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Fishing the copy vs. design debate out of the sewer
A couple days ago, I flushed the copy vs. design debate down the toilet, as it were. To be truthful, it isn’t a completely useless conversation. But my point was that copy and design aren’t in competition—they both serve the ultimate marketing task of communication. My philosophy isn’t “design-centric” or “copy-centric” (though if I had […]
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Flushing the copy vs design debate down the toilet
Marketing creatives talk about this all the time. What’s more important: copy or design? Or what should you start with: copy or design? Those questions are all fine and good. But they are tactical questions—which means they are much less useful than more principled focused questions. Such as… What are we doing in an email? […]
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“You’ve got mail from the government”
USPS has this new fangled technology that will send you an email with pictures of your mail before it arrives. Aside from being an instance of our culture’s obsession with instant gratification… …it represents a great marketing lesson for those who have ears to hear. My wife got the USPS email with a picture of […]
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How to veto-proof your copywriting
Recently, in the great state of Kansas where I live, our state legislature passed a bill with a super-majority in both houses. Normally the bill would likely be vetoed by the current governor. But more than two-thirds of each house voted yes, making the bill theoretically “veto-proof”. It doesn’t matter so much what the bill […]
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Wodehouse fools the nazis
A story: British writer P. G. Wodehouse was captured by the Nazis during World War II. When the Germans realized he was a well-known writer, they “asked” him if he would write propaganda for them. He inwardly snickered (as you’ll see why) and accepted their offer. Now why would a loyal Brit gladly write for […]
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Tribute
Recently I attended Carline Anglade-Cole’s webinar Tribute to Clayton Makepeace, one of the legends of direct response copywriting. It was a who’s who of the past 40+ years of direct response marketing featuring people like… Gary Bencivenga Bob Bly David Deutsch Brian Kurtz Kim Krause Schwalm Kevin Rogers Parris Lampropoulos Lori Haller Richard Viguerie Marcella […]
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The case for removing your logo from your website
Recently at work, we were asked to figure out why a certain page wasn’t converting the high amount traffic that was being sent to it. And upon arrival, it was clear what was wrong. Too much branding. People who clicked on the ad (which was about a specific make/model of car) expected to see content […]
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Why I voraciously sign up for email lists and ruthlessly unsubscribe from the ones that provide little to no value
A “tribe” is any group which is gathered around a common goal with a common set of beliefs and rules for belonging. But tribes exist in many forms. The main benefit of tribes is the collective experience. The “hive mind”—or in science fiction they call this “gestalt intelligence”. Some tribes are very small and curated […]
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Copywriting as decision-making
One of my favorites, “Start With No” by the late Jim Camp, outlines a method of negotiation that centers on decision-making. The main point being that negotiations are moved forward by effective decision-making by both parties. The negotiator’s role is to make effective decisions and then facilitate and encourage effective decision-making on the part of […]