KickAss Copywriter

I recently read a post at Ryan Healy’s blog, which was talking about ‘hype’ in copy.

Oh, just in case anyone reads this, who is unfamiliar with the use of the word, copy, I am referring to words … language that’s used to elicit a specific response from readers … namely to buy something!

The upshot of the blog was that, as copywriters, we should all be careful to only use phrases that run the risk of being construed as ‘hype,’ when we have sufficient proof to back up any over-the-top claim or promise we’re spouting.

As marketing professionals, we know (or should know) how vital the sales messages are that we write for our clients — our words can make or break the sale.

And, even when there are outrageous-sounding claims or promises that can be made because they are actually true, I think the ‘oh yeah, right’ factor is a big one to overcome.  And this is especially true on the Internet.

What I mean by that is this:  People are bombarded with SO much exaggeration and promises of more beauty, more sex, more hair, more wealth SOO much that the mere claim of more, better, different is often discounted at best and ruinous at worst.

OK, you say, how do I get my sales message heard, amidst all the loud noises out there?  Good question.

I’ll try to answer it.  Are you, personally, turned off when you hear a lot of ‘over-the-top’ kinds of headlines or body copy, promising you the moon if you only use this or that product?  Do you feel a bit like your intelligence is being insulted?

I do.

That’s why I try to keep it down and to genuinely instill trust, by telling the truth.  I try to shy away from stupid in its many forms –  from falsehoods or products I wouldn’t sell to my worst enemy.  (If I had one.)

Emotional copy, of course, we all know is the best kind to ‘connect’ with our audience and to offer them benefits they really want for themselves.   But so much of it is pandering, placating and downright insulting.

Maybe there’s a place to talk to the poor, the gullible or the less-educated of the world and play on their ignorance … but I don’t want to write it.

I say effective copywriting doesn’t have to use hype.  And hard-to-believe truths can be tempered with a wise dose of sincerity to make them sound more believable.

And, when appropriate, always offer 3rd party proof.  That’s just smart, don’t you think?

Till next time, here’s to genuinely-effective copywriting!

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Oh my, where does the time go?

I’m so embarrassed to say it’s been … what, about three weeks, since I blogged.  Oy vey, what will the ‘blog police’ have to say about my derelict behavior!   
Aaahh, it’s OK because I really don’t have a following anyway.  In fact, it’s rare that I get comments on this thing.    

Sometimes, I must admit, I wonder why I’m doing this at all!  If no one’s listening and no one’s commenting — what’s the use? 

It’s not like I don’t have better things to do … like write for clients, who are paying me, for instance.

I am pinging at pingoat.com and going to livewire.com to make sure the social media hear about me.  I’m sure there’s much more I could/should be doing, time permitting. 

Maybe my heart’s just not in it.  Admittedly, I don’t seem to have a lot to say about copywriting that’s not already being said over and over, adnauseam.

To me, each situation calls for a unique approach, instead of simply copying from what many copywriters use — their ’swipe file’ — samples of various work from other writers that worked (supposedly) for a given type of product or service.

I’ve been writing copy, along with the ’smart thinking’ that goes with it, for a long time.  And to me, these are:

7 Traits of a Good Copywriter:

1.  Understand the human condition.

2.  Know how to tap into human emotions.

3.  Know how to communicate in a heart-felt way.

4.  Really care.

5.  Study the product and know how it will genuinely benefit customers.

6.  Prove the product and the company are real and that the company cares about their customers, by offering high quality — backed by a real guarantee.

7.  Know how to sell.  Know how to close. 

 What more is there to say about copywriting?  It’s ‘thinking on paper,’ like Jay Abraham says.  Or, it’s ’salesmanship in print,’ a phrase, I think, Dan Kennedy coined.

So, what else am I thinking today?

Have you seen the T. Boone Pickens’ web site? 

http://www.pickensplan.com

You must go see it.  Here’s one of the biggest oil moguls on the planet, advocating alternative energy!  Now, that sounds pretty genuine to me.  I’ll look into it closer and see what I can see.  (Hope it’s real.)

