Four free copywriting workshops

Yes, you read that right. This summer you’ll have four (count ’em, four) chances to see me embarrass myself by trying to tell human beings how to write good. And we won’t even charge you for the privilege.

Places are booking up pretty fast, though, so you’d probably get yourself over to Eventbrite or you might miss out on all the hilarity.

The idea is that each workshop is short, sharp… and basically a grab-bag of hints, tips and advice that you can take away and occasionally dust off when you’re bored with writing stuff your way.

They’re at the wonderful Tremough Innovation Centre, the first Thursday of the next four months. And they are (somewhat demurely) entitled as follows:

4th June                      Kung Fu Secrets of Business Copywriting

2nd July                       How to Write Badass Web Content

6th August                  Nail Your Press Release the Lungfish Way

3rd September            A Smash-and-Grab Guide to Voice and Tone

Hope to see you there. Unless, you know, you’re miles from Cornwall. Or you have something better to do…

How to become a copywriter

One of the privileges of being a (hopefully) well-regarded copywriter is that young and would-be writers often ask my advice about the best way into the industry, and what it’s like to be your own boss.

I don’t know how most people do it, or even if a “usual” way exists. But I’m always very happy to talk about my own experiences.

With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to share some extracts from a recent email exchange with a delightful PR person (who shall remain anonymous), about the possibility of taking the plunge, and becoming a copywriter full time…

Photo by Carine Roberts.

How to write a quote (that the press might actually use…)

For the last few years, I’ve collected quotes from businesses lucky enough to be nominated for the Cornwall Business Awards. I’d then package these up by local area, send them off to their local press… and most of them wouldn’t get used.

Why? Because they all said pretty much exactly the same thing…

Hiring a PR agency: what to expect…

Speaking with a brilliant PR friend the other day, the conversation turned – as it often does – to  clients.

Everyone who has ever worked in PR has at least one anecdote about client demands. Crazy changes that killed a story. Secret, apologetic phone calls to journalists. Extended email arguments over grammar.

The problem, we agreed, was managing public relations clients’ expectations. Explaining right at the outset what PR is, how it works and what it’s for. Because if an agency says this stuff to its own clients, it looks like it’s making excuses…

The secret of great advertising? It’s the things you DON’T say

I wrote down loads of blog ideas, but none of them are really grabbing me right now – so instead I thought I might show you a piece of someone else’s work I think is cool, and I’ll tell you two things you can learn from it.

A few days ago, Volkswagen premiered their new Polo ad on Facebook. And, having 92 seconds to spare, I had a little watch.

Public relations: 3 good ways to really annoy a journalist

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to give a group of local business people an introduction to the basics of PR.

To start them off on the right foot, I thought I’d ask my journalist friends on Facebook whether they could think of any common howlers a PR newbie might want to avoid.

You might say it touched bit of a nerve.