Watch Out! BGB, The World Copywriting Watchdog, Now Has An Assistant And He's Stepping Up His Patrol Duties

It may look like summer slump to you, but World Copywriting Watchdog Bailey Garfinkel Barnes is actually on full alert, prowling the Web and the world at large for copywriting mistakes that bruise businesses and pilfer profits.

BGB, as he is known to insiders, only makes rare appearances on this blog, so I asked him to review the 10 Most Wanted Copywriting Violations he is currently pursuing.

Here is what I found out:

1. Copy without a strong headline

2. Pitches lacking emotional appeal

3. Sentences that don't make sense

4. Big words where small ones would do.

5. Impressive Flash videos that open a Web site, that add nothing to the sales process

6. Fire hydrants with barbed-wire fences around them (he admitted this was a "dog thing")

7. Copy that focuses more on the business than the customers and their needs

8. Non-conversational copy

9. Truly boring copy

10. Copy without a call to action

By the way, BGB's assistant is a Siamese cat named Jasper.

Thanks to Jeanette Barnes of oldfashionedoffice.com for the photo!

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Comments

[Jim Van Wyck]

Now that you mention it,
I've noticed inconvenient
fire-hydrants all over the place.

Bailey,
somebody ought to write
a good stiff letter to the Times!

Jim

[Patsi Krakoff]

Love this blog! Good stuff here, and this post will make me more aware of common errors to avoid, but also what to look for when reading other copy...I'm just starting to pay attention to sales copy to learn for my own business.

This is stuff they don't teach you in school, or not when I studied journalism way back when.

Your blog is a welcome addition to the blogosphere, and too bad you don't have a FeedBlitz subscription form so that I can get updates to my inbox everytime you post something new. I'll try to find your RSS feed url so I can add you to my My Yahoo page.

[Patsi Krakoff]

David, I looked but couldn't find your RSS feed URL... can you find it so I can get updates please?

[David Garfinkel]

Hi Patsi,

Thanks for the nice comments. I agree, by the way, that you'll learn things here you won't find in school.

In fact, that's why I'm creating a school myself: The World Copywriting Institute.

Because of your comment, I've added Feedblitz to this site. Now it's easy for anyone who wants to be notified by email whenever a new post is made on this blog.

It's at the top on the left, right under the cartoon and the word "about."

[Howard Campbell]

Look Here:
http://www.geroldbraun.de/blog/2005/10/bailey-garfinkel-barnes.html

That's BGB speaking in a foreign language.

Ben Mack had me go to that link.

-Howard