Tag Archives: GOOD COPY

What Woody Allen can teach you about copywriting

Whatever you think about Woody Allen ‘the man’… As a filmmaker, he’s made some truly great films. That’s a simple fact. For what it’s worth, I think he’s a brilliant writer, a great director and a good actor…. You only have to look at Annie Hall, Manhattan, Hannah and Her Sisters, Play It Again, Sam, Deconstructing Harry, […]

Discover how ‘found copy’ can help engage your reader

As with most things in modern art, the first time it happened, it was down to Picasso… He painted a picture of a chair, but not satisfied with paint alone, he stuck an actual chair on the canvas. Surrealist Marcel Duchamp, took it a step further, and in 1917, he just signed a toilet, turned […]

Repeat after me: repeat, repeat… repeat!

Dear Reader, It’s an objection that’s often raised… If handled badly, it can destroy a promotion. But get this right and it could be one of the most important things you do. AllGoodCopy.com reader, Jon Steel, asked an interesting question about this very subject on the website recently: “Is there a good technical reason why […]

If it’s boring: it’s boring. Don’t pretend otherwise!

Copywriters can be precious people… I should know… I am one. And sure, tell me my copy doesn’t work or that I could do something better and once upon a time I would have sulked for a week. Yup, I used to be like that. But these days, I’ve calmed down. I’m wiser. You see, […]

Get this wrong and your whole sales letter is ruined

You could have the best sales promotion in the world… But if the copy you’re using to direct readers to that promotion is rubbish… Then your promotion is ultimately pointless – regardless of how good it is. Some people call if ‘lift’ copy… Some call it ‘endorsement’ copy… Some call it ‘ad’ copy… And I’m […]

Spend more time on this forgotten part of your promotion

Copywriters aren’t often too kind to subheads… In fact, most of the time subheads are treated as nothing more than punctuation. Indeed, one of the uses of subheads in long copy sales promotions is to punctuate copy… but it is just ONE use. There are many more. The fact is, having strong subheads throughout your promotion […]

The copywriting skill that never goes out of fashion

It was about four years ago… Michael Masterson flew into London to meet with us young copywriters to teach us a thing or two. He actually taught me a fair bit, but one thing stuck above all else. Ironic really, because that one thing was his concept of ‘the power of one’! Seriously though, whether […]

Stuck on a headline? Ask AllGoodCopy.com readers for help

As a copywriter, you’ve got one major problem that no one really talks about: no one wants to buy anything. That would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that, as a copywriter, it’s your job to encourage people to buy things. Actually, I’m being dramatic. There’s hope… there’s something you can do to fix it… […]

Make sure these four factors are always on your mind

Legend has it that direct marketing giants Bill Bonner and Mark Ford sat down to analyse all the direct mail promotions they’d written, all those that had worked and all those that had flopped. They considered what fundamental factors the successes shared. They identified what was missing from the failures. And then they put it all together. […]

Boris Johnson turns copywriter but screws up a nice idea

Poor old Boris… Who writes his copy? Because they need their wrist slapping! Seriously, when it comes to communicating with your customers (or rather in this case, constituents) you’ve got to make sure you avoid one thing above all else… You should NEVER patronise them. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Boris’ recent letter to Londoners does… […]