Copywriting Academy – tips, tricks and techniques for better copy

It scares me to admit it, but I've been a professional copywriter for over 15 years now. In this time I've written pretty much every type of content from brochures and websites to books and speeches to ads and direct marketing.

I've been lucky. I've worked with some first class writers who taught me everything I know about copywriting. I've also worked with a vast range of clients (both B2B and B2C) ensuring the work has been varied and interesting. And I've voraciously read everything I can find on the art.

What would Ken say?

When I began writing, I was fortunate enough to work for an immensely talented writer named Ken Fegradoe. Ken was a published author and the seasoned veteran of a number of advertising agencies. And he was passionate about copy. He would let me get away with absolutely nothing. Ken exuded a powerful mix of scary intenseness and exacting standards that meant I became desperate to write good copy.

Sadly Ken died a few years ago. But I still regularly look at what I write and ask myself, "What would Ken make of this? Would he think it's good enough?"

And this is the problem too many aspiring copywriters seem to face today. There are simply not enough Kens in the world. Not enough mentors who can pass on all the tips and tricks that help make copywriting one of the best jobs in the world.

Of course there are lots of e-courses online promising power words and secret techniques. They may be absolutely brilliant, I couldn't comment as I haven't taken any of them. But, honestly, I have my suspicions.

The biggest secret in copywriting

The real secret to great copywriting is that there are no magic formulas that will work 100% of the time for 100% of copy jobs. There is however some stuff that tends to work more often than it doesn't. There is also a mindset that creates empathy with audiences. And there is an appreciation of the flow of words, sentences and paragraphs that makes copy a joy to write and a pleasure to read.

Introducing the Twelfth Day Copywriting Academy

Over the coming weeks I will begin posting the tips, tricks and techniques that I have found useful over the past decade and a half. Some will be quick hit things to try others will be stuff to think about. I am not pretending this will add up to everything you'll ever need to know to write good copy but I hope it helps.

If you have anything you'd particularly like me to cover, feel free to comment on any of the posts or email me directly and I'll do my best. You'll also be able to see all the posts in the series by following this link.