57 Timeless Pieces of Copywriting Advice

57 Timeless Pieces of

Copywriting Advice

“Be vivid. Tell a story. Don’t be bland.”

– Seth Godin, best-selling author (of 18 books), world’s most popular blogger

“Copywriting is way more than putting words onto a

screen. … [the] context and situation that

influence the copy is called user experience.”

– Neil Patel, entrepreneur, author, content marketer

“Where a web page is the terrain, the

copywriter’s the tour guide, instructor, concierge, maître d’, and of

course, sales clerk. If the copy can’t seal the deal, it must offer something

compelling to start some sort of relationship.”

– Barry Feldman, creative director, copywriter, marketer

“Copywriting with passion, creating a shared, emotional experience of

desire, delight, excitement, and awe, is the primary challenge all

copywriters face.”

– Aaron Orendorff, copywriter, content strategist

"Curiosity will open up your mind, and therefore, the

world; an inquisitive mind is easily one of the writer’s

greatest strengths."

- Julia McCoy, copywriter, creator of Express Writers, author, podcaster

“Decide the effect you want to produce in your reader.”

– Robert Collier, author of New Thought metaphysical and inspirational self-help books in the 20th century

“Show your product in use.”

– Victor Schwab, one of the most popular direct marketing copywriters in history

“In writing, rhythm is defined by punctuation and the stress

patterns of words in a sentence. Long sentences

sound smoother, while short sentences make your content

snappier.”

– Henneke Duistermaat, copywriter, marketer

“Open like a Reader’s Digest article.’

– John Caples, the most popular copywriter, an industry award winner

“Tap into one overwhelming desire.”

- Eugene Schwartz, legendary author, copywriter

“When we talk about something negative, it doesn’t have to be dramatic, but there should be

some cost of turning your offer down. What’s yours?”

– Amy Harrison, persuasive sales copywriter

“Make the advertiser the character.”

- Maxwell Sackheim, legendary direct response marketer, entrepreneur

“Develop a Unique Selling

Proposition.”

– Rosser Reeves, marketing executive, copywriter

“Swap places with your readers.”

- Ann Handley, marketer, copywriter, author

“Find the inherent drama in your product.”

– Leo Burnett, a marketing executive, entrepreneur

“When you don’t give your customers enough information, the right

information, or put it where it needs to be on the page, you run the risk of giving them the impression that you care more about the sale than them.”

– Jen Havice, copywriter, author

“Wrestling with a 2,000-word essay is not unlike birthing a

calf. A life is at stake here. Your job is to make sure it

survives.”

– Demian Farnworth, copywriter, marketer

“Value is best communicated when it’s

designed to be believed, not just described.”

– Bernadette Jiwa, marketer, blogger and author of Amazon’s best-seller Difference, Marketing: A Love Story

“When your customers feel that you’re talking to them on a

deep emotional level and understand their hopes, fears,

and desires better than the competition, you’re gonna get

the sale.”– Adam Kreitmann, marketer, entrepreneur, writer

“Write to one person, not

a million.”

– Fairfax M. Cone, copywriter, legend marketer

“Brevity is the soul of wit.”

– Shakespeare, playwright, poet, writer

“Your prospects need a reason behind your product based on

three factors: why your product is the best, why your prospects

should believe you and why they need to buy the product

right now.”

- Brian Clark, Copyblogger

“Your customers don’t care about you, your

products, or your services. They care about

themselves.”

- Joe Pulizzi, author, marketer

"The time to begin writing an article is when you have finished

it to your satisfaction. By that time you begin to clearly and

logically perceive what it is that you really want to say.“

– Mark Twain, author, humorist

“Transubstantiate your product into something else.”

– Bill Jayme, direct-mail copywriter

“Everybody in the world divides his mail into two

piles.”

– Gary Halbert, direct response marketer, copywriter

“Free is the most powerful word in the copywriter’s vocabulary.

Everybody wants to get something for free.”

– Robert W. Bly, a well-known freelance copywriter

“Do not worship at the altar of creativity.”

– David Ogilvy, a legendary marketer, copywriter

"All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the

truest sentence that you know“

– Ernest Hemingway, journalist, short story writer, novelist

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

– Leonardo Da Vinci, an Italian polymath with interest in painting, invention, writing, etc

“You can have everything you want in life if you will

help enough people get what they want.”

– Zig Ziglar, salesman, author, motivational speaker

“The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the

clock to save time.”

– Thomas Jefferson, 2nd Vice President & 3rd President of the U.S, primary author of the Declaration of Independence

“We have become so accustomed to hearing everyone claim that

his product is the best in the world, or the cheapest, that we take all such statements with a

grain of salt.”

– Robert Collier, author of metaphysical, inspirational self-help books

“Copy is a direct conversation with the consumer.”

– Shirley Polykoff, marketer, copywriter, entrepreneur

“The consumer isn’t a moron; she is your wife. You insult her

intelligence if you assume that a mere slogan and a few vapid

adjectives will persuade her to buy anything.”

- David Ogilvy, a marketer, author, copywriter

“Poor copy cannot overcome faults or gaps in dealer distribution; it cannot

even cash in on the finest dealer setups. But good copy can, and does, surmount many dealer difficulties,

making them secondary, and selling in spite of them.”

– Victor Schwab, the most popular direct marketing copywriter

"Let us prove to the world that good taste, good art, and good writing can be good selling.”

– William Bernbach, marketer, entrepreneur

“Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”

–  Leo Burnett, marketing executive, copywriter

"You must make the product interesting, not just make the ad

different. And that’s what too many of the copywriters in the U.S.

today don’t yet understand.”

– Rosser Reeves, marketing executive, copywriter

"The most powerful element in advertising is

the truth."

– William Bernbach, marketer, copywriter

"Nobody reads ads. People read what interests them.

Sometimes it's an ad.”

– Howard Gossage, iconoclast, marketer, writer

"Make your advertising too valuable to throw away.”

– Sonia Simone, marketer, copywriter

"A copywriter should have an understanding of people, an

insight into them, a sympathy toward them.”

– George Gribbin, copywriter, marketer

"Believe me; nothing works as well on the web

as deadlines.”

– Clayton Makepeace, copywriter

"Every product has a unique personality and it is your

job to find it.”

– Joe Sugarman, copywriter, marketer, author

"On the average, five times as many people read the headlines as read the body copy. It follows that unless your headline sells your product, you have

wasted 90 percent of your money.”

– David Ogilvy, marketer, copywriter, author

“Wake up and realize it’s not 1964 anymore. You can’t rehash that old stuff. Don’t use scandalous blog headlines on your business website if you want conversions.

Talk and write like a real person.”

– Peep Laja, marketing copywriter, entrepreneur

“If you can just support the emotions that they’re feeling, and you can do it with integrity—you really do have the solution—then you don’t really ever have to sell

hard, or even push to sell.”

– Ray Edwards, Product Launch Manager, direct response copywriter

“I believe writing copy for Mr. Spock is a recipe for success. If something is logical it is, by nature,

persuasive.”

– Art Anthony, copywriter

“When you are looking directly to your swipe file for inspiration, don’t look for phrases to copy, or formulas to fill-in-

the-blanks. Think about the psychology behind the copy.”

– Casey Meehan, copywriter, author

“Nobody has the time or patience to read linear content. Instead of writing long indigestible blocks

of text, make your content skimmable.”

– Tania Cheema, a copywriter

“If the average person needs a dictionary to translate your copy, you’ve lost

multiple sales already.”

– Martina Mercer, copywriter, marketer, author, journalist

“Use words – all words – with an eye, ear, and nose for the odor of skunk. If you’re not sure how a

reader will interpret or respond to a word … if it’s possibly

confusing, ambiguous, or offensive … that’s your signal to look for a

different way of saying it.”

– Will Newman, a copywriter

“The often overlooked subhead is really a stealthy and lethal

ninja writing weapon just sitting there quietly waiting to

be put to good use.”

– Gary Korisko, marketer, copywriter

“The best marketing – and the best copy – is not about duping

the reader into believing something, but about amplifying their need, alleviating their fear

and exciting them to action.”

– Joel Klettke, a marketer, entrepreneur, copywriter

“Begin your bullets with dynamic action words,

and keep them brief and punchy.”

– Casey Demchak, direct response marketer, copywriter

“Your job as a writer means placing enough information in front of your

audience that they can see your point, rather than be utterly swayed to it. It’s critical to know your audience

well so that you don’t over- or under-persuade”

– James Chartrand, copywriter and founder of ‘Men with Pens.’

Stay Inspired!

Julia E. McCoyCEO, Express Writers

Read my bestseller, So You Think You Can Write, on Amazon