Howdy writer,
Remember when I said that profitable advertising was a planned and purposeful neglect of everything except making the sale … and that you should treat copywriting like a salesman?
Well, there is something else you should know: the difference between copywriting and face-to-face salesmanship is that the salesperson can’t be ignored …
She demands attention. Your advertisement, however, can be ignored. This is why effective headlines are so important.
See, an effective headline is like calling out in a crowded room, “Hey Demian, can I talk to you?” Your headline gets the attention of the right people. So you write a headline that recognizes those people.
But there’s a problem.
These days the trick is to write a headline that will blow up on the social web. A...
Lifestyle
Dear Mr. Mayor,
On the lovely spring afternoon of Shabbat Tazriya-Mezora, April 25, 2015, at exactly 5:30 PM, I desecrated the Holy Sabbath by entering my partner’s car in Moshav Beit Zayit, where we live, and drove to the corner of Street of the Prophets and HaRav Kook Street in downtown Jerusalem. As you probably know, this is the only corner in the city on the Day of Rest where you can find a cab to Tel Aviv, on the Sabbath.
Until I reached Street of the Prophets, the idea that I was desecrating the Sabbath was a low-grade thought simmering on the back burner of my consciousness. Anyone who has lived in Jerusalem for thirty-eight years, as I did until 2005, cannot help but be conscious of the Holy Sabbath. But my personal desecration morphed into a full-fledged public affair when...
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Dear Simon Cowell (or whoever is currently in charge of One Direction… though in my heart and mind it will always be Simon Cowell);
First off, I want to let you know that I am both a huge fan of you and of 1D, so everything in this letter is truly backed with love. That being said, I feel like your PR people just don’t know what they are doing with One Direction nowadays. Are you shocked by this blatant opposition of the marketing strategy of one of the most popular musical acts in the world? Allow me to elaborate:
Example #1: Zayn leaving 1D
So I realize that you may not have much choice in the fact that Zayn was leaving the group
– he decided what was happening – but I do feel like you probably had at least a little bit of -Otra-Tour-zayn-malik-38141714-500-650leverage with...
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3+ years would be the most accurate description regarding the length of wasted and precious time in which I let one person utterly destroy me. Cripple me. Wreck my heart. Weaken my mind. And break my spirit. I let him abuse me so much more than just physically. I let him harm my only sense of self and inner peace. Intentionally, he emotionally drained me, so mercilessly, in an attempt to bring me down to a place as low as him. A place where there seemed to be no light. A place that I couldn't bear to imagine. Because of his cruelty and harshness- harshness that seemed to only present itself to me and no one else, I lost my way. I became someone who I could no longer recognize- timid, afraid, lost, confused, and ashamed. Ashamed that I gave someone enough power to permanently damage my...
2,902
To the junior bankers of the world,
I read with interest the pseudonymous article one of your number, “Jim”, recently wrote: “Junior bankers’ working conditions are as bad as ever. I should know.”
“Investment banking is not an easy career choice,” Jim said. Indeed. In three years in the industry, he has seen things:
What few appreciate is that the cases of young financiers literally being worked to the point of death are neither uncommon nor a result of freak individual medical conditions. They are the inevitable consequence of a pervasive culture that encourages young bankers to push themselves to the edge again and again. All in an attempt to prove themselves, gain plaudits from their managers and compete for top spot come review season.
I don’t doubt that you work crazy hours,...
2,682
Well let’s see. What can I say about these past few months with you? Let’s travel back to the beginning when I found out that you were going to be my roommate. I was on vacation in California and my mom kept asking me again and again “who’s your roommate who’s your roommate?!” But of course, you know my mother now so that type of thing is expected. I was nervous to check my email and see who it was going to be because meeting new people scared the living daylights out of me. I’m so shy so getting used to a new person, especially a person that I had to live with, was scary to me. When I opened the email I skipped all of the housing information and went straight to “Roommate” and next to it I saw “Cummings, Alicia”. Honestly I don’t get why they couldn’t just do first name first and last...
3,911
Dear Daughters,
The three guiding principles of this letter are that we love you to pieces, we want you to have the fullest, happiest life possible, and we want to do everything in our power to support you in that quest.
When you were little we rocked you to sleep in our arms; we helped you learn how to walk and how to read; we tried to teach you how to be a good friend; we hung every piece of art and academic point of pride on the refrigerator; cried at every concert and cheered at every game; and we’ve been honoured to bear witness to all the ways you’ve revealed the contents of your heart and mind.
These things have unfolded mostly in the shared open spaces of your life. But your sexuality has been, and will continue to be, somewhat different, as it by nature necessitates more...
2,657
Dear Mr. Sitchin,
While the contents of this letter may constitute a challenge to your academic scholarship, the intent of this letter is more in the interest of research than confrontation. I recognize and appreciate your efforts toward understanding the ancient texts of Mesopotamia and the Hebrew Bible in more than a sterile, unimaginative way than characterizes most scholarship in this area. However, I find many of your positions to be curiously lacking in precisely the area which you (or perhaps mainly your followers) have claimed expertise - the languages of the ancient near east. At this point I can only conclude (perhaps ignorantly) that either you do not know the grammar of these languages, did not do enough research into the languages and therefore missed the points I have...
3,051
Dear Aamir Khan,
Now that you have had your say on intolerance, can you please get back to work? Of course, we knew you are not leaving the country, neither is Kiran; you didn't even have to say it. If you are wounded by all the nastiness thrown at you, remember work is a wonderful healer.
You are an icon, and in India, icons transcend narrow identities. They are not judged as Hindu, Muslim, this or that. No one, I know of, thinks of Amitabh Bachchan or Sachin Tendulkar as Hindus or Shah Rukh, Salman and you as Muslims. That is the beauty of India. Small people cannot change that, try howsoever hard they may.
You are right when you say that over the last few months there’s a sense of disquiet in the country. If that was not the case, the topic of intolerance would not be occupying the...
2,574
Dear Sisters in Humanity:
Recently, you may have encountered pushback from people - including women who self-identify as Muslim - discouraging you from wearing the Islamic headscarf in solidarity with Muslim women like myself who observe it for religious reasons.
I want to convey my gratitude to you for your sincere empathy and willingness to venture outside of your comfort zone to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Muslim women who are vulnerable to being targeted as a consequence of rising anti-Muslim intolerance and bigotry.
This is especially profound because you may not fully understand the nuanced significance of hijab. It is arguably the single most powerful article of clothing. It has elicited controversy, stirred consciences, evoked pity, inspired curiosity, instilled...
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