So here we are: Wheatley Copywriting’s first meaningful-sounding anniversary.
Five years ago today I became a full-time freelance copywriter. I’d also been doing it in my spare time for a year prior to that. Now I can finally call myself ‘experienced’ without feeling a little bit sneaky!
It was a bit of a scary start. Continue reading “Celebrating 5 years of copywriting”
Have you ever looked at the testimonials page of a company’s website and thought:
“This page doesn’t make me want to buy from Honest Jim’s Used Cars … it actually makes me trust them less!”
I have. So when I was making the testimonials page for this website, I had a good think about what should be on it. And since that page has worked out pretty well, I thought I’d share some tips with you. Continue reading “The 3 must-have features of a great testimonials page”
I’ve been pretty busy lately, so I thought it was about time I exploited the aspirations of others by creating my own copywriting internship.
Things haven’t gone exactly to plan though. My intern has much more fur, and far less writing ability, than I was hoping for.
See for yourself. Continue reading “Meet our new copywriting intern, Jerry”
I know what you’re thinking: “Aah, he’s a web copywriter. Of course he wants us to think web copy is better than web video. He’s scared! Look at the chicken copywriter who’s afriad of what video might do to his business! Buuu-ck buck buck!”
Well, you can stop your taunts. I like video and I’ve written quite a few voiceover scripts.
I was actually inspired to write this post by something I saw on Google+. It was an advice video, made by Google, on what to do if your site is underperforming in search.
It sounded pretty interesting, but it didn’t get my click. I didn’t want to watch a video you see, I wanted to read about it instead. Then I started thinking about why I wanted to read instead of watch. And I got a surprise: there are lots of reasons I still prefer written web pages over video. Continue reading “5 reasons video can’t erase the written web page”
Curly from City Slickers, you enigmatic old wrangler. You made such an intimidating first impression, but wisdom lay within. You knew how to deliver a calf. How to protect a lady from drunken varmints. You knew the meaning of life itself, goddammit.
As it happens, Curly even understood the secret of writing a successful email marketing message – despite having died around five years before such a thing existed.
That’s right. Because the best email marketing copy, like a fulfilling life, is about just one thing. Continue reading ““Just one thing” is the secret to better email marketing copy”
People who call themselves ‘Grammar Nazis’. Have you ever met these people? They’re the worst.
I meet them too often. Because I’m a copywriter, they expect to find in me a kindred spirit. Someone who shares their passion for the pernickety. It’s a bit awkward, because as a professional I do care about correct language and style. But I also believe the English language is a fluid and flexible thing.
I think writing is more about ideas and communication than proper comma usage. And many of the best writers cannot explain the technicalities of the latter.
One self-professed Grammar Nazi I know flat refuses to interact with people who don’t use proper sentence case and punctuation. On Facebook. Continue reading “5 ways to get the better of Grammar Nazis”
