The Language Perfectionist: “Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope”
Can you see anything wrong with the following sentences? “No longer able to cope, she reluctantly decides to leave.” “I just can’t cope anymore…. Most of the time I can cope pretty well.” “Homer and the rest of the family have trouble coping without Marge.” Or how about the title…
READ MOREA Highly Profitable, Laughably Simple Lesson From the Great Depression
I have a daughter in Montclair, New Jersey — hometown of the inimitable Yogi Berra. As a result, I have made a bit of a study of his remarks, and one of my favorites is, “You can observe a lot just by looking.” Well, one thing I have observed a…
READ MOREWhy Positive Thinking Is Bad for You
The “power of positive thinking” is so firmly enshrined in our culture that knocking it is a little like attacking motherhood or apple pie. Many people swear by positive thinking, and quite a few have been helped by it. Nevertheless, it is not a very effective success tool — and…
READ MOREThe Four-Legged Stool
Years ago, I was given a challenge by a client of mine. They asked me to help them create stronger direct-mail advertising packages than those being used by their main competitor. Problem was, there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with the packages my client was using. They had good…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: Stillborn Words
New words, or neologisms, are coined all the time. Not so long ago, we didn’t have blog, downsize, iPod, megatrend, shareware, Wi-Fi… and many others. But not every newly coined word becomes widely used or even enters the language. As you might expect, there’s a term for this phenomenon: nonce…
READ MOREHow to Write Well: The Big Idea and Clarity
I spend at least half of my time teaching writers how to write better. I’m speaking of writers who work for the information-publishing companies I consult for and for other publishers who pay me to help them make more money. Over the 30 odd years I’ve been doing this, I’ve…
READ MOREMeet Sad Sack
The other day, a guy — a real sad sack — left a post on my blog. Said he’s been a copywriter for decades but has not been very successful at it. It’s not his fault, of course. It’s the world’s fault. More specifically, it’s the direct-response marketing world’s fault.…
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$500K, the Easy Way…
I’ve made a lot of money over the years but this year I set a plan to make $500k the easy way, by using my skills as a copywriter.
READ MOREBreak the Rules, Grow Your Business?
Could it be that what’s stopping you from making your next big business breakthrough is that you haven’t broken the right rule? Most successful entrepreneurs I know are perpetual rule breakers. In fact, I find it hard to come up with even one who’s played by others’ rules and still…
READ MOREYour Business Is Selling Your Business
I recently received a letter from a nice lady I’ll call “Lynn” that reminded me of something very important. It is something that can thwart your efforts to start your own business. It is probably the main reason why smart and talented people never enjoy financial independence. It is big.…
READ MOREThe Language Perfectionist: The Columnist Settles a Dispute
Recently, a grammatical point made in an essay posted on a friend’s website generated a spirited disagreement from a reader. My friend asked me to mediate. The essay told the story of a student who was rebuked by his teacher for saying “He is taller than me.” The teacher sternly…
READ MOREWhy Simple Writing Works Better
Someone once asked me… Why I would, so often… (at least in copy)… Use so many… One-line paragraphs… And so many… well… of these things: “…” Of course, the above is exaggerated. But there’s no getting around it… Many copywriters really do use a lot of one-line paragraphs. Or even one-word…
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