I have more than a passing interest in alternative energy, as I think everyone who’s breathing should have.  Otherwise, the breaths we take may not be worth it before too long.

I think finding alternative energy sources and using them is a planetary imperative.  Yeah, it’s that serious. 

OK, two thoughts for today … that’s enough, methinks.  For copywriting services, find someone who knows the 7 points above.

And for alternative energy ideas, check out T. Boone Pickens.

Salut,

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

If you haven’t bought Eckart Tolle’s new book, “A New Earth,” you’re missing the most valuable piece of writing to come along for a long time.

Mr. Tolle, and his new book, has turned into an “Oprah World-wide Webinar.  It’s attracting millions of people around the world … live every Monday night.

His other book, “The Power of Now,” was a New York Times Best Seller.

To fully understand where I’m coming from, you’ll need to consume the book, like a ravenous lamb.  It IS life-altering.  It embodies the highest truth available to us all.

That truth is that we already ARE that which we seek.  There really is nowhere to go outside ourselves to find it.  That “it” is the truth of our own identity.

It is found, without seeking.  It’s as near to us as our next breath.  It is beyond thought.  In fact, the very act of thinking is what separates us from a direct experience with this IT.

He expresses thoughts or the mind as many spiritual teachers have done, throughout the ages, as EGO.

For today, to attempt to focus on a take-away-lesson to be applied to our business lives and, more specifically, to our marketing, here’s the question …

Do you think too much about your marketing, instead of ‘allowing’ the way to just bubble up for you?

That bubbling up is the inspiration or direction that comes from a much deeper, more dependable place (awareness/consciousness) than from thought.  (mind)

This may sound quite contrary to many people, but I know many others will ‘get it.’ 

Many others are getting it around the world.  And, to the extent to which we use this amazing principal in our marketing efforts, the efforting will actually disappear.

What do I mean by that?

I mean there is a higher/deeper intelligence available to us, when we get out of our own way … out of our egoic minds. 

Being in a state of ‘no-mind,’ one can tap into (connect) an intelligence that is running the show.  We, also, are that same intelligence; but rarely recognize it.

As you can imagine, when you are able to access infinite intelligence, it’s no longer you (ego’s idea of you), but the information is coming from a very BIG source, through you.

It doesn’t matter whether you call it Source, God, Atma, Alla, Jehovah, The All That Is, Divine Energy, Infinite Intelligence, etc.  It’s all the same.

It is beyond thought. It’s just the “Is-ness.”

I’m suggesting to you today that each of us is able to tap into this intelligence, but without the vehicle of thought.  In fact, you can’t get there from here!  (Using thought.)   :)  

OK, you may be saying, “How do I do that and what does it give me?”

Good questions.

The simple answers are: 

1.  How do I do this?  You do it thru by-passing the mind/thought and by being awake, aware and open to the answers from the depths of your being.

2.  What does it give me?  It gives you answers that your mind could not find.  They’re dependable, because they come from the unfiltered, direct repository of truth. 

Because this repository of truth is the same for everyone, you don’t have to wonder if you can trust it or not.

Assuming, of course, that your business actually does provide a beneficial product or service, then you need only to genuinely and authentically ASK to know what it is, exactly, that your prospective customers want from a product or service like yours.

This is like tapping into an inner gold mine of revelation.  The long-awaited gems are right there for the taking/embracing.  They aren’t even outside of you … they’re right there, inside your very being.

The answers to your marketing questions are ever-present … hiding in  plain sight, when you know where to look.

Ask your inner guidance this question:  What do I really need to know, do or be for my customers to respond to me?

EXPECT the answers.  And they will come. 

Don’t force the answers.  Don’t think and logically predict the answers because the mind is too slow, too dense, too filtered to ‘get it.’

If this doesn’t make sense to you, don’t feel bad.  It’s a little esoteric to some, but becoming more mainstream as a result of those like Eckhart Tolle and his forerunners, like Jesus, Buddah, et al.

