Keeping it real ;)

Thank a lot Waka.

Glad it was helpful!

No problem

Yeah, that's right, spot on. And they have been used for centuries to sell stuff to people. Greed, get rich quick, sloth - anything made easy. Lust - no ugly people in ads etc. I'm making a longer video about it now.

Thanks for your awesome comment. It made my day. I have been very S...L...O...W to produce videos lately, my only excuse is that my day job is copywriting, which keeps me pretty busy, otherwise I'd be eating pot noodle every night. I make the videos in my spare time and I really enjoy it, but it does take a huge amount of time and effort, so when I get a comment like yours it is a massive incentive to keep going.

@@plugcopywriting My plan worked then. I work for a software company and write a weekly newsletter. We have ~200k people on our mailing list, but only 40-45% of recipients regularly open the email. The folks who do read the newsletter like it a lot. One thing I have a talent for is describing boring things in entertaining ways. I'm not in any way trying to hype myself up because I think the only thing I have going for me is some kind of natural talent. Before watching your videos, I never gave any thought to the process or techniques of writing. The closest thing I have to a technique is typing out a bunch of paragraphs that amount to stream of consciousness, then reorganizing the content when I finish, slashing whatever I can to make the newsletter more concise (I'll edit this later because I don't want to dox myself, but if you're remotely curious, the newsletter gets posted to blog.localviking.com every Friday; the past two are kinda garbage because I didn't have much time for editing). I cannot tell you how much value I've gotten from your channel since I recently discovered it. I will immediately sign up to support you if you create a Patreon account. I really, really, really like your 70% Of Advertising Doesn't Work video. It's my favorite so far, but there are still many videos of yours that I haven't seen. I'm looking forward to them.

"But only 40-45% regularly open the email." You are doing yourself a disservice there. That is awesome. I think the average open rate for an eDM is only 16%, so you are smashing it out the park. (A good stat to have in your pocket at your next salary review.) A normal click through rate from the email is 2%. If you are getting 40-45% - that means you are writing great subject lines for your emails. I can see that you write well. I got into advertising, not knowing a thing about writing - I basically got hired at an ad agency because I was a prolific ideas generator. I got taught how to write by old school methods. I would write my copy, print it out and then I had to make an appointment to see the Creative Director. I had to make my way up to the top floor and wait, with sweaty palms to get in to see the Big Man. He would then take out a red pen and scratch out half the words of my copy, scold me for all my spelling mistakes and grumble to himself. It was grim but, fast forward several months and the grumbles got less and less. Time and a bit of guidance works wonders.

​@@plugcopywriting I fell into my job. One of my best friends wrote some software that took off and I joined him as employee number three. I have a math degree. I mention these things to explain why I'm not familiar with respectable mailing list open rates. I don't have a marketing pedigree. I've spent many hours beating myself up, wondering what I'm doing wrong. Not being able to consistently crack a 50% open rate (it happens periodically) has been my white whale for three years. Knowing that I'm running laps around the field is a relief in some sense, but I will continue to strive for a newsletter that gets opened by the majority of its recipients. I won't have much sit-down-and-study time until after Christmas, but I've periodically ducked away for five-to-ten minutes over the past few days to take a breather from the destructive forces of nature that are my brother's three-year-old twins. I've been watching your videos during those toddler breaks and all of them have given me genuinely useful takeaways so far. I haven't had time to leave long comments (like this one [the kids just went to bed]), but I'm absorbing as much advice as I can from you. I know I sound repetitive by now, but I want to do everything I can to make sure you know how much I appreciate your KZbin channel. It's great and I'm glad you took the time to script, animate, and record the audio for these condensed lectures. I may be the first person heaping this much praise on you, but I won't be the last. Your videos make me rethink things in the best possible way (which is the highest form of praise I can give someone).

Well spotted, you have a keen eye for detail. If you want to sit down for a coffee in Paris, you always have to dig deep into your pockets.

Thanks for the feedback

@@plugcopywritingi habe adhd,it helps,thanks for your format

Hard to believe but here is one source lunio.ai/blog/strategy/how-many-ads-do-we-see-a-day/ There are a lot of other studies too. It is hard to believe because you don't remember any of them.

@@plugcopywriting Sorry for being a bit uncouth in the last comment, but that's not a source. It's a day-writer's blog, with the only possibly relevant link dead and no reference to anything of substance. If there are "a lot of other studies" then open with those. Pretty sure I spent more than 5 seconds writing this reply and haven't seen an ad. I also doubt that I think about sex every seven seconds or swallow eight spiders every month. Stop making things up.

still glad to help the channel with some engagement though : )

Im sorry dude, but the moment you step out of your house, the entire world is covered in ads. You don't *notice* them (the point of the video) but they *are* there. Also, this is an avarage: if you see multiple ads simultaneously, like KZbin ads, that gets counted. And there are people that get to see more ads than other. I am not an American, but this statistic doesn't seem too out there considering these things.

@@lyxthen I dunno man, just googled "how many ads are in times square?" and the robot overlord said around 230. I took that ad for Jameson a little to heart last night, but stats like this just get in your craw because they dilute actual data and degrade trust. "we are constantly bombarded by ads", agreed.

Yeah. And stuck his nose in it too.

Yes you are right. They say that goldfish have six second memories. If they could buy beer and cars, they'd be a much better audience.

@@plugcopywriting the overly-loud and repetitive music in this video is miserable and unnecessary

thats what I'm saying

Is this... irony??

Thanks. I am not an animator but I have been cursed to sitting next to people who were very talented graphic artists. I was always looking over their shoulder, incredibly jealous. I got the bug. By day I write and then, when I have free time, I draw.

Great, glad I could help. Looking professional is important. You want to make your spec look as slick as possible BUT you are trying to get a job as a copywriter, not an art director. I always think simplicity is best. You want your spec ads to show off your writing skills but also convey your idea. Simple, clean layouts will make your ads easier to read. Putting your words into a layout will also show you if your headline is too long or if your copy is too short. When I started, I wanted to work in an advertising agency, so I teamed up with an art director. We created concepts together. He excelled at creating layouts and I wrote the copy, so we could present a more polished article. That might be an option for you. But if it is not, all the graphics programs are excellent now, so you can do this by yourself. A portfolio of work is a very persuasive tool, so it is well worth creating.

Awesome! Thanks for your wise advice!😁

Hi there, picking up the phone and sending emails is a great way to find business but if you are a beginner, you need some way to persuade a potential client you can create work for them. Advertising agencies will go through a pitch process with new clients - they’ve made the phone calls, sent the emails and then they give a very expensive presentation of work they think will move the client’s business forward. They come up with a strategy and then create mock-ups of ads that show how that strategy will be implemented. Advertising agencies will already have a portfolio of work they can show and they would much rather not have to do a creative pitch because it is so expensive (time and money) but that rarely happens. Switching accounts is a huge decision for a client. A freelancer will not have to go to those lengths to get work but you do have to provide evidence that you can deliver well written copy and/or concepts. Sending out emails is good but if that is an unsolicited email, the client will spend very little time reading it, they have a business to run, so your email should be short and to the point about what you can offer and then offer a link to a portfolio site that provides evidence that you are a good writer. It does not have to be examples of writing in their niche or a rework of ads they have made before, it just has to show proficiency. A portfolio will help you secure new work. Good luck.

@@plugcopywriting thank you so much for taking the time and answering me! Much respect ! Thank you very much. If you need anything art related to your work let me know. Much love 💯🙏🏽

Glad you liked it!

The original copy is not important. What you are trying to demonstrate is that you can write good copy. You create a spec portfolio to show to potential employers/clients how you approach a writing task. In the video I created copy for a Women Only Gym but I would show this to other businesses - gardening centres, wholesalers etc. What would be useful for them to assess the copy, because it is not their area of business, would be a short summary of what you did - why you chose to write the copy that way (what was the problem you solved.) Then you need to decide how you want to present your portfolio. Is it a physical portfolio that you want to carry round to show to people in person, or a digital portfolio, a website? If you are creating a hard copy portfolio, you can either just have the artwork and explain why you wrote it in a certain way, or have a brief summary beside the artwork if you are dropping it off. If you create a digital portfolio that you host online, then you can incorporate your explanation onto the page. Here is example of how I would do it - beezkneez.co.nz/tauranga-city-council This was a real job but you can take the same approach for speculative work. What you have to remember is that people will employ you not just for your ability to write but also for how you think. A spec book is a sales tool.

@@plugcopywriting Many of my questions got cleared with your reply. I appreciate you taking time to write this reply, it helps, Thank you very much😊🙏🏻

Mock-ups unfortunately need artwork, so you will have to create layouts. You should not have to redesign their sites or posts, you can replicate their existing site, but you might want to add more copy - that’s the whole point, right? To show off your copy. In the video, you will see that I just made screen grabs from the images on the Women only gym site. I then replicated the Home page, copying the colours but I did add an extra panel for some copy that I thought would improve the site. I also mocked up some Facebook posts using screen grabs of their images. I have been very lucky and have always worked with an art director - he usually did all that stuff, but I learnt from them. It is not particularly difficult. I use Photoshop to create mockups but Canva will work just as well for these simple layouts. If you cannot use screen grabs because they have headlines you can’t remove, find something similar. I will create layouts using low-resolution images if I am only creating digital examples. You can get them from stock sites (they will be watermarked, but that is not an issue for spec work.) You can also get free images from places like pexels.com. Mock-ups will really help sell your copy as people can see it in context, so it is well worth the effort, it is much better than just sending someone a Word doc. Hope that helps.

Thanks Ankit, I have been lucky to work with some very talented Art Directors who were very good at designing and drawing, better than I could ever hope to be but I learned a lot from them by just watching over their shoulder. Glad you liked the video.

@@plugcopywriting dyou think someone like me can also be good at it who lacks creativity but is interested in learning about graphic designing.

@@ankitshrestha4229 Definitely. Every single person has to start somewhere and for most people creativity is something they work at and learn. The more you do it, the more confident you get and your skills develop. It is all about commitment. If you want it really badly then that will drive you to learn and improve. Learning something new or out of your comfort zone is very difficult at first but you can do it.

Thanks a lot Aquil. I really appreciate that you have taken the time to leave a comment. It is great to get feedback. Thank you.

You're welcome!

Hi Ernesto. Like most things, it does get easier with practice. When I started I was useless. I remember I had a Creative Director I had to show all my work to. I had to print it out and take it to him, it was like visiting the headmaster. He would then look through the copy and use a red pen to scribble all the words that were not necessary. My copy was always covered in red marks. It was a good lesson though. Glad I could help.

​@@plugcopywriting I know it's not easy, I've seen many copywriters in a session and many times they don't seem happy with the copy. Especially when the script is approved and translated into a different language but the script is not properly adapted to that language. That's where we VO suffer too!! Great video for voiceovers too because we need to know how you guys think too... Thanks again!

Thanks Charlotte

Glad to hear that

Thanks, I will make more videos. I am still working as a copywriter, so I have to fit them into my schedule but I enjoy sharing the stuff I've learnt over the years. If there is any specific area you would like me to cover, let me know.