You’ve probably heard this story before about how I used to write articles. As the story goes, it used to take me two days to write a single article. The process was so painful, that I’d write the next article after a month. And as you’d expect, two days of that month and all the […]
How To Generate Article Topics When You’re Half Asleep
If you keep writing every day, you’ll have a problem. You’ll have more article ideas than you can write. Every day will sprout thirty-fifty new ideas that you can never turn into articles. But when you’re starting out, this problem is quite the opposite. You may wake up and can’t think of a thing Or […]
Understanding Plots and Sub-Plots When Writing Salesletters
Imagine you’re having a discussion with a hyperactive, talkative teenager. And the conversation goes like this… “We went to the mall, and like, there was this fire in the mall. And we went from there to the cinema, but we didn’t have any money and anyway the popcorn machine was broken, and so we didn’t […]
Why Some Articles Are Better Than Others
I was sitting at a cafe one day, when a client was raving about my articles. Of course, I was smiling from ear to ear–as you do when someone is a big ‘fan.’ “So how come I’m mesmerised by your articles?” he asked. “What’s your big ‘s-e-c-r-e-t?” “One word”, I said. Every article boils down […]
The Importance of Inserting the ‘Mistake’ In Your Article
I remember the time I was watching a video on the ‘water test’. The ‘water test’ is a method to accurately gauge if a pan is exactly at the right temperature, as the accurate temperature prevents the ingredients from sticking. As you might have realised, I had my nose to the video to make sure […]
How To Create The Next Step For Your Readers
When you’re writing an article, inserting The Next Step should be really simple. And it is, if you are clear what you want the customer to do next. But hey, we all know what we want the customer to do next, and yet there’s still a bit of doubt. Are we doing the next step […]
Why Disconnectors in Copywriting Are Critical In Keeping Your Reader Awake
Do me a favour. Watch one of those soppy soaps today. Something like ‘Desperate Housewives; Dynasty; The Bold and the Beautiful’ or something equally…um…riveting. Notice how they started the episode? They didn’t trust the fact that you’d actually remember the previous episode. Nope, the writers of the soap know that you have extreme short-term memory, […]
How To Get Your Copywriting To Do The Lambada!
Words lambada. Words don’t sit out at a party. They get up and they swing. They rock, they shake their hips and they twirl like crazy. Words lambada. You don’t agree with me, do ya? The words in your copy may get up to do a series of embarrassing dance steps, but heck, it ain’t […]
The Critical Importance of Sandwiching your Copywriting
I don’t know if you’ve ever tried eating a one-slice sandwich. Yeah, one slice. Put one slice down. Then pile the slice with chicken, mayonnaise, pickles, tomatoes, lettuce and sauces. Now eat the slice of bread, will ya? Ummm…I’d rather not, you say Because even a dumbo knows that a one-slice sandwich is a recipe […]
How John Forde (and Sean D’Souza) Got Me To Write Articles
Before I start, let me make one thing clear. John Forde is a copywriter with a great newsletter who’s also a good friend. And me, I’m Sean D’Souza. Which of course makes it really weird when I say I used myself for inspiration. It sounds a lot more than weird, actually. It sounds egocentric. Let […]
