“Men value things in three ways: as useful, as pleasant or sources of pleasure, and as excellent, or as intrinsically admirable or honorable.” – Mortimer Adler, Born Dec. 28, 1902. Let’s make today about practicality. We write to sell things. That’s our goal. Our duty. And to do that, we have to make people see […]
Shortcut to Creating a Perception of Value in Absolutely Any Piece of Information Read More »
“When it comes to snowing people, one effective technique is to get a whole bunch of verifiable facts right and then add one or two that are untrue.” – Daniel Levitin, Born Dec. 27, 1957. This is essentially what all sales pitches are. A mix of fact and lies. If it bothers you to call
The Secret to Tricking People Into Believing Lies? Lie, Obviously. Read More »
“Pretend you’re a southern sheriff. Or Mae West. Or Donald Duck. Buy a western hat and walk around the house like a cowboy. The point of all this, of course, is to draw yourself out of your accustomed groove.” – Steve Allen, Born Dec. 26, 1921. A lot of entrepreneurial, self-employed, freelancer types like us
“Dress For the Job You Want” Means a Different Thing to Professional Persuaders Read More »
“A movie and a stage show are two entirely different things. A picture, you can do anything you want. Change it, cut out a scene, put in a scene, take a scene out. They don’t do that on stage.” – Cabell “Cab” Calloway III, Born Dec. 25, 1907. Being able to PERFORM for your audience
A Secret to Portraying Mastery is the Confidence to Wing It. Read More »
“It is important to know that what I do is not artistic. I am just a film-maker. I live how I live and I do what I do, which is recording moments of my life as I move ahead. And I do it because I am compelled to. Necessity, not artistry, is the true line
Don’t Wait Until the Summit – Help Those Two Steps Behind As You Climb Read More »
“Like the sand and the oyster, it’s a creative irritant. In each poem, I’m trying to reveal a truth, so it can’t have a fictional beginning.“ – Carol Ann Duffy, Born Dec. 23, 1955. I’m no poet, that’s for sure. But what is quoted here is certainly true about persuasive writing. Perhaps even more true
We Can’t Lead With Pleasure – We Must Begin Our Work at the Point of Pain Read More »
“We have too many high-sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them.” – Abigail Adams, Born Dec. 22, 1744. In our line of work, it can be easy to be attracted to other ads that are clever, or funny. We envy the creativity of their writers and conceivers. We mentally (or even physically)
A Funny Sign You Saw Is Not Good Copy Read More »
“Journalism: an ability to meet the challenge of filling the space.” – Rebecca West, Born Dec. 21, 1892. The hardest part about writing is the writing. Having ideas is easy. Everyone has ideas. But not everyone writes. I mean, most people CAN “write” – in the sense that they are literate. But most people can’t
Most Wannabe Writers Lack the Muscle to Reach Page Two Read More »
“If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.” – Susanne Langer, Born Dec. 20, 1895. In groups I run about copywriting, a lot of newbies ask the exact same questions. How do I start? What books do I need to read? Is this course I found any good?
Through Working, We Discover Deep Questions People Will Pay Us to Answer Read More »
“The fame of heroes owes little to the extent of their conquests and all to the success of the tributes paid to them.” – Jean Genet, Born Dec. 19, 1910. Let’s talk about idols. Idolization. Idolatry. Let’s talk about you in that role. It’s yours if you want it. But most people don’t understand how
To Become a Guru, You Must Nail This Change Read More »
