KickAss Copywriter

Do you, as a marketer, take time to find out what’s important to your customers or prospective customers?

Do you know their ‘why’? 

Why do they do what they do? 

Why do they think what they think?

Why do they feel the way they feel?

I think today, more than ever before,  marketers must take care to learn AS much about their customers as possible … and address their needs and wants in a way they can see that you care about them, as people.

Just because you may have the latest and greatest widget, in your opinion, because it does so many more things than your closest competitor’s widget, doesn’t prove people will want yours more than your competitor’s.

The reason may be they believe all the bells and whistles on your newest widget just get in their way — they’re more of a nuisance than a help.  Or, maybe they think (right or wrong) that the more gadgets on the widget, the more there is to go wrong!

You needed to have discovered what else they wanted in a new widget BEFORE trying to tell them how much they should want/need it, right?

Times are a changin’ with the advent of social media, depressed economy and a return to basics.  So now, people are driving the market, instead of the market driving the people.  That’s old school.

It’s imperative to ask your customers/prospects what they want and why it’s important to them.  Very BIG companies, like ‘Big Blue,’ go down with a BIG thud, giving way to a company (like Dell), who gives the people what they want when they want it.

All of your marketing communications, your advertising and your social media presence need to have an ‘ask, not tell’ tenor to them.  You need to listen to their needs and discover their ‘why,’ to be successful.

One way to do this is to create a two-way forum on your web site.  They ask, you deliver.  People will tell you what they think — just ask them! 

Maybe a contest?  That’s also a great way to get folks to participate in giving you information about why they want what they want. 

Figure out what makes them tick — and satisfy their reason for wanting what they want. 

Find out their ‘why.’

To making a difference,

Carolyn Permentier

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

It’s no secret to anyone that we’re living in a BAD U.S. economy.  And I’m sure that most businesses recognize they have to communicate with their customers or prospects differently.

Are you acutely aware of how to craft your marketing messages, in order to show your audience/s that you DO understand what’s changed in their lives over the past 18 months or so?

It seems pretty apparent, even in some ‘affluent’ circles that folks are tightening their financial belts, right?  So, when times are hard for so many, they respond quite differently to your messages than they used to.

For instance, most everyone is more cautious nowadays — they want to be SURE they’re dealing with someone trustworthy.  So BE that.

Also, consumers must be more ‘quality-focused,’ because they want to buy things that will last longer.  BE quality.

Millions of Americans are focused on necessities now and foregoing the luxuries.  So what do you do, as a marketer, if your products or services are things that most people CAN do without?

Hard question, isn’t it?  But, maybe you’ll want to beef up your guarantee.  Or, you could give more than you used to.  Maybe do some 2 for 1 offers, if it fits your business model.

Showing your clients, customers or prospects you care, by asking their opinions, and really listening, is another great way to connect with them on an emotional level they can feel.

Everyone wants to feel understood.  But, now more than ever, it’s imperative to show your audience you understand and are sympathetic to their challenges — and you’re doing something about it, if at all possible!

Let’s all BE the Change we want to SEE in the world.

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Hello,

Today’s a surreal day for me.  As the old saying goes, “what doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger.”

I’m back, after a year’s sabbatical.  Lot’s of moving around, visiting, exploring myself and the world … trying to discover what I want to do/be next. 

Yet, I’m still a writer, copywriter and author.  I write.   I study people and life.  And I write about it.   I’m also an Elf, as I discovered on a little test I took on Facebook.  Pretty cool.   

The surreality I refer to is the happenings in my life of late.  It’s one of those things that others would find too hard to believe, unless they saw it close up — or had some experience of the same sorts.

Are you ready for this?  The dominoes started to fall, with a speeding ticket a month ago.  This was quickly followed by my getting the dreaded ‘boot’ on my car, while parked downtown Fredericksburg, VA on a recent summer’s eve.

The police drive around, taking pictures that feed into a database of  offenders.  My offense?  Failing to report to the Commissioner of Revenues that I’d moved out of the city last year.

They still had me on their books, and I owed ‘09 property taxes.   My, everyone’s getting really aggressive about collecting.  Have you noticed that, yet?  You will.

Next shoe to drop was my garnished bank account, by a large credit card company.  No ‘due process,’ so I wasn’t allowed to tell my side of the story to a judge.  No, Virginia is one of the few states that allow this kind of ‘Gestapo’ treatment of its citizenry.

All my money … gone!  In one fail swoop, without warning.  Gone.  And that included the reimbursement of funds, taken by the ‘boot’ company.  And everything else that came into my account, before I had a chance to stop it. 

Oh, and let’s not forget hefty bank charges for insufficient funds for some auto-payments that I couldn’t stop in time — or even remember.

And what can I do about it?  Well, I’ve petitioned the court for a hearing, so am waiting to see if I’ll get my day in court.

Have you ever tried to exist, without any money and NO bank account?  Everything I do is online, so now I can’t pay for anything online, nor can I even have my PayPal account anymore, so clients can pay me!

Yes, this is America.  So, not only can one’s assets be seized by city, state and Federal Governments — the credit card companies can do it, too.

Following this interesting, little adventure … next, a water pipe burst in the basement, where my office is located.  My laptop didn’t make it, but my printer survived.  I’d preferred the other way around.  Not sure about my fax, yet.

My granddaughters were here, visiting, through these various fiascoes.  What a time to have all your money seized!

Oh, silly me.  I almost forgot.  To add more insult to injury … the gauntlet finally fell on my new site.

For months, I’ve been trying to get a certain SEO company to finish my new site.  Promises, stalls, more promises, more stalls.  And, finally, the truth:  It wasn’t going to get done.  It baffles me that people don’t keep their word anymore.

So, this copywriter is having a lazy, rainy Saturday.  I think it’s all just now sinking in.  It’s really quite a jolt to the ole system, let me tell you.

If it’s true that what doesn’t kill me, only makes me stronger, I should be strong as steel by now.  Aahh, yes, this too shall pass.  I know it always does.

And, I’ll have a little bit more experience to add to my already rich set of experiences to assist me in understanding the human condition.  Without going through some of these hard times myself, I wouldn’t be able to connect with those who