Copywriting Archives - Bob Cargill

18Apr 2018 by Bob Cargill

What Can I Do for You?

Business, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

I'm a traditional marketer. I'm a digital marketer. I'm a content marketer. I'm a social media marketer. I can provide you with strategies and workflows. I can help you manage people and projects. I can provide you with copy. I can provide you with content. Yup. I've been writing in this field for a long time…since 1983. I've written everything from direct mail to email, print ads to banner ads…AND then there's social media. In 2004, I started my blog, "A New Marketing Commentator," and I haven't looked back. Yup. I've done a ton of social media! Frankly, I consider myself an ultra-modern, hybrid marketer who can help you out in a variety of ways, both B2B and B2C, agency and client side. What can I do for you? A…

26Oct 2012 by Bob Cargill

Presentation: 10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Business, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter from Bob Cargill My first job out of graduate school many years ago was as a copywriter for RCA Direct Marketing in New York City. And the rest, as they say, has been history. Since that first gig writing about popular records (yes, vinyl) and tapes (cassettes and eight-tracks, to be specific), I've written about an incalculable number of other products and services, from business cards to books, healthcare to software, magazines to music, travel to tuxedos and more. I've also written direct response fundraising copy for dozens of charitable organizations -- which, by the way, has been some of the most satisfying work I've done over the course of my career so far. I may have worked for a number of different companies, developed new…

22Apr 2012 by Bob Cargill

My Blog Post on Video Series: 10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Business, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter, YouTube

If you're a content creator like me, someone who goes to great lengths to share your own knowledge and opinions via social media, you know how important it is to get the most mileage out of your original work. Frankly, I’m always thinking of new ways to leverage and repurpose my efforts. So as I was writing the posts in my “10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter" series, I’ll admit that I was thinking all along that they might lend themselves quite well to video. After all, I had already turned a number of blog posts into short clips that I had uploaded to YouTube, each of which featured me talking straight into the camera from a variety of different locations. I envisioned this series to be no different. What…

02Jun 2011 by Bob Cargill

The 10 Qualities of the Professional Freelancer

Advertising, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing

For about seven years in the 1990s, I was self-employed, doing my thing as a freelance copywriter and creative director for my own small business, Cargill Creative. It was the time of my career, a period of exhilaration and entrepreneurship I'll never forget. As challenging as it was to have to fend for myself, it felt good to know that almost everything I achieved was dependent on my own abilities and actions, not necessarily on any outside factors. I was working on a high wire without a safety net and I liked it. As I wrote here on this blog back on June 1, 2004, about this experience... Cargill Creative was a “virtual” agency with unlimited potential but resources that were only so deep. Schooled as a creative, I recast myself out…

20Nov 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Parts 1-10

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Facebook, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media, Twitter

If you've been reading this blog for the last few months, you know I've been writing a series of posts on copywriting. Similar to the approach I took with my series on social media, I've looked at copywriting from a 30,000-foot level, focusing on the principles you need to be mindful of if you want to succeed in this profession. As I wrote about my own career in the very first post in this series... I may have worked for a number of different companies, developed new skills and taken on new responsibilities – such as creative direction, public speaking and social media – along the way, but I’ve also stayed true to my roots as a copywriter. And after all of these years writing headlines and subject lines, direct mail packages and email blasts, blog posts…

31Oct 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part 10

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

10. Use social media. A copywriter's job is to use the written word to promote something or someone using a variety of media, anything from radio to TV, direct mail to email, websites to billboards, print ads to assorted signage, sky writing, you name it. And today, included among all that tried-and-true, traditional media are blogs, Facebook, Twitter and other popular Internet-based, self-publishing vehicles. The fact is, anyone working in the marketing, advertising, sales and PR fields who knows how to use social media tools and technologies will likely be much more successful amidst this new communications era. And those who earn a living writing copy have an obvious competitive advantage. After all, the better you write, the better chance you have of stringing together the right messages for the right occasions and making yourself heard loud and clear…

17Oct 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Nine

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Public Relations, Social Media

9. Sweat the small stuff. It's one thing to be a creative genius, to be that extra special someone in the room who can come up with surprisingly brilliant ideas practically on demand, time and time again. That's the glamour and glory of the business. But the consummate copywriter is actually a stickler for details, someone who's as strong on the left side of the brain as the right, who's as analytical and obsessive as conceptual and extemporaneous, who's as aware of the importance of being an accurate, fact-based tactician as much as an original, award-winning craftsperson. That part of the job is not as exciting as it is necessary. Yes, it's not good enough to be just a great wordsmith and marketer. If you want to earn a living as a copywriter, you also have to be…

03Oct 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Eight

Advertising, Blogging, Branding, Cause-Related Marketing, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Fundraising, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

8. Be a team player. Most copywriters are accustomed to working alone, sequestered away from the rest of the team, doors closed, blinds drawn, working feverishly against time. It's what we do out of necessity, when there's no room for distractions and we just need to put our heads down to get the job done as soon as possible. Yet while it's certainly not unusual for a copywriter to do his or her thing in isolation, battling loneliness as well as the clock, it really shouldn't be the norm. Sure, to succeed as a copywriter, you need to be a self-starter, capable of working independently for long stretches of time. But you also need to be a team player, someone who works well with others – especially designers, creative directors and…

19Sep 2010 by Bob Cargill

10 Ways to Succeed as a Copywriter, Part Seven

Advertising, Branding, Copywriting, Direct Marketing, Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media

7. Meet your deadlines. If you’ve been around the block once or twice as a copywriter, you know better than to think anyone's going to just give you enough time to do your very best work. You have to make the time. Yup. Over the course of my career, I’ve rarely seen a schedule that permits a copywriter the luxury of putting in the time he or she would really like to dedicate to a project. Every assignment is a rush. Everything is due yesterday. That's the nature of advertising and marketing, the bane of a copywriter’s existence. That’s the one thing you have to understand if you want to succeed in this business. Incredibly tight deadlines come with the territory. And those deadlines had better be met. That doesn’t mean you can’t ask for an extension if you don’t have enough…