Updates. Ideas. Rants. Techniques. Opinions. Blog.

The One Thing You Need To Do

You've been looking for the 'one incredible trick' that makes your copy better. And then, as you've developed, you've realised there is no trick.

Why You Probably Shouldn’t Steal This Copy

Recently, I've been super into helping newer copywriters. There's enough work out there for everyone and one of my favourite things to do is write needlessly long email responses to questions from people starting out. Anything to pretend I'm working while actually just chatting in an email.

This Is What’s Wrong With Your Copywriting

Thousands of words. Hundreds of pages. Every week, I write a lot of copy. And I see a lot of copy, too - from research to work from seasoned pros and brand new copywriters. I like every bit of copy I see. There's always something positive to take away, to learn, to adopt as your own.

A Great Website is a Russian Doll of Messages

For the past few weeks, I've been working on a beast of a website. With dozens of pages and very little existing copy to speak of, it's a been a big undertaking. I was reluctant.

Being Contrarian about the Copywriting Conference

Well, there's a blog title that seems remarkably on brand... In this unpredictable new normal where we're all in it together but staying apart, I'm literally writing this blog post at a copywriting conference. It's virtual, which makes it a bit like the longest webinar you've ever attended. But it's also prompting some interesting ideas, even where I don't 100% agree with the speakers. For a while now, I've been banging the drum of 'Nobody knows anything'. I apply that to copywriters sharing career advice on social media, so-called 'best practice' and the tools clients try to use to assess and analyse copy. We're all out here making educated guesses. But, as freelance copywriters or their in-house counterparts, we all have opinions. So I thought it'd be fun to share my conflicting thoughts as we progress through the day.

5 Quick Things That Will Probably Make Your Website Better

I don't know you. I don't know your website. But, over the years, I've seen the same pitfalls come up time and time again - and applied the same quick fixes to make them better. Yes, a website that performs is the combination of a huge number of different things. The right user experience. The right tone of voice. The right messaging underneath it all, based on a deep, true understanding of what your audience cares about. But all of that is pointless if the execution holds you back. So, if you're reviewing your website and wondering what's wrong, here are five prime suspects to get you started - not hard-and-fast rules, but things to consider.

101 Reasons Long List Posts Like This Are Crap

Reason zero. These long-format list posts I keep seeing all over the place take a huge investment of time and energy to write. So any introduction never gives a deep sense of perspective, or motivation. It's just a rushed afterthought with the microscopic level of effort that is still available.

Let’s Stop Being Negative About Being Negative

I was talking to a client the other day about negativity in copywriting. We discussed the notion that you should never use a negative word, like ‘don’t’ or ‘frustrating’ or ‘painful’. And, reader, it was painful indeed.

Why These Tone of Voice Guidelines Are Taking Ages

I'm writing some tone of voice guidelines and, honestly, they are taking forever. I know what you're thinking. How long does it take to write 'friendly and honest' in a nice font? We have the idea of guidelines as instructive and, providing the actual development has been done, summing it all up should be simple. But, actually, it's not the guidelines themselves that are taking a long time. It's everything that comes before them. Telling people how to write is the easy part. The catch is in telling them why.

The One Thing You Should Know About Your Customers

Whether you're putting an email together or building a brand from the ground up, audience is everything. The golden rule of branding and copywriting is that you need to understand your customers - their motivations, their interests, their desires. That's why the first step in a big new copy project is often a customer survey - a look at perceptions and preferences that you can use to underpin your decision making. Things like where you're most likely to reach people, or what's most likely to convince them. But there's one thing I see that's overlooked again and again. A single finding that affects everything.


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