Author Archives

I’ve written copy for 22+ years. And learned a good copywriter delivers more than vowels, consonants and punctuation.

I’m Tom Chandler. And welcome to the Underground – an exploration of copywriting beyond the words.

When Real-World Marketing Goes Astray (or, What’s He Selling??)

I’d love to offer a moral to go along with the picture, but more than anything, it’s a good illustration of just how badly things can go wrong when the real world intrudes on our neatly laid marketing plans:

(Found via Jalopnik, where you can see the “before” to go with the “after” above)

An Underground Replay: “Pay The Damned Writer”

I first published this video in November, 2007, and because it’s more timely than ever, thought I’d run the video again.
Sure, Harlan Ellison is an abrasive pain in the ass, but he’s repeatedly put his money where his sizable mouth is when it came to protecting the rights of writers and content creators.
In a time [...]

Today’s “Can’t Miss” Marketing Tip: You Need A Corporate Anthem/Drinking Song

Exactly how has the corporate marketing world so clearly overlooked this surefire marketing/branding tactic? Ladies, gentlemen and Undergrounders, we bring you The Corporate Drinking Song:

Yes, let’s all drink to Russian Gas giant Gazprom, which leverages powerful alcohol-related branding lyrics like:
Let’s drink to you, let’s drink to us, Let’s drink to all the Russian gas
Well said [...]

Post Launch Blues Getting You Down?

Any writer/copywriter who’s ever published a book, sold an article, or launched an ad/direct response campaign understands the post-campaign letdown.
You wait for the world to shower you with praise – proof that the universe finally “gets” your genius – and then… nothing happens.
No reviews. No letters to the editor. Or an “average” response rate.
You might [...]

Wordnik Provides Social Meaning of Words (or, Research for the Terminally Unhip Writer)

I admit it. I’m terminally unhip – at least when it comes to the latest, hottest, hippest, social media-esque uses of the language. In fact, I still think “sick” and “phat” are sorta bad things, which suggests somebody should take my blogging keys away from me.
Fortunately, Web 2.0 offers help even to the sad wordsmiths [...]

What if God Texted? (or, OMG the Ten Commandments)

The always-interesting McSweeney site (and publication) posted a doozie.
What if God had texted the Ten Commandments?

(Click here to visit the site and see all ten)

The Numbers Aren’t Pretty – But Is There An Emotional Toll to Freelancing in a Recession?

Freelancers are suffering a recession-linked double-whammy – not only are clients and customers cutting budgets, but the newly unemployed are swelling the ranks of the self-employed, and driving fees downward.
This New York Time article (found via the Copywriter Maven) looks at the recession’s effect on the self-employed (and under-employed), and touches on an often-overlooked [...]

The Harmonic Convergence of Overwork (or, Overload in the Age of Overload)

As self-employed gurus (everybody’s a guru nowadays), we’re supposed to embrace the concept of overwork like we do the idea of 24-hour connection.
“At least you’re not starving” is the uncharitable response from friends and colleagues when I mention it’s been busy, but these are the same people I taunt when taking a weekday off to [...]

Distraction-Free Writing (or, How Even Old Writing Dogs Can Learn New Tricks)

My working day hasn’t grown less complicated over the decades. I used to openly mock techniques invoked in the service of productivity, but because of the temptations and interruptions of our connected lives, I now embrace them.
That includes my writing tools – a subject that remains at the core of writer geekhood.
One of the losses [...]

George Orwell’s Six Rules for Writers

Found via the always-interesting Daily Obsessional blog: George Orwell’s Rules for Writers: