Follow this Checklist and you CANNOT fail…

>> But there are three catches.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” – Pericles

About 10 years ago I was interviewed by Clayton Makepeace.

I believe he was the best copywriter in the world until he died, far too young, just under 2 years ago.

Clayton was a great, if perhaps overgenerous enthusiast. After interviewing me he said he felt as if he had just been talking to the Pope.

He wanted us to do a world tour together – an idea his wife wisely vetoed.

But if I was the Pope, he was God.

I’ve never known anyone who worked as hard. Not even David Ogilvy. He would get up at 2am to start work.

One proof of his astonishing grasp of what you must do to persuade people is his checklist.

Of course if you want to apply this list there are catches – always are in this world.

First – you must be able to write well. Not many people can.

Second you must be incredibly diligent and hard working.

Altogether there are 64 things you must consider to get everything right.

Very few of us are diligent enough.

And the third is, of course, that writing copy that meets so many criteria takes a tremendous amount of time and effort.

But Clayton always put in the time and effort, charging colossal sums for his work. And it was always worth it.

But what if you don’t have the time, the energy or command the writing skills?

Well, I may not have been the Pope but my colleagues and I tend to get remarkably good results for our clients, so much so that we guarantee it.

Just drop me a line (db@draytonbird.com).

We can usually help – and if we don’t think we can, we say so.

About the Author

In 2003, the Chartered Institute of Marketing named Drayton one of 50 living individuals who have shaped today’s marketing.

He has worked in 55 countries with many of the world’s greatest brands. These include American Express, Audi, Bentley, British Airways, Cisco, Columbia Business School, Deutsche Post, Ford, IBM, McKinsey, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nestle, Philips, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever, Visa and Volkswagen.

Drayton has helped sell everything from Airbus planes to Peppa Pig. His book, Commonsense Direct and Digital Marketing, out in 17 languages, has been the UK’s best seller on the subject every year since 1982. He has also run his own businesses in the U.K., Portugal and Malaysia.

He was a main board member of the Ogilvy Group, a founding member of the Superbrands Organisation, one of the first eight Honorary Fellows of the Institute of Direct Marketing and one of the first three people named to the Hall of Fame of the Direct Marketing Association of India. He has also been given Lifetime Achievement Awards by the Caples Organisation in New York and Early To Rise in Florida.

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