What Do You Do When the Copywriting Greats Disagree?
Richard “Do not use more than 17 words in a headline. Why? Based on my tests, I’ve never been able to make a headline work that is longer than this!” –Ted…
October 2026
On Simple Systems
You don’t need to master a complicated system to get results. Sometimes, a few techniques that work well together are enough. Back in the late ’90s, I picked up speed…
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀
You’ve seen this scene in a hundred horror movies. The family knows the house is haunted. Furniture moves by itself. Something growls from the basement. The television starts talking to…
𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗗𝗼, 𝗗𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘅
In 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘳 (1987), a mysterious puzzle box offers access to extraordinary experiences. Naturally, someone has to open it. What follows makes the original temptation look like a very bad bargain.…
𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝘂𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗽𝘆𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿
An email marketer discovers that adding a deadline boosts sales. So he writes the subject line: “𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 30%. 𝘖𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺.” The trouble? These readers have never…