters

Alistair

English copywriter

Lives in Paris, France

Hugo Filipe

Portuguese copywriter

Lives in Lisbon, Portugal

Adrià

Spanish copywriter

Lives in Barcelona, Spain

TJ

American Copywriter

Lives in Anthem, USA

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