Using Checklists

This weekend I read Atul Gawande’s book, The Checklist Manifesto. A fantastic argument supporting the use of simple, albeit unromantic, checklists as a means to “getting things right” in any profession or endeavor, particularly where complexity can become like the devil in the details. His exploration begins with his own profession–surgery, but he quickly admits […]

Look to Your Own Persona: The Answers are Closer Than You Think

As a web copywriter a persona–for ME–is a very effective tool. Companies pay other companies a lot of “nut” to research customer demographics, conduct surveys and gather poll data, ultimately to assemble and deliver a slick deck of diverse customer personas. Google “customer persona” and you’ll turn over a garden of search results for sites […]

Great Sales Letter Lead Happening Now

A lot of sales letters that are shared online are those that have a proven track record–they’ve been around for awhile. This is the lead for a new online sales letter I received just this past weekend. It’s from Agora Financial, infamous for some of the best sales copy in the financial sector. “Searching for […]

The Power of Made-Up Crap

Wonderful things can come when you’re able to spin words to imply something grand or eloquent or expensive or priceless or secretive or magical….make up crap (essentially)…create new words and phrases that even lodge themselves in our daily language. Neologism: “a new word, meaning, usage, or phrase” and/or “the introduction or use of new words […]