Back when I was a freshman in high school, my well-meaning parents signed me up for "Charm School". Maybe they thought my propensity for being "blunt" needed to be curtailed...or they wanted me to be more of a "girly" girl, having grown up with brothers...or they...

Issue #121—March 5, 2021 This morning while sipping my coffee I got distracted with vacation planning. It's my favorite thing to do, as I've mentioned before. We're planning to stay for a few nights in a beach town in North Carolina to attend a friend's wedding one...

If you're a copywriter looking to speed your way to the top...or increase your earnings, decrease your client "headaches", and live the lifestyle you want...then you're not going to want to miss this second set of tips from the "Good Advice Gal" herself. (If you...

This morning was one of the first mornings in a while where there hasn't been snow or ice on the roads preventing me from getting my workout done first thing. It was a "no excuses" kind of morning...so I hit the gym to squeeze in some cardio and strength training. As...

Issue #120—February 19, 2021 Emails may well be the "Rodney Dangerfield" of copywriting. They just get no respect. And by respect I mean, many companies don't value them as much as they should. When I hear the paltry fees some clients want to pay copywriters who write...

What's in Kim's Mailbox? After Sunday night's Super Bowl game, I didn't have any trouble drifting off to dreamland. It wasn't that exciting of a game, after all...at least the second half. It got a bit boring (and sad) watching Patrick Mahomes get knocked about like a...

Issue #119—February 5, 2021 Gene Schwartz's book, Breakthrough Advertising, is one of the greatest books ever written on copywriting and positioning. It galls me that it was never once mentioned when I went through my MBA program in marketing (and likely still isn't)....

Distractions, distractions. That sums up my day today, which is why I'm getting this issue out to you so late. Today's topic is something I haven't covered much before...but often comes up in copywriting and mastermind groups I'm in as well as in my mentoring...

We made it! It's Friday...and it's already the 22nd of the month. We're nearing the middle of a 10-day palindrome streak, too (that's when the dates read the same backwards and forwards). In fact, in honor of this rare palindrome streak, I've selected an obscure and...

Last night I had my second weekly Thursday night class on Comedy Sketch Writing. The classes are on Zoom, of course, and incorporate a lot of Improv games and other exercises. We also have "homework" to do, which I scrambled to finish at the last possible minute while...

It's that time of year here in the U.S. when we're constantly tempted by the devilish deliciousness of Girl Scout cookies. All over suburbia, we're besieged by ridiculously adorable young girls either knocking on doors taking cookie orders...or sitting at tables...

What's in Kim's Mailbox? Every real estate agent you may know will tell you the secret to closing bigger sales: "Location! Location! Location!" Yet we as copywriters and marketers don't always take this secret to heart when it comes to our promos...whether they're...

What's in Kim's Mailbox? As we shut (or shall we say SLAM) the door on 2020, I'm breaking down a "poop-y" promo that keeps showing up in my email inbox. So here's Part 2 of the "What's in Kim's Mailbox" issue I sent you yesterday afternoon. Let's see...where did we...

What's in Kim's Mailbox? I'll never forget having the privilege of spending a full day listening to the legendary Gene Schwartz breaking down his process for creating breakthrough promotions. I was in the same room as about 30 other Phillips Publishing marketers,...

Well, what a busy weekend for Santa! After busily sending out three "Clayton-palooza" emails packed with copywriting "gold" on Friday (if you missed them, I'll have them up on my blog soon at www.kimschwalm.com/blog), it was time to finally get ready for Christmas....