The Copywriter Underground

For no discernible reason save the fact I needed to sleep instead of troubleshooting until after midnight, I discovered this blog’s FeedBurner RSS feed stopped working on December 14.

Many of you who exclusively read RSS feeds must have been wondering who I paid to get on the ”Top 10″ writer’s blog list when I only posted [...]

Michael Stelzner of Writing White Papers recently published a list of the top posts of the year from those occupying the Top 10 Writer’s Blogs slots.
As you could imagine, choosing one post from a year’s worth of them isn’t easy, and those chosen by the respective writers cover a lot of ground.
They’re worth a [...]

Garrison Keillor has long been a favorite writer.
His novels and essays are undeniably witty, his characters superb, and he’s been writing the weekly Prairie Home Companion radio show for so many years that the depth of his imagination can’t be questioned.
For years, I’ve been listening to Internet broadcasts of his daily The Writer’s Almanac - [...]

In my first Fifteen Minute Pitch post, I decided to invest fifteen minutes each Friday devising new projects I could pitch to existing clients.
It’s the fastest way for a freelance writer to grow their revenues.
This week, I’m cheating a little.
I’ve already won approval to begin a new project for a new client - one I’ve [...]

I live in a remote, mountainous bit of Northern California.
Today the power has gone out (twice), I’ve had to shovel the snow off the driveway (twice), a cat has hawked up a furball (once), and the doorbell has rung (three times) with deliveries.

Is this the quiet, contemplative work-at-home environment I keep reading about?
Shhhh!
If [...]

Deb Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs might be the most-visited writer’s blog. It’s a well-deserved distinction given the amount of time she puts into finding and listing freelance gigs.
This time, she put together a list of blogs worth visiting, and they’re not limited to writing blogs either.

My favorites include the book blogs, music blogs, and a [...]

I got tagged by Michael Stelzner (of Writing White Papers) to reveal five things about myself that you probably don’t know.
You can read his five deep, dark secrets here, though they’re not quite felony material (I liked the worms story, but c’mon Michael, there’s gotta be a dark underbelly there somewhere).
What Michael doesn’t know is:
I’ve already [...]

A Merry Christmas to all readers of the Copywriter Underground!
For those who want to hear yet one more piece of Christmas music, here’s a very hip tune from Santa and the Reindeers.
Technorati Tags: christmas

I love the Notebookism blog. Their dedication to pen and paper resonate, even in this age of treos, palms, bluetooth and all the other “personal” high-tech.

They posted a short paean to listmaking on pen and paper:
Using pen on paper just feels good. You need the right paper and the right pen–an old Bic on a [...]

AIDA.
It’s one of marketing’s oldest formulas. And the copywriter’s best friend.
Some have pronounced it dead. Others have altered it. And yet - in its basic form - it’s still one of the most effective marketing tools in your box.
What is AIDA?
Attention. Interest. Desire. Action.
It’s an easy, step-by-step formula for writing almost any marketing project. [...]