Said another way, don’t force-feed your prospects or customers what you ‘think’ they want or need.  Connect with them, genuinely, and sense what they want/need.

May I humbly suggest that if you’re open to knowing more about how to be one of the quiet leaders in this “forward-non-thinking marketing mode” … find a marketing person, who is practicing these concepts in his/her everyday life-work.

Marketing, advertising and the copywriting that gives it a voice has always strived to touch the heart-strings of the people they seek to sell to. 

But from my marketing/copywriting experience, there’s always a hint, if not a heavy handed, mind-manipulation.  This has never sat right with me and still doesn’t to this day, even though I’ve fallen prey to it as well.

In light of higher truths of who we are … that being the same as everyone else … I feel there is a higher ground presenting itself that we, as marketers, can embrace.

Higher Octave Marketing … are you open to operating from a higher, more conscious and all-embracing state of being in your personal, business and marketing lives?

I sense this is the time for business, as well as personal lives, to transform and transcend mind-based (egoic) behavior. 

Will you join that leadership?  (See Co-Conspirators, a mastermind group.)

Will you grow your business, by feeding your customers what they genuinely want & need – rather than trying to convince them they want something just because you have it to sell?  Just do the right thing for the benefit of your customers.

Will you vow to discover their real wants/needs from the inside out, (their perspective)rather than from your mind-focused, external place?

If, indeed, we’re all ONE … then, doing bad things to each other actually hurts the perpetrator of harm as well as the harmed.  We’re all familiar with the old refrain, “what goes around comes around.”  It’s true.

For enlightened business, marketing and copywriting, let us all commit to a Higher Octave, in our dealings with self and other?

Yours in higher octave marketing,

Carolyn
The KickAss Copywriter
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

In Clayton Makepeace’s blog today, he expertly points to how Washington politicians pretty much write their scripts, as they go along.

Never mind whether it’s legitimate or has any real bearing on the facts, mind you … oh no, it’s not about that at all.

As a very accomplished copywriter, Clayton used Washington’s political mess as a good example of what NOT to do in marketing.

He says …
 “If any of us did the things Washington does, we’d be promptly picked up and packed off to prison. Justifiably so!”

 He goes on to say, “When Barrack, Hillary or John lie their pattooties off to sell the public on voting for them, it’s called ‘campaigning.’”

“If you so much as accidentally and unintentionally “mislead” prospects with your sales copy, the Federal Trade Commission will make sure you spend the next ten to twenty cozying up to Bubba in a six-by-nine prison cell.”

Again, do NOT think like Washington, with your marketing!

As a copywriter and marketing professional, I must be an advocate for my clients’ prospects and customers.

It’s really the only way to be a good copywriter.  I must find the value in any product or service I’m writing about and respect the intelligence of the readers I’m writing to.

If, indeed, there is something inherent in my client’s product that will most certainly save their prospects or customers time, money or make their lives better in some way … I’m doing a great service, by telling them about it and providing all the facts and an easy way to buy it.

The politicians don’t care a whit about what is really going to help American citizens.  All they care about is getting elected, so they can continue the same ole business as usual for the power elite.

And finally, as a copywriter, I strive to tell the truth.  And Washington? What a joke!

So, as we all get to see the politicians ‘making it up as they go along,’ just to get elected … let’s all commit to never, ever be like Washington, with our marketing!

Instead, let’s be real. 

Let’s genuinely connect with people, like people, and talk to them in a genuine heart-to-heart way.  Some will buy and some won’t.  And that’s the way it would be anyway.

Committed to genuine marketing,

Carolyn
The KickAss Copywriter
http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Some of the law of attraction stuff lacks a deeper
understanding, I feel, that is necessary to be in
total alignment with the law.

In his book, “Law of Attraction:  Attract more of
what you want and less of what you don’t want,” Michael
Losier says there are two vibrations in the Universe:

· Negative
· Positive

Whatever vibe you are experiencing in every moment, you
are sending out, attracting the same vibration to you. 

Just saying the words, “I now attract wealth, love, a new
career, a new car or more customers to my web site,” is
NOT enough.

It’s the feeling behind it that really counts!

IF you’re affirming that you already have something you
want, but don’t really believe it … the negative doubt
will cancel out the positive affirmation/vision.

Does that make sense to you?

For example, if you hire a professional copywriter to  write a killer sales letter for you, make sure she/he (and you) understands this law, so the readers you want as customers will feel it and respond!

Mr. Losier suggests this:  “I’m in the process of
attracting whatever I want, need, know or have.”

Another ‘truism’ that I feel deeply and that Mr. Losier
also mentions is this:

Focus my attention/awareness on what I DO want to see,
know or have … not on what I DON’T want to see, know or have.

Why is this important?

Again, following the logic of Mr. Losier, myself, and many
others … there are but two vibrations/frequencies we can telegraph: 

Positive or negative.  (I can’t even give it an upper case.)    

Translated, this means that if I focus on what I don’t want
(negative) then I just get more of what I don’t want.  Make sense?

If I keep on saying that I don’t want clients who do not
understand the importance of business copywriting, then I’ll
keep getting clients who don’t understand this.

Conversely, when I focus on what I DO want (positive) …
I get more of what I want, assuming my feeling about that
is in alignment with the words I’m mouthing.

I repeat … the whole law of attraction is more than just
spewing out some positive words, based on some loosely-held
intellectual theory.

I AM What I Think About and Feel All the Time.
 
The Way to Prove How Well I’m Doing is to Assess the
Results of my Actions.

I only have to look at my results to tell me what kind of
energy I’m putting out there.

In my own life, I am constantly aware of the moments I am
out of alignment with my thoughts and feelings. 

When they’re all jumbled up, I get confusing, erratic results
from my half-baked, semi-focused actions.  Oy vey!

Your Business Efforts …

In your marketing efforts, do you focus on what you DO want,
rather than putting your attention on what you don’t want to
happen?  (Or how you’ll avoid bad things.)

Make sure all of your web site content, articles, your email
campaigns or sales letters telegraph a positive vibration. 

Everything you think, say, do and write will attract the
same energy.

To make sure you’re putting out what you want to get back,
I recommend that you find a business copywriter and marketing
strategist, who lives these principles.

If you can find a marketing copywriter and strategist, who can
help you understand and use these powerful “attractor factors,”
then you’ll be able to connect/attract just the right customers to you …

And they’ll just naturally want to do business with you.

Here’s to positive attraction!

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

I have a dream on this memorial day, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 

I SEE the world as ONE also.   I believe the world will show up, according to the way we view it! 

If I believe in hate, or if I live with hate in my heart … that’s exactly what I will SEE manifested in my world. 

Ghandi said it best:  “Be the change you want to see.” 

Dr. King actually visited Ghandi and, I think, he was trying to incorporate his world view, starting with baby steps in the South. 

As we know, Dr. King made his mark on human history, during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 60s, by protesting segregation. 

Although it required his life to effect the change he sought, his heroic efforts led to the desegregation of the country and, ultimately, carved out the path toward racial equality for all. 

Here are just a few famous quotes, from this giant of a man: 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

- “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963 

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ ”

- “I Have a Dream” speech, Aug. 28, 1963 

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

- Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Dec. 10, 1964

Sources: The King Center; documents from the King Research and Education Institute at Stanford University; www.mlkday.gov.honor him (http://www.theolympian.com/living/story/334093.html

Question?

What will you do in your business and personal lives to foster equality for all men and women? 

For me?

As it relates to my business of copywriting and strategic marketing, I pledge to remain vigilant in my dealings with clients. 

I will see my clients and the potential customers I’m writing to attract as part of my family … the human family. 

I believe we’re all part of this ONE family.  And, to the extent that I dishonor one member, I dishonor myself at the same time. 

For me, then, my copywriting dream (and my personal dream) can be summed up this way … 

Do the RIGHT Thing!

May we emulate Dr. King and others who have stood for right, for peace and for acceptance of each other. 

Your thoughts and comments are cherished.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com