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?” [...]

I’ve just launched a new website www.bespokemagic.com.au for Sydney’s coolest magician Bruce Glen.

Bespoke Magic offers an entertainment experience not to be forgotten: a unique, tailor-made magical performance – written and performed – just for you.
As well as designing and building this Search Engine Optimised (SEO), WordPress website I’m also helping Bruce build his digital [...]

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 [...]

The Cussson brand recently launched their new  Imperial Leather Australian website to coincide with their sponsorship of the Australian Masters Golf Tournament.
Working with Sydney agency Triad I assisted with:

Information architecture – Sitemap, wireframes.
Copywriting – with special focus on keyword saturation.
Technical and design advice – drafting scope of works, reviewing designs and code.

Although, sadly, several of [...]

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 [...]

I’m pleased to announce the relaunch of the new look VoulezVouloz website. The site has been given a fresh, new design and is now maintainable via a CMS allowing much more flexibility.
It also includes RSS feeds, Video, a blog function and more.

A collection of things I’ve found interesting in the last few days of being a web beast.
1)    Photoshop Tutorials
I’ve been meaning to do some proper Photoshop tutorials for a long time and these ones look pretty good:http://dzineblog.com/article/tutorials
2)    Top five tips for writing well
A well-written article which uses Ernest Hemingway’s advice to guide you in copywriting [...]

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 [...]