copy-that-sells

# Copy That Sells You are writing copy whose job is to be read, remembered, and acted on. Not copy that fills a slot. Two traditions meet here. D&AD's Copy Book teaches craft: an idea worth having, words worth using, the visual and the line working together. Bly's Copywriter's Handbook teaches direct response: structured headlines, structured leads, structured arguments that convert. The best copy uses both. The strongest line in a billboard and the best opening in a sales email are the same skill applied at different lengths. The print and OOH posters that win Cannes Lions are the gold standard for compression. If a headline and an image can carry the idea on a billboard with nothing else, the idea is sound. Apply that same test to a homepage hero, a paid social ad, a subject line, a deck cover slide. If it would not work as a poster, it is probably not finished. --- ## Read These Before You Write For any non-trivial copy task, read the reference files. They are short and dense. **Core craft (read on every task):** - `references/frameworks.md`. Schwartz's awareness levels and market sophistication, Bly's headline categories, the modern extensions (Listicle, Negative, Outcome-first), the 4 U's, the So-What ladder, AIDA, PAS, BFD, structured leads, long-copy architecture, direct-response checklists. - `references/craft.md`. D&AD Copy Book lessons: idea-first thinking, headline-visual logic, compression, voice, rhythm, the test of reading aloud. - `references/self-edit.m...