Unusual uses of charming copy

Learning the mechanics of charming copy, and being able to write it yourself, means you’ll be able to write for any purpose. Whatever your request might be, you can ‘charmify’ it yourself, thus enhancing the possibility of your request being agreed to. The most obvious and popular use of charming copy is to book sales […]

Continue reading

Q&A: Confidence Issues

I got this email from an email subscriber a few days ago: Yahoo is making a muck of your opening series of emails, so I’ve subscribed using another email address. Wondering how many other emails I may have missed, ugh. Ok so here’s a thought that’s been eating at me for a few days… that […]

Continue reading

Why do funny cold emails work so damn well?

What are the benefits of sending funny cold emails (and other cold pitches)? 1. It makes a great first impression. If you can make someone chuckle, laugh, or even winningly smirk then due to the primacy effect and the halo effect, your prospects will ascribe other positive characteristics to you – such as being creative, […]

Continue reading

Charm Offensive Meet Up

  The first ever Charm Offensive meet up, and the celebration of Charm Offensive’s 2nd anniversary, will start at 4pm this Friday.       It’ll be held at The Bread and Roses pub in Clapham, South London.         Address: 68 Clapham Manor St, London SW4 6DZ.   Thank you!     […]

Continue reading

Deconstructing a viral story

Good storytelling… Let’s deconstruct it. Look at the target of the humour – and who is delivering it. Think about this when making jokes. A few lessons this story teaches: 1. In general, jokes should “punch up”, or at least, punch the villain.   2. Old people and kids can get away with saying things […]

Continue reading

Tim Cook’s recent rhetorical flourish

As I’ve been studying rhetoric in more detail, I immediately notice it being used. Here, Apple CEO, Tim Cook, edits a well known phrase that has negative connotations, “Military-Industrial Complex” and uses it to bind the inherent negative attributes to Facebook, Google and others who’s business model relies on data. The technical name for this […]

Continue reading

Political Persuasion #1

Richard Nixon’s surprising rhetorical flair. I asked yesterday which former US president used a charming tactic to get into office. Was it Obama? Clinton? Kennedy? Nope. Much worse. It’s Nixon. That’s right. Tricky Dicky. I’m aware this is the worst kind of social proof. Who wants to use a technique once used by one of […]

Continue reading