The Michel Fortin Blog

I once took a media communications course in which I discovered an interesting example of the way the mind works. I soon realized how this applies to copywriting as well. As part of a given lesson, they showed a videotape of a televised newscast...

When writing direct response copy, a few things can maximize the responsiveness of your message. The first and most important element that can turn any website, salesletter, or advertisement into an action-generating mechanism is, without question,...

An interesting debate is raging among copywriters and content developers about the differences, if any, between writing copy for the web versus writing content. Prolific copywriter Nick Usborne conducted a survey with his newsletter readers to...

In a recent critique for a coaching client, the issue of "gap analysis" arose. Gap Analysis is something I learned in sales, and it was heavily taught by sales trainers like Brian Tracy, such as in his course "The Psychology of Selling." Gap...

I first taught this technique in 1998. While there have been tons of improvements since then, today I still see copy on so many websites, sales letters, or emails using a language that only the person who wrote them understands. The bottom line...

In my critique consulting services, I've found the most common mistake clients make is the ignorance of, or indifference to, split-testing. Little do they know this underutilized marketing practice can be one of the most profitable. Split-testing...

Effective immediately, I'm instituting a new comment policy for this blog. Before I explain it to you (it's really simple as there are only three rules), let me give you the reason why. I'm seeing a growing number of comment spam lately. Not the...

Some people don't mind hard-hitting copy, while others prefer newsy copy. Some people prefer long copy to get as much information as possible, others prefer short, brief, to-the-point copy. Some like drama, stories, and testimonials; others data,...

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,...