“All of my favorite creators started with zero… So you’ve got to make that first video. It’s not going to be your best, but you will learn as you go.” – Tyler Oakley, Born Mar. 22, 1989. Q. How do I get started writing copy? Just start. Q. What do I need to read to […]
How to Start Being a Copywriter: Start Writing Some Copy… Now Read More »
“Reinforcement is being right.” – B. F. Skinner, Born Mar. 20, 1904. Read this. It’ll change your life. Your business and money-making life, anyway. And that usually changes your home life. Having money and fame will do that. So first, gather an audience. Build it up around what you sell, or find existing ones and
Repetition Creates Belief. Repetition Creates Belief. And Reinforcement Cements It In. Read More »
“It is still not enough for language to have clarity and content… it must also have a goal and an imperative. Otherwise from language we descend to chatter, from chatter to babble and from babble to confusion.” – Rene Daumal, Born Mar. 16, 1908. This is especially true for us. Persuaders, I mean. If there
What is “Copy” and How to Write It Gooder. Goodest. Most Gooder. Read More »
“The fact of storytelling hints at a fundamental human unease, hints at human imperfection. Where there is perfection there is no story to tell.” – Ben Okri, Born Mar. 15, 1959. Clients fuck this up when they write about themselves. And sometimes they get mad when they work with a writer who knows better. I’ve
Stories Sell, But Only if They Start Out With Sucking Read More »
“The greatest sin for a writer is to be boring.” – Carl Hiaasen, Born Mar. 12, 1953. If you can manage to keep yourself free of this sin, the world can be yours. It doesn’t matter if you’re not so convincing, or so poetic, or so informative. Your readers will forgive you for that. Just
The Cure for Boredom and Being Boring: How to Be Interesting All the Time Read More »
“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion.” – Alexander Graham Bell, Born Mar. 3, 1847. This is important. Like LEGO bricks. Like Voltron. Your stuff needs to combine and stack and scale. Too many chase the next client or the next job or the next
Brick by Brick, You Must Build Your Own Destiny, According to the Designs You’ve Dreamed Read More »
“The little dissatisfaction which every artist feels at the completion of a work forms the germ of a new work.” – Berthold Auerbach, Born Feb. 28, 1812. Yeah, you’re not alone. But you’re not getting younger and time is wasting. Quit trying to craft perfection. Publish imperfect work now. Fix later MAYBE. But even better:
Perfectionism Is Just the Pretentious Kind of Procrastination Read More »
“The piano is a monster that screams when you touch its teeth.” – Andres Segovia, Born Feb. 21, 1893. What’s funny is that Andres was a guitarist. So he was describing why he hates he piano and doesn’t play it. But we are sick fuck writer masochists. And our keyboards are beasts that scream when
Want to Write Well? Feed the Beast Your Fingers First. Read More »
“Much good work is lost for the lack of a little more.” – Edward H. Harriman, Born Feb. 20, 1848. You’re so close. Just finish the fucking thing. You know the thing. You brought it nearly to the end and stopped short of the finish line. Maybe some other shit came up. Maybe you had
Shut Up and Finish. Hit Publish. Start the Next One. Edit Later. Read More »
“Sometimes you have to lie. One often has to distort a thing to catch its true spirit.” – Robert J. Flaherty, Born Feb. 16, 1884. Consider a poem, which often describes reality with a refined and elegant metaphor – one that reveals a deep but unobservable truth about a given thing. But despite the bard’s
