Look Here Writing

Helping designers, developers and agencies win more attention, respect and business with incisive, structured, user-focused copy for their websites, brochures..

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@clownworld The long belt of the law.

[Ben Settle @BenSettle]

Another reason @Shane_Hunter and I have so much fun talking about marketing goes beyond the marketing itself.

We both like to try stuff out in marketing that we think is cool.

If we think it's cool, even if everyone else thinks it's silly or stupid we don't really care and never have, driving mutual clients and friends crazy with our antics in many cases in the process.

It doesn't mean it always works (I have had many failed ideas I thought were cool). But even if it doesn't work, it often leads to an idea that does work, even if it is totally unrelated to whatever it was we originally thought was cool.

Reminds me of something a client in the self defense niche I used to write ads for would say in all his videos that I have found to be especially true in marketing:

"The only thing you can wrong is nothing."

This week I banged out 33 comicbook-style ads to run through the 2025 issues (I do them well in advance due to the vagaries of securing artists, logistics, etc, like I talk about in my Markauteur book in the section about this). I have no idea which ones will hit a nerve or be totally ignored. I did them just because I thought it'd be fun. I also worked @stefaniasettle into some of them purely for fun and she looks at them as love letters to her.

In other cases, the ads are just dad jokes I wanted to tell, in some cases I had some pretty good USP ideas I wanted to work in, and in still more cases I just wanted to do something that gets attention using a media format few really understand, and even fewer still are able to use much less teach.

The shallow thinking in the marketing world is an absolute gift if you are one who likes to think outside the box.

I think the main problem holding a lot of marketers back, and especially copywriters, is giving a shyt what someone else thinks.

Everyone secretly or openly wants someone's approval.

But approval-seeking is the death knell of great ideas.

And the ones who most adamantly insist they are not approval-seeking tend to be the ones who are seeking approval the hardest from someone.

I know this because I used to be that way before I got into direct marketing some 20 years ago.

But I looked around early on and saw how everyone would just glob on to a goo-roo (or even a legit marketing guru) and ape that person's style, parrot everything they said, completely resistant to trying to break, challenge, or stray from that guru's orthodoxy.

It's not even the guru's fault in most cases.

Dan Kennedy's fanboys, for example, are the worst of this, in my experience, even as they are defying something he always has written about for decades:

"All dogma is bad" even his.

yet, his fanboys sound like Brainy Smurf saying "Papa Smurf always says" except they say "Dan Kennedy says..." whenever giving unsolicited advice. They are literally a trope of themselves in some cases.

But you gotta do the opposite.

Seek ye not someone's approval (mine or anyone else's) but their disapproval.

It won't always yield a big win, but it doesn't have to. It just has to keep you in the game, advancing in the game, racking up wins in the game - big or small - over time.

Eventually, you start working out your own ways of doing things, creating your own tactics (many that work for you, but not others), and making your own way in this game, often in complete defiance of those insisting you need to do it their way or you're not gonna make it or whatever stupid platitude they use that is usually said by people who really are not gonna make it - as 2024+ will show.

That whole line about when the tide goes out you see who's been swimming naked is a good metaphor and always has been.

I don't know how many tangents from the main point I can possibly go on here.

So I'll just shut my yap and get back to work..

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

Writing as an act of defiance: Why I'll keep writing, even in an age of AI: https://t.co/VWylS76IJE via @HennekeD

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@jaynelloyd @ace_national That's brilliant! Great news - well deserved.

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

Have just fallen in love with this article about... your About Page! https://t.co/RmlhIaO6UC via @orbiteers

[ProCopywriters @procopywriters]

'A copywriter can't guarantee results. But getting a copywriter to work on your project will make it more successful than if you hadn't involved a copywriter at all.'

@LookHereWriting on how a copywriter's value can't be measured by ROI and KPIs: https://t.co/Txr5zu9oeY

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@alicetheunique @ColWriteNight It really is interesting - intrigued to find out more, although it does seem like quite a big time investment!

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@ekittl Oh bugger. Books though! The best supplies :) Hope it only touches you lightly and briefly.

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

Couldn’t quite believe it when ProCopywriters asked if I wanted to be in a member spotlight... but when I sat down at the keyboard I knew I had to jump at the chance :) https://t.co/SQCikjRzaf

[ProCopywriters @procopywriters]

Some job posts are vague about what a project entails, which makes it tricky when it comes to quoting for the work or seeing whether you even want the job at all. On our blog, @lookherewriting outlines questions to ask so you can find out what you need: https://t.co/eeOvnryXCl

[ProCopywriters @procopywriters]

'Keep talking to people – clients, prospects, people you’ve just metat an event. The more people know you, and you know their activities, the more they’ll think of you when they need your skills.' #Copywriter @lookherewriting is in our Member Spotlight: https://t.co/VGEj9AFCP6

[ProCopywriters @procopywriters]

In this week's Member Spotlight feature, @lookherewriting shares details of his 'A4 sessions' – his #copywriting discovery process with new clients. Read more from Doug here: https://t.co/GtgHBJ4bvR

[ProCopywriters @procopywriters]

A vague job post is sometimes a sign you shouldn’t reply. But then again, many good clients are hidden behind their inability to communicate (which is precisely why they need a good #copywriter). @lookherewriting offers tips on how to find out more: https://t.co/fgdjNcMJqb

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@procopywriters Hope it’s helpful to a few people!

[ProCopywriters @procopywriters]

Some job posts are vague about what a project entails, which makes it hard when it comes to quoting for the work or seeing whether you even want the job at all. On our blog, @lookherewriting outlines the questions to ask so you can find out what you need: https://t.co/nawqemIbSO

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@Wivenhoewriters @electra_rhodes Brilliant!

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

@ekittl Awesome photos! Brings a peace to everything.

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

Last night my wife the designer was puzzling over how to handle a landing page for a client. So I sketched out a fast and dirty guide she can follow.

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

What you've all been waiting for... no detail spared. Landing Pages: The Definitive Guide https://t.co/m3OgzOby22

[Look Here Writing @LookHereWriting]

Enjoyed this one - 3 simple, memorable phrases to help you focus on the future you want: #PassItOn: Visualise your future and know your worth https://t.co/NgVS9sf0Sq via @campaignmag