Chances are you've heard how important it is to write copy that has a voice or a personality behind it. This is crucial for many reasons: 1) It helps differentiate your brand from the competition; 2) It helps build a relationship with your prospect or customer; and 3)...

You've been hearing "brat" everywhere... it's even been declared "brat summer"... And as you may know, it has nothing to do with being a misbehaved toddler (or an adult acting that way). I've looked at multiple definitions floating around for this word that's trending...

Today I'm going to talk about some of the most common blunders you could be making with your copy—no matter if you’re writing an email, sales page, Facebook ad, or any other type of promotion. These are response-killing blunders I see copywriters and business owners...

Ever since I got my first marketing job more than three decades ago, I've been working with products aimed at primarily an older audience -- mainly 60+ and older. My first marketing gig was with a major health insurer in their individual market division (direct to...

This afternoon I got sad news. The legendary founder of the publishing company I worked for before going freelance -- Tom Phillips -- passed away after a long illness. Tom started Phillips Publishing in 1974, in the converted garage of his home in Chevy Chase,...

Today I read an article that talked about the word "sweaty"... and it's something you never want to come across as with a prospective client. I'm not talking about actually sweating (what was that old deodorant ad? "Never let them see you sweat.") I'm talking about...

A few weeks ago, I woke up in the morning after having a weird dream. In my dream, I was in an upscale lounge in New Orleans. I went up to the bar and ordered a Sazerac -- a cocktail made with rye whiskey, absinthe, and other ingredients. It's a classic drink that...

Today's topic was inspired by a copy mentoring session I had with an agency owner from Scotland yesterday. He mentioned he'd been studying Gene Schwartz's classic book, Breakthrough Advertising -- a must-read for anyone who writes copy. If you use and apply this book...

Last week I was invited to a call to hear a talk by the President of Athletic Greens, also known as AG1. Athletic Greens, the maker of a nutrient-dense green drink, has skyrocketed its sales in recent years and become a leader in its niche. I decided to check out...

Hopefully you've been making merry this week as Christmas approaches. Unfortunately, it's been a tough week with my mom now in the ICU at the hospital... at my insistence she was moved there, due to some major failings with her care in the regular unit. Yet when...

It's now less than one week until Christmas. And Santa Kim's been busy! While I was able to avoid any more HOA drama yesterday, I did end up spending several hours at the hospital emergency room tending to my elderly mom. Turns out she's got the flu, and will need to...

"Santa's Mailbag" is back after a very busy few days. Between writing copy, endless Zoom meetings, and my annual physical yesterday... ...where my doctor told me my cholesterol numbers were the best she's ever seen out of all her patients (yes, I'm doing a cholesterol...

As I mentioned in my email yesterday, I'm doing a feature this week called "Santa's Mailbag". And I'm taking some time out from a client project I'm working on, a new mentoring program I'm planning, and my never-ending holiday "to do" list to answer your most burning...

Food is one of the essential needs of human life. But so many of us struggle with the eternal question that haunts us day after day: "What's for dinner?" As a result, a slew of done-for-you meal services have sprung out of nowhere in recent years... and they've...

Those of you who are familiar with the famous "A Tale of Two Young Men" letter written decades ago to sell a record-breaking number of Wall Street Journal subscriptions will recognize today's subject line. (I left out the "young" and "men" because I wanted to cast a...

The latter part of last week, Nashville was overtaken by a fearless band of copywriters, marketers, and entrepreneurs. They flew in from as far away as Australia and South Africa, and as close by as right down the road. And the results were EPIC. I've been to all 3...

A week ago today, I hopped on a Zoom call with a potential client. He's the President of a supplement business that does a lot of direct mail (still) and also sells its products online. I won't go into the details of what we discussed. However, it was the first time a...

Not long ago, I read something a well-known copywriter had put on his sales page for his mentoring group that rankled me a bit. It wasn't so much that I felt personally attacked--since it was so clearly wrong and inaccurate if in fact it was directed at me (and other...

There's one thing you can do on your own that can dramatically improve your copy. It's an underused tactic that once again became apparent to me during the last month. Each of the past four Wednesday's, I've hosted a Copy Mentoring Sprint call where I critique copy...

Things have changed—a lot—since I first took the leap into freelance copywriting more than 25 years ago. Some for the better, some for the worse. But here’s an undeniable fact… there are more copywriters now than ever before. And now, with the emergence of...

Here's one of my past issues that can help you write more engaging, higher-converting copy... simply by focusing on developing ONE specific trait or skill: empathy. I was reminded of it--and this past issue I wrote more than 4 years ago--when I took my elderly mom to...

No, I'm not talking about a college basketball match-up... I'm talking about two of the most "famous" acronyms in copywriting and marketing. The first, USP, stands for "Unique Selling Proposition". The second, UM, stands for "Unique Mechanism". It's easy to get these...

As of tomorrow it will be one week since my dog Pearl passed away. She was 14-and-a-half years old, and up until a few days before she died, she lived an active and healthy life. While that's a blessing, it still doesn't make it any easier. Working from home all these...

Today I'm pulling this dripping-with-copywriting-gold issue out of the vault. It's got some great things to share with you about writing ANY kind of copy. Whether you write mostly short copy like emails or long-form copy like sales pages and VSLs, you're going to...