James B. Houston

Copy, Content, Strategy

Fueling profitable web marketing, bestselling books, and powerful PR campaigns.

You can't be everywhere at once.
Your copy can.

The written words that represent your business are your employees who never clock out.

They need to be making an overwhelming case for why the person reading them should take interest in your product or service... and then take action.

If they sound good, that's nice - but that's not enough.

Listen to how advertising legend David Ogilvy makes this point:

"When Aeschines spoke, they said, 'How well he speaks.' When Demosthenes spoke, they said, 'Let us march against Philip.'"

That's where I come in: to inspire action.

Tell me what your goals are - for the year, for the quarter, or just for the project.

Do you need more click-throughs and conversions on your website? More traffic? Do you need a press release that will never see the inside of a trashcan? How about a white paper or eBook that leaves no doubt in your prospects' minds that you're the expert they need?

Are your internal communications crystal-clear, or could they be confusing and slowing things down?

I've got you covered.

"Whether landing pages, autoresponders, opt-in forms, or sales pages, the copy James has written for us has brought in killer results, period. One e-mail autoresponder sequence he put together has resulted in landing a client of ours a $45,000 sale! Another client of ours has been able to generate over $5,000 in revenue per month solely through the email series that James wrote for him. Whatever the product or industry, James has no trouble adapting to the client's voice and hammering home the key benefits that get customers clicking. I highly recommend using James for any of your sales copy needs. Simply put, this dude rocks and will maximize your ROI."
-Tommy Joiner, Co-Founder at Gingerbread Marketing

Here's My Story

  • Copywriter, content writer, copy editor. Author of Amazon #1 in-category bestselling book.
  • University of Pennsylvania '05, degree in English, concentration in writing.
  • "Payroll" work experience: Journalism, book publishing, wine sales, winemaking. Killer results in all of them, from New York Times bestsellers to beautiful Merlot.
  • NYC born and raised.
  • All-around nice guy, obsessed with copywriting mastery (and with deadlines).

Niches? Yes, I've got those. With deep experience in book publishing, wine and craft beer, I have a distinguished list of delighted clients in these industries.

But let me emphasize three things:

  • I love doing research... lots and lots of it.
  • I can and will (quickly) learn everything that matters about any product or service, and everything that matters about its prospects or target audience.
  • I can and will write to them in the voice that is persuasive music to their ears.

"Since 2012, James has handled a wide variety of copywriting assignments for us with the highest degrees of promptness and professionalism. Most importantly, his copy has brought the results we wanted and then some. His background in winemaking really makes a difference in the level of compelling detail that infuses his wine copywriting. Highly recommended."
-David Perelman, CEO/Founder at JWINES

"I've been working with James Houston for over two years and I cannot recommend him highly enough. He has written press releases and other copy for my PR clients and I've never had a client who was not thrilled with his work. This is a high level of excellence to maintain, but James has never let me down. I'd be delighted to talk to anyone further if they would like to hear more."
-Marian Brown, Principal, Marian Brown Public Relations

"I've had the pleasure of working with James for about a year now. He is always responsive, professional, prompt, and receptive to feedback. He never misses a single deadline and often turns his assignments in early. When I have a high profile or challenging assignment, I know I can trust him to produce high quality copy that captures the message clearly and succinctly. Several people in my office are responsible for sending out copy assignments, and James is definitely one of our favorite writers to work with."
-Anna Mesick, Marketing Communications Manager, Corwin Press

"James is a gifted writer. He did an amazing job of combining facts and narrative to create compelling, high quality articles which resulted in significant web traffic. My only hesitation in recommending him is that he may have even less time to write for our site."
-Jim Finley, Founder, AmericanWineryGuide.com

"James is a whip smart writer who has a gift for writing selling and compelling copy. I've used him to write press materials and even for copy editing and he is always on time, provides great value, and delivers outstanding service. I couldn't recommend James more highly."
-Gretchen Crary, Principal, February Media