World Copywriting Blog

This is gonna ruffle some feathers... but if you are looking for Monster Success as a copywriter (or doing anything else), you ought to read it...

My friend ultra-copywriter John Carlton is traveling (Australia, New Zealand) and he invited me to do a guest post on his Marketing Rebel Rant blog.

First of all, it's a great honor. John's a living legend and very picky about letting anyone else appear on his blog.

Second, it was a great writing opportunity. The style of posts on John's blog is more expansive than I allow myself on mine.

Don't ask me why... that's just the way it is...

What I wrote about will probably challenge some people, maybe offend others.

It's the truth as I see it, and, wayull... it's not pretty.

I decided to write about something that's been on my mind for a long time. It has to do with what makes copywriters successful. Anyone successful, for that matter. 

Especially in light of the popularity of The Secret (which has led some people to confuse fantasy with achievement) and more recently, popular books with unique views on success like Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

All kinds of buzz going around.  Some strands of this buzz contradicting other strands.

I've mentored copywriters (and still do) who make huge amounts of money and succeed wildly in other ways.

Some of the folks I mentor succeed wildly, that is. 

Not everyone.

So, what makes the difference?

After lots of personal experience and historical research, I've drawn my conclusion. 

You can read about it here.

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter

Poking fun at vocabulary-builders, by publishing a book that purports to be one

If there's anyone on Planet Earth who understands the power of words, it's got to be Bob Bly. He's made himself very comfortable and extremely well respected as a freelance writer and prolific author.

His 76th book, The Words You Should Know To Sound Smart, is a winking nod to all the books and self-study programs that promise to teach people sophisticated terminology so they can raise their ranking on the social totem pole and be hired for more important jobs.

This book is funny, and it's also cool.

Personally, I found it has words that I know and use (elucidate, litany, fruition)... words that I know but would never use (couture, circumlocution, commodious)... words that I've heard or read but don't know what they mean (meretricious, pusillanimous, rationate)... and words I've simply never come across before (raiment, flagitious, hygroscopic).

If you love words -- as I do -- this is a fun book to have.

But if you are looking to improve your standing and credibility in the world, don't take the tongue-in-cheek promise of the title seriously.  I know people professionally and socially who are insecure about their intelligence or lack of formal education, and they make pathetic fools of themselves by using big words they don't really understand as an effort to cover up those insecurities.

It's not pretty.

One more thing. Bob Bly is a tremendously successful and skilled copywriter.  His 1985 book The Copywriter's Handbook is one of the best works ever written on the subject, for beginners and advanced copywriters alike.

Now understand that the 1200 words featured in his latest book are great words to play with, but not so good for selling.  Here's the simplest way to see that:

The title, "The Words You Should Know To Sound Smart," contains eight words, all one syllable.  The average number of letters per word is a hair over four.  None of these words is one of those 1200 that are recommended between the covers.

Many of the words in this book are much, much longer than any of the eight words that make up the title of this book.

It's a great title.  None of the title words makes you "sound smart." But they will sell a lot of books.

And maybe in that little paradox is the answer to the question that, over the years, has painted so many people into a corner: "If you're so smart, how come you're not rich?"

Well... maybe all those "dumb guys" who make up the top 2% of the wealth holders of the world... just maybe, they aren't so dumb after all?

David Garfinkel
Publisher, World Copywriting Newsletter