Andy Maslen

FREE almost always works well in a headline. Don’t be shy in business-to-business (b2b) contexts either. Everyone likes getting free stuff.

Try to keep your headlines as short as you can. Under 16 words is good. Ten is better.

Read all the books you can get your hands on about advertising, marketing, selling skills and copywriting. There are lots to choose from. The authors on my shelves include: Drayton Bird, Robert Bly, James Borg, John Caples, Robert Cialdini, John Fraser-Robinson, Claude Hopkins, Graeme McCorkell, David Ogilvy, Victor Schwab, Joseph Sugarman, Nick Usborne, Joe Vitale and Walter Weintz.

difference between a book and a blog is that the former only comes into existence because an independent authority – a publisher – has invested a lot of time and money in bringing it to market. That’s a reasonable guarantee of quality, and of the reliability of the author.

Read copy with a professional eye. Look around you. As I said right at the beginning of this section, copy is everywhere. Never again bin a mailshot without reading it first. Don’t flick past the ads in your favourite magazine or newspaper – analyse them and try to determine what the writer was trying to achieve. And whether or not they did. Read web copy and HTML e-mails thoroughly and look for evidence of keyword use, hypertext and usability.

Five things you need to be a successful copywriter

To be a successful copywriter you need:
• An abiding curiosity about people, the world around you and the products, services and companies you write for. Nothing is boring.
• The ability to understand how people think and feel about themselves and others. Without this you will struggle to sell – since this is the art of speaking to motivations.
• A talent for weaving magic with words, from story-telling to “what if?”; from a pell-mell rush of benefits to an irresistible call to action.
• Knowledge of the rules of spelling, grammar and punctuation – and the willingness and insight to know when you can – and should – break them.
• Research skills – from desk research to face-to-face interviewing – so you can uncover every single fact about whatever it is you’re selling.
OK, let’s have another go. If you’re going to be a successful freelance copywriter you need seven personal qualities. Have a look at the list coming up and fill in the blank lines to give yourself a personal action plan.

will always come up against people who think they know more than you do.

Exercise 1
Freelance copywriter personality quiz