Tag: Bill Bonner
An Open Invitation to all UK Copywriters
It’s been a while… But I’m glad to be back in touch today with a very exciting opportunity for you. As you may know, for many years now I’ve worked with a company called Agora. For those who don’t know about Agora – it’s an international publishing business that was built out of the direct mail days […]
Why top copywriters add another string to their bow
The North of England is a wonderful place… I write to you today from a pleasant pub on the Heaton Moor Road just outside of Manchester. The taxi from the station cost less than the minimum fare in a London cab… The beer is brought to my table with plenty of change from a fiver… And people […]
See ‘the Four Us’ put into practice LIVE (well, almost live)
One of my mentors, the American entrepreneur and writer Mark Ford, once taught me a simple way to improve problematic headlines using ‘the Four Us’. I’ve written about the idea many times before, but today I thought I’d put it to the test LIVE. Or rather, as I write this article. Why not, eh? Indeed, I’m […]
Let me tell you a story: the importance of narrative in copywriting
For some strange reason, a lot of people seem to think the business world should be a grey, lifeless place that exists between 8.30am and 5pm (if you’re lucky). People assume that you’re not allowed to be interesting, that you have to talk in facts, figures and graphs; the boring stuff, basically. You only need […]
Direct response copy is about more than just a sales letter
Let’s take a field trip… Indeed, I’m editing this following a field trip of my own to Delray Beach, Florida. I was there for the annual copywriting conference held by @AWAI_online. As it’s the home of many Agora affiliates, I’ve been visiting Delray for many years to regularly catch up with some of the top […]
A postcard from Delray Beach
Hello! Just wanted to post a quick note from my travels, which I’ll hopefully follow with some extended thoughts soon. Indeed, I’m working on a new piece at the moment all about understanding the importance of emotions in copy. Ironically, this seems to be the main focus for many of the speakers at this year’s […]
Set the mood: don’t let bad email copy ruin your sales letter
No one wakes up in the morning and thinks ‘hey, I need a financial newsletter’… So suggested Agora founder, financial newsletter publisher and legendary copywriter in his own right, Bill Bonner. We can go one further: no one wakes up in the morning and thinks ‘hey, I need to read a direct response sales letter’. […]
The one thing you must do to make sure you have new ideas
Ideas are irritating. Sometimes they’re right there in your face, shouting at you like an arrogant teenage kid who thinks they know best… Other times they’re nowhere to be seen, like your broke mate Steve who’s always in the toilet when it’s his round at the bar. I’ll tell you what… From now on, let’s […]
What is it with these damn cartoon logos on sales letters?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not (at least on this occasion) having a go at the copy itself… But I was just working through the pile of copywriting products I have to review and I came across this online sales letter for Copywriting Supremacy. I don’t know what’s going on but I seem to be […]
Why you should sit on your arse and read more
Hurrah! I’ve finally got a chance to relax and take the time to say hello. More than that, I want to share some thoughts that I’ve been having since I attended a writing retreat in France last month. But before I do anything… I should apologise: I’ve been out of action for a little while. […]