I get a lot of emails. I’m not showing off; these days it’s not a sign that I’m in demand but rather that my email address has been found by some spam-producing git.
So this morning when I looked through my junk mail I wondered, “Which of these emails is legitimate and which is just crap?” [...]

Over the last few months I’ve had several enquiries about how to become a digital copywriter, mainly from DM copywriters looking to ‘break in’ to the wonderful world of web writing.
First up: I didn’t train to be a digital copywriter. I did English literature, History and Philosophy for my degree (not exactly vocational). I’ve never [...]

Having been a web copywriter for many years now, I have to face the sad fact that people don’t read my copy. Yes, even though you think you’re reading this article now, you may in fact simply be scan reading it, whizzing across the page as fast as you can, zipping through my hard-crafted copy [...]

I am now only a few weeks away from squeezing a new mini-Toon into the world and people are telling me to waddle away from the laptop and start relaxing.
So this will be the last of my ‘How to’ blogs for sometime, and what subject matter is more fitting than delivery?
The comparisons between the birth [...]

Although I only started blogging recently I’ve been amazed at the amount of traffic and interest it’s generated for me and my business.   I’ve quickly realised that Blogs are a great alternative to a standard website, allowing you the flexibility to update frequently at little or no cost.
If you’re new to the world of blogging, [...]

You’re nearly there. You strategy is spot on, you’ve ticked off all the various copy points, your design is award winning and your code faultless.
Now – how about we get this bleeding email sent?
Here is a nice pre-send checklist for you:
1)    Create an online version
Make sure you have an online version of your email ready [...]

Firstly, let’s understand something: An email is not a piece of direct mail. Recently while working for a major ad agency in Sydney I was horrified to discover that they were literally taking snap snots of direct mail pieces and sending out these single jpeg images as emails.  This was for a major financial brand. [...]

Here are my other core email copy guidelines for ensuring your email really hits the spot.
5)    HTML header
By this I’m referring to the piece of copy that appears before the email proper begins. Most silly people write some nonsense such as: “If you are having trouble viewing this email communication, click here to view online [...]

Most email copy is dreadful and consists of overlong, chunky paragraphs of guff that no one ever reads. Writing copy for emails is a different skill again from writing for the web and an art in itself.
Here are a few useful tips to guide you:
1)    Consider who your email is from
Decide whether your email is [...]

I’m sure that barely a day goes by when you don’t check your email. Electronic Direct Mail (eDM), as some old-school folk describe it, has become an integral part of how we conduct business, socialise with friends, shop, bank and interact with the world. It’s crucial to get it right.
Over the next few weeks I’ll [...]

Today I’m up to my armpits in copy (SEO friendly of course), writing a full deck for a well-known Sydney Health care advertising agency.
Draft two is nearly complete. Phew!
Obviously this job is more straight forward that usual due to the fact that I also wrote the scope, planned the site map, decided the site architecture [...]

Some words add nothing but length to your copy. Here are some examples.
Adjectives

Use adjectives to make your meaning more precise and be cautious of those you find yourself using to make it more emphatic.
The word very is a case in point. If it occurs in a sentence you have written, try leaving [...]

People are arguing right now about just how important keyword saturation or keyword density is to improving your search ranking. While it may not be the number one factor in winning the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) battle, it’s definitely worth giving keywords a try.
The truth is that writing SEO-friendly copy often creates more compelling and [...]

Shove a few colons in your copy and it really looks like you know what you’re doing; use them incorrectly and you can look like a right flump.
Semi-colons (;)
Semi-colons should be used to mark a pause longer than a comma and shorter than a full stop. Don’t overdo them.
Use them to distinguish phrases listed after [...]

Few companies understand the value of a good copywriter and even fewer the value of a good proofreader
Today as I work through some client written copy for an SEO revamp I am faced with the usual cluster of misplaced semicolons, instances of ‘which’ when ‘that’ would be much more pleasant and sentences that look like [...]