The Copywriter Underground

I use Bloglines to aggregate my RSS feeds, but like any old guy with a failing memory who posts on more than a couple blogs, I’ve lost track of important conversations among the blur of comment boxes.
Since the beauty of a blog is the capacity for give and take, I went looking for a tool [...]

Those pithy folks at Media Orchard have fired up the Spin Thicket, a kind of Fark for PR/Marketing/Ad types.
While the more megalomaniacal among us might view this is as yet another vehicle for driving traffic to our blogs (thereby feeding our ample egos and providing the external validation we all seek), I’m choosing to think [...]

A post on the Brian Clark’s Copyblogger site got me thinking. His warning was that so much in marketing today is hype. And that copywriting hasn’t changed.
I agreed. To a point.
I think the craft of copywriting hasn’t changed - but its goals have. The technology surrounding “Web 2.0″ has opened doors that were formerly closed [...]

I’ve been a copywriter for 20+ years, so I tend to take the craft for granted.
In truth, I focused this blog on the craft beyond the words - the places where the modern copywriter can add a lot of value to his working relationships, particularly with medium and small businesses.
Still, at the core of copywriting [...]

It’s been a long week, and while I’d love to compose another thoughtful, meaning-laden post about marketing, I simply don’t want to. Frankly, I’d rather be fly fishing.
Instead, it’s time to have some fun. And we start with the very, very cool “Kancept” design site, which I found via FreshCreations.

Go to Kancept, and you’ll find [...]

Mickey Khan at DM News wrote an excellent editorial piece where he dubbed the social networking revolution the “Age of Expression.”
It’s a good phrase and he asks the same questions of the business world I’ve been asking: why aren’t you truly engaging your customers with interactive media like blogs and social networking?
The technology barriers are [...]

Even a cursory reading of my blog should suggest strong support for small business blogs (medium and big biz blogs too).
And why not? As some one who plied the waters of interrupt marketing for so many years, I’ve come to realize the benefits of engagement marketing, especially in light of the new media channels opening [...]

The always-excellent Creativity Factory blog touches on an idea so obvious that I’d wholly overlooked it.
As a copywriter who is actively pitching blogs to clients (and prospects), I’ve taken it for granted that enthusiasm and knowledge were part of the equation.
In essence, you wouldn’t build a blog and then fill it with content written by [...]

In the old days, the word processor you used was as much a testament divine intention as a rational decision. You used WordPerfect (or Wordstar) because that’s what god intended you use, and except for those cranks pounding on typewriters, you didn’t look too far afield.
Today, there are writing tools of every color, and though [...]

Pulling an all-nighter? Facing a succession of deadlines? Caffeine addict?
If you’ve got a schedule you can meet only with the help of enormous quantities of caffeine, this helpful Web site will let you know exactly how much you can ingest before it kills you on the spot.
With listings of many different beverages, the site helpfully [...]