Posts by Author

John Forde

Posts by Author

John Forde

Brain-Writing

By John Forde | 06/2/2011

“Brain-writing” is not my term. But we’re going to make it our own by revising it a little to make it more productive… You brainstorm to get ideas when you have none. Ideally, you do so in a group. So you can feed off each other. So you can legitimize…

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Why Your Next Bad Idea Might Be Your Best Friend

By John Forde | 04/20/2011

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE A FLOP TO BE A FAILURE
I’ve invested plenty of time in failing ventures too.

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Six Messages You Never Want to Send

By John Forde | 11/2/2010

Does your marketing copy send prospects a message you never meant to send? Let me clarify…

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Paralyzed by Worry

By John Forde | 09/30/2010

What keeps your customer up at night?

When he sits on his bed, one shoe on and staring out the window… what’s he thinking about?

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Turning No Into Yes

By John Forde | 08/26/2010

“By focusing obsessively on how to make an idea smooth,” says marketing maven Seth Godin, “You can dramatically increase its velocity.”

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Confessions of a Brush Jockey

By John Forde | 07/14/2010

This past weekend, I painted our bathroom.

And it reminded me of the good old days.

See, way back when, yours truly used to be a painter.

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Why Simple Writing Works Better

By John Forde | 03/11/2010

Someone once asked me… Why I would, so often… (at least in copy)… Use so many… One-line paragraphs… And so many… well… of these things: “…” Of course, the above is exaggerated. But there’s no getting around it… Many copywriters really do use a lot of one-line paragraphs. Or even one-word…

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“Need to Tell” vs “Want to Tell”

By John Forde | 10/23/2009

In marketing copy, “need to know” info is the facts your prospect has to hear to help him make the decision to buy your product. But it’s often the “want to know” info that has more pulling power. By that I’m talking about things your prospect has an emotional interest…

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How to Turn Your Pile of Research Into a Seamless Promotional Package

By John Forde | 09/10/2009

Every business is in sales. But not everyone feels comfortable selling. As someone who writes sales copy for a living, that’s worked out great for me. I get hired to craft the persuasive sales pieces that even crack entrepreneurs are sometimes afraid to touch. But what do you do when…

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The Simple Secret of… Complexity?

By John Forde | 07/10/2009

Usually, the writer’s mantra is “K.I.S.S.” (Keep It Simple Stupid.) And most of the time, this rule works just fine. Yet, we also know that writing – especially the kind of writing we do in sales letters and editorially – is more and more about building relationships. And aren’t relationships…

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Short Words, More Word Power

By John Forde | 07/7/2009

Brevity, they say, is the soul of wit. And if that’s true, I admit… sometimes, I can be a little soulless. See, I was taught to love what the nuns used to call “25 cent words.” These are the words, they told us, that make you sound smart. That win you…

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What’s In a Name?

By John Forde | 06/17/2009

Personalized mailings were all the rage in direct marketing… back in 1975. They continue to be a staple today, online as well as off, based on the idea that no sound is sweeter than that of your own name. Given my one or two experiences with hand-shaking, name-abusing car salesman over the years, I beg to differ. (”John, what can we do to get you behind the wheel of this beauty today… John?”)

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