Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

5 Essential Marketing Strategies From Legendary Copywriter Claude C. Hopkins

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Photo by Aaron Burden

When you think of the word “copywriter”, you might picture advertising executives like those from the show Mad Men. Copy generally refers to the text in an advertisement: those words that persuade the customer to buy a product or service.

But in today’s Internet age we’re all writing copy even if we’re not selling a product for a company. We might be trying to persuade someone to click a link to read an article or leave a comment on a social media post or sign up to our email list or buy our book and write a review.

No matter whether you write fiction or nonfiction, you can learn invaluable marketing and writing strategies from copywriting books. These strategies will help you write more persuasively and market more effectively so you get your message out to the world.

One of the copywriting classics is a book called My Life in Advertising (Amazon affiliate link) by legendary copywriter Claude C. Hopkins. It was published way back in 1927 but still contains many copywriting lessons that we can learn from in 2021. 

In today’s post, I’ve written up my top five takeaways. Let’s dive in.

(Please note that links to books are affiliate links which means I’ll earn a small commission if you buy through the link with no extra cost to you. Thank you!)

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Why Writers Need An Email List & How to Get Started (Video)

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I’m excited to share the first video of 2021!

In this video, I look at three reasons why having an email list is so important if you’re a writer building an audience online, and why you should focus on beginning an email list or growing your email list in 2021.

I also share three quick and easy tips to help you get started.

I also just released a brand new course “Email Marketing for Writers” all about how to grow your email list fast and make money from your list. Check it out here.

As a thank you for being one of my subscribers and to celebrate launch week, the course is available for just $97 until Wednesday midnight (the price will go up to $125 after that).

If you have any questions about the course, leave a comment below. Or you can go ahead and check out all the details right here.

The Powerful Ingredient in ‘A Christmas Carol’ That Will Make Your Writing and Marketing Compelling

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Illustration of Scrooge and Marley's Ghost from the first edition of A Christmas Carol
Illustration from the first edition of A Christmas Carol | Scanned image by Philip V. Allingham via Victorianweb.org

Every Christmas Eve, my whole family gathers around the TV to watch the 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. It’s one of our favorite traditions.

(If you haven’t seen this version, you can watch it on YouTube here — I believe it’s the best film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic story.)

No matter how many times I watch it, my heart is always touched by each scene. I feel the happiness of the crowd at Fezziwig’s party. Tears come to my eyes when Bob Cratchit cries over his poor Tiny Tim.

But, most of all, I love Alastair Sim’s wonderful performance as Scrooge — how he convincingly portrays Scrooge’s change from heartless and tightfisted to kind and joyous.

You watch with delight as the once grim man can’t stop laughing and smiling and stunning all with his kindness, even while muttering to himself, “I don’t deserve to be so happy.”

What makes stories like A Christmas Carol so enthralling? Why do we love watching movies like these year after year?

In today’s post, let’s look at one ingredient that makes stories like A Christmas Carol so powerful and emotionally compelling. It’s an ingredient you can use to make any type of writing captivate your readers, whether you’re working on a short story, a blog post, or even a sales page. [Read more…]

7 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started Blogging

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Computers on Desk | What I Wish I Knew When I First Started Blogging
Photo by Domenico Loia

The other day, a friend called me and asked if I could share advice about setting up a blog. She was now working from home and had a lot of extra time on her hands.

She wanted to devote some of that time to finally publishing her work and growing an audience online. Maybe, she thought, she could eventually turn the blog into a part-time income stream.

I imagine that there are many more people just like my friend who’ve been thinking about starting a blog and now are finally ready to take the leap.

So I decided to write up this post sharing the top seven tips I’d tell myself if I was starting a blog today.

I’m drawing on my experience from many years of blogging (I started my first blog when I was fourteen and have turned several of my blogs into income streams), and also my experience as a web designer and copywriter.

If you just want to blog as a hobby, this guide probably isn’t for you.

But if you’re interested in turning your blog into a business by building an audience and eventually promoting your own products and services or earning money through advertising, then these tips will help you get off to a running start.

Let’s dive in.

Please note: This blog post might contain affiliate links, but I only recommend services I think highly of and/or have personally used. Thanks for your support!

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A Look Back at January 2020

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Notebooks with words "Field Notes" on cover and compass
Photo by Jordan Madrid on Unsplash

Hey, friends! Last August, I wrote up a recap of the month and thought it was a fun way to keep you updated on projects I’m working on as well as a way to share books I’ve recently read or movies I’ve watched that I thought you might enjoy.

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to write any more monthly recaps in 2019, but I thought, “Why not try to revive it this year?” If you like this format and would like to see future posts like this, let me know in the comments.

Without further ado, here are some highlights of what I wrote, what I read, and what I watched this past month: [Read more…]