The Michel Fortin Blog

What's the single, most important element in copywriting? Let me say it another way. You've done your research. You found a starving market. Your product fills a need. And your sales copy shines with benefits. If everything is so perfect, then...

If your car needed repair work, would you go to a garage that offers free estimates? You likely would. Today, most garages offer them. Not only has it become a customary practice, but also everyone expects a free estimate from...

A few years ago, something happened that provided incontrovertible proof of the importance of an infallible rule in copywriting. I knew it all along but never saw it proven to me in such a personal and direct way. What am I talking about? No,...

Today, a client has requested, out of the blue, a refund for copywriting work performed last year. Yes, last year! Can you believe it? Over seven months have passed and this one client is asking for his money back. His excuse? "I need the...

The “Google Slap.” You’ve heard of it. You were probably affected by it. Essentially, Google, the world’s largest search engine, recently penalized a whole bunch of sites because they, too, judged them to be of poor quality. Either they...

Advertising is much like war, minus the venom. Or much, if you prefer, like a game of chess. We are usually out to capture others' citadels or garner others' trade. We must have skill and knowledge. We must have training and experience, also right...

An ad-writer, to have a chance at success, must gain full information on his subject. The library of an ad agency should have books on every line that calls for research. A painstaking advertising man will often read for weeks on some problem which...

Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever. To say, "Best in the world," "Lowest price in existence," etc. are at best simply claiming the expected. But superlatives of that...

The competent advertising man must understand psychology. The more he knows about it the better. He must learn that certain effects lead to certain reactions, and use that knowledge to increase results and avoid mistakes. Human nature is...