I despise cold pitching. Here’s how I made $19,000+ in 46 days from referrals alone… without sending a single cold email.

“Don’t talk to strangers.”  That’s the earliest advice I remember being given.  It’s also the one I followed most strictly. But not because of my parents. Nope. What truly cemented it as an immutable law in my tiny four year old brain was a puppet show put on by the police for my pre-kindergarten class. It started innocently;...

4d

How rest – not hustle culture – made me a better copywriter.

Imagine you’re a canary in a coal mine: You’re healthy as you enter the mine – full of joie de vivre. Singing to your heart’s content as you enter into the darkness. Fluttering your wings as only birds like you can. Later, you exit the mine. Except now you’re: Covered in soot. Frail from disease. Your song is gone. And you’re...

Jun 2021

Going for the cold with Facebook Ads

Here are all the things we thought about and didto 4X+ our spend on cold Facebook traffic. A “hard no” was what we were up against.  But I’d helped less beloved companies profitably reach new audiences on Facebook, so our lobby team of two kept pushing. Source It was nearly Black Friday, and my partner in this endeavour Angela...

Jun 2021

Why I’m quitting traditional buyer personas.

“Once I figure out what to do with my dining room table, I’ll be free to move.” But what sort of impact does a table have on a major life decision like buying a condo? As innovation consultant Bob Moesta found out, quite a lot. The table helped shape the winning offer – which included more than just the condo. And the table...

Jun 2021

I am an introvert. Here’s how I went from fearing authority to speaking on stages.

“I was Patient Zero of losing a personal reputation on a global scale almost instantaneously.” ^^ Monica Lewinsky at a Women’s Day presentation I attended in 2017.  Yes, that Monica Lewinsky. The woman who, by some POVs, almost brought down Bill Clinton’s presidency because she kept a certain blue dress.  Her presentation was so...

May 2021

29 Quotes That Perfectly Explain What Copywriting Means

If you’re not sure what copywriting means, start here: Copy is the words businesses and people use to sell something. And copywriting is salesmanship in print. The Short Version: Copywriting moves people to action Copywriting is a conversation between you and one person It isn’t creative – it’s about selling and making a new “control” It sells...

Oct 2020

SaaS Websites: Is shorter copy really better?

Inside: 3 CRO-killing trends to avoid in your SaaS web copy What was REALLY going on in the NNG study that suggested people don’t read online 5 factors for winning SaaS website copy Yes, sometimes short copy is better than long copy 3 actions to improve your web copy performance “It’s too long.” Web copywriters get this feedback all the...

Sep 2020

How to write a landing page for problem-aware visitors

All the optimizing in the world can’t fix a landing page that doesn’t match your visitor’s expectations. With the rising cost of PPC campaigns and the mad competition of organic search, the wrong messaging (especially at the top of the funnel) will lead to higher bounce rates than Ice Cube in the 90s.  God that’s a solid reference....

Jul 2020

How a Unique Selling Proposition for Our Content Marketing Doubled Revenue

They say it takes 6-12 months for content marketing and SEO to “start working.” Does that seem like a long time for you? It does to me… John Bonini and his team at Litmus took six months before his traffic started to climb: Marcus Sheridan was blogging on RiverPoolsandSpas.com and saw a traffic increase in six months.  ...

Jul 2020

COVID Memes: Why we’re using laughter to get us through a pandemic

Timing. One of the cornerstones of humor.  Nobody knows this better than Professor Sophie Scott, Director of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London.  Scott and I were recently talking about her work on laughter and humor, when she muted her microphone to not cough in my ear. Seems like everyone needs to justify...

Jun 2020