How to be a copywriter

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How to Design a Killer Book Cover & Skyrocket Your Book Sales

E. Haldeman-Julius sold 100 million books in less than seven years. He achieved this by using simple and effective book covers based on compelling titles and clean cover design. No fancy titles or design, it was all about simplicity.What…

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Turning down the volume in your digital world

SEO

(or how Steven Gerrard can help you manage social media in 2015). As I was looking forward to 2015 and planning my year ahead I came across this tweet: The third question struck me immediately: ‘What habitual time waster will you eliminate?’ The…

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How quotes can make your written content crisper

Content & Strategy

Using direct quotes from relevant people can help boost the credibility factor of your articles and blog posts. But they are easy to get wrong. Here’s how to avoid that…Just like references in academic writing, quotes add grunt whatever…

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The Writing Life — Can a Broken Writing Plan Lead to Success?

Content & Strategy

As I was getting ready to write this post, I took a look at what happened to my writing plan and goals for 2014.You see, in 2014 had a VERY aggressive plan, wanting to complete a number of books along with regularly writing on the blog.…

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Why it can be OK to use Zimmer frame phrases

Content & Strategy

Most professional business writers turn purple in the face when they read cliché phrases like “at this moment in time,” screaming “why the hell not just write ‘NOW ?'”Yes, I do, too. However perhaps it’s because I’m getting…

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The Writing Life — Take the Pressure Off and Just Create

Work Habits

I’ve been feeling the call to start another novel.This is on top of working on my next nonfiction book, blogging several times a week, and let’s not forget copywriting for clients and my own biz.Needless to say, starting a novel…

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How to Write Effective Email Subject Lines

Copywriting Skills

Few email marketers pay enough attention to the lowly subject line. Writing the subject line is often the last quick step just before sending the email sent out. Yet those fifty characters could spell success or failure for your email marketing…

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How’s your voice? Active? Passive? Shout? Whisper?

Copywriting Skills

Nearly all of us nonfiction/business writing gurus (ye Gods, what an awful cliché) pound tables and shout loudly that active voice rather than passive voice is essential in marketing communications no matter what. Mea culpa here, in fact…

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10 Tips On Using Stories To Sell

Copywriting Skills

An effective and compelling story is one of the most powerful devices in sales letter writing. There is seldom a successful direct marketing piece without one. I’ve seen this for my most successful sales copy and that of many other high-converting…