Testing the Writing Waters with Contests
on 2012-02-12
I have lost count of the number of rejection form letters I've received that stated, "This doesn't meet our needs." I didn't know if the need not met included the whole story being poorly written, or maybe the subject matter wouldn't work. Nothing in that form letter let me know. This type of rejection happens to author after author, leaving us all wondering what we should or need to do.
I now know that one way to test stories before submitting them to publications is to enter contests. Some ...More…
Writing A Hot Script For An Indie Budget Movie
on 2012-02-11
When I first got into screenwriting I was told to read Aristotle's Poetics, Syd Field's Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting, Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434, and host of other books by brilliant people that I devoured religiously. I was a regular at screenwriting workshops, took classes, and felt very much the screenwriter despite not having wrote any part of a script. It's like a fighter that always trains, but never gets in the ring to go to war. In theory I knew what to do. In ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: The Curse of the Copywriting Education
on 2012-02-10
Dear Business Builder,
I'm up to my eyeballs in copy cubs, and I love 'em to death.
Every blessed one of them is a brilliant, gifted, fresh-faced kid with a big dream in his or her heart and an obsession for copywriting. And frankly, I'm convinced that each one of them will go farther and have far greater successes than I have.
For one thing, they're smarter than me ... better educated than I am ... and they already know far more about copywriting than I ever will.
They've devoured every ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: How to Close the Deal
on 2012-02-09
Dear Business Builder,
OK ... So you've grabbed your prospect's attention with a compelling proposition, story, USP, intrigue or advertorial headline.
You've intensified his resolve to read your ad with deck copy that illuminates and expands on your head ... intrigues him with reasons why, if he stops reading now, he'll regret it for the rest of his life ... and just for good measure, you threw in a heaping helping of credibility elements.
You've opened your body copy fast - so fast in fact, ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: Creating Opening Copy that Sings and Soars
on 2012-02-08
Dear Business Builder,
You've stopped your prospect in his tracks with a powerful, emotionally-driven headline and deck ...
Your deck copy supports and expands upon your headline structure, adding specificity, intrigue, irony and intensity - all wrapped around powerful reasons why reading your ad is the single most important thing he could possibly do now ...
Now it's time to really get his juices flowing - with powerful, emotionally driven, opening copy that makes it impossible for him to look ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: How Would You Like Some Super Powers?
on 2012-02-07
Dear Business Builder,
Have you ever wished you could introduce the chubby chick with flawless skin on that infomercial for the miracle wrinkle cream ... to that crumpled old dude hawking his fitness DVDs on the next channel?
I really think they'd be good for each other ...
How about that slicked-haired, pencil-thin-mustached guy who sells those supplements that make you poop like a racehorse? Mightn't his whole family be happier if he invested in a few of David Oreck's air sanitizers?
... And ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: Beating Writer's Block
on 2012-02-06
I'm sure you've been there. You're sitting down and staring at a blank screen or a blank piece of paper wonder how in the heck you're going to get started.
You've got a major case of writer's block.
I know I've been there. And, for me, creating an outline's the best way to do beat the blank page blues. It's really intimidating and daunting when you know that you have to write a fairly long sales copy for a product and you don't really know where to start.
But again, this is not an exercise in ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: A Lesson in Third Grade English
on 2012-02-05
Dear Business Builder,
My 12-year-old son has appointed himself "The crack cop" around our house.
The minute anyone allows his or her pants to slip a little low and then bends over, the boy gleefully shouts, "Say no to crack!" - and then collapses helplessly into spasms of laughter.
Happened to me just last night. In front of the nanny. Frickin' humiliating.
Now, as your friend and mentor, I'd hate for anything like that to happen to you - especially when you present your copy to a client. ...More…
Writing for Direct Mail: Successfully Selling to Increasingly Skeptical Prospects
on 2012-02-04
Dear Business Builder,
I'm so old, I'll betcha my tie has gone in and out of style at least five times.
Not that I pay much attention to such things, mind you.
My professional life revolves around marketing trends. And there again, my advanced age means I've seen many promotional styles go in and out of vogue over the years.
Actually, the changes have been a bit more intense than that; more like the undulations you'd see watching a 350-pound belly dancer struggling to stay upright in a 7.3 ...More…
Writing Sales Copy: 5 Blunders Copywriters Make and How To Avoid Them
on 2012-02-03
One thing I enjoy is taking my Porsche 911 out to slay The Dragon.
It's a humble, shoulderless, two-lane blacktop - officially designated US 129 - that snakes up through the North Carolina Smokies from Robbinsville ... around the West end of The Great Smoky Mountain National Park ... past picturesque lakes and cliffs with 100-mile views ... to a mountain pass they call Deal's Gap
The next few miles down the mountain into Tennessee boast 318 of the tightest, most vicious curves anywhere in the ...More…