Copywriters love to tell clients they can create compelling copy. Few of them ever mention whom they think they’re compelling. That’s because too few of them have ever given it the thought it deserves.

I’ve been copywriting online for about as long as the web has been a viable source of commerce. I’ve had a one man content business for about eight years now. Before that I was a journalist for a few newspapers and I’ve written a few collections of short stories and one novel. I’m not bragging here, just demonstrating that I’ve done a few things so I’ve got a few opinions.

It’s Killer Headlines week at Copyblogger! Our guest editor Jon Morrow will be delivering up great content for you all week on how to write headlines that get results.

I have a confession to make. Over the last three years, I’ve quietly been sleeping with Copyblogger readers. Not just once, but hundreds or possibly thousands of times. I’ve slept with women. I’ve slept with men. Young or old, successful or inexperienced, I’ve gone to bed with them all, often more than one per day.

It’s Killer Headlines week at Copyblogger! Our guest editor Jon Morrow will be delivering up great content for you all week on how to write headlines that get results. Today, sign up for our free headline clinic, coming later this week.

Back in the 1950s, a bedridden man faced certain death from cancer of the lymph nodes. Tumors the size of oranges had invaded the man’s neck, groin, chest, and abdomen. The patient’s only hope was a new experimental cancer drug called Krebiozen. Three days after initial treatment, the man was out of bed and joking with nurses. As treatment continued, his tumors shrunk in half.

If you want to quickly build a responsive email list in the next 30 days — especially if you’re just starting online and don’t have a lot of money — the following strategy can get the job done. Here’s the story: Several years ago, I was struggling to build my email list and nothing seemed to work.

Well, why not? They are the problem, right? Here you are with a blog or a product or a charity you believe will change the world, and yet no matter how excited you are about the possibilities, no matter how much faith you have in yourself, you can’t help being worried: You don’t know. You can’t know. And it bothers you.

I took a serious break from speaking after last year’s SXSW, because we’ve got a ton of great stuff coming to you from Copyblogger Media this fall. I needed to keep focused on delivering well ahead of those impending launch dates. But as summer ends and fall kicks in, you can always find me speaking at a few select conferences. This post will let you know where I’ll be and how to save money when attending.

Marketers of most stripes know how important and powerful calls-to-action are. If you want someone to take a specific action, you have to actually ask them to take that specific action.