My son, who is a student, told me he'd sat through a 45 minute meeting of the committee of a group in which he is involved, at which 10 people attempted to decide which menu to choose for an annual... [more]

Copywriting careers forum

The Careers area of guardian.co.uk hosted a 3 hour Copywriting Careers Q&A this week. Over 200 posts were made in that time, and I'd recommend anyone with career questions, particularly students and other wannabes, to take the time to read... [more]

5 Quick Questions for Wannabe Copywriters

A recent enquiry from a lady keen to become a copywriter, but without any previous examples of her efforts to show, prompted me to bash down these 5 questions, and send them to her to have a go at. I... [more]

What you think versus what they think

"Windows 7', declared the point-of-sale material in PC World. 'Time for a new PC.' Talk about being so close to your own business that you can't see the wood for the trees! Microsoft, presumably, thinks this will be construed by... [more]

Who's in software and who's not

I've been reclassifying the section of my website that shows which clients I've worked with in the past, and in which sectors they work. Since we first configured the admin system for the site about five years ago, there has... [more]

Why one Paul Whitehouse commercial is funnier than another

There I was, just a few weeks ago, lamenting Aviva's decision to ditch their Norwich Union brand in favour of, well Aviva. And now here I am again, unintentionally but unavoidably, using their advertising to make a point. They have... [more]

Too beautiful for Word

I type into Google: "customising MS Word for UK". It helpfully asks, before the first result: "Did you mean customizing MS Word for UK?". And you thought Microsoft and Google were philosophically different? [more]

Dear Sir, We need you to do this, but there's nothing in it for you

I've just opened a letter from HM Revenue and Customs. "There are two important changes occurring that affect our VAT customers. This letter provides important information about both." In a nutshell, it goes on to say that they have changed... [more]

Writing to sell writing

The excellent Publishing Training Centre at Book House has asked me to develop a one day workshop for them on the subject of Copywriting for Publishers. Now I'm never short of views on copywriting for just about anything... but publishing... [more]

How to write a UCAS Personal Statement

There is no shortage of advice available online about how, if you're 17 and confronted with the 'Personal Statement' box on your UCAS application, you should go about filling it in. While most of this is wise words from academics... [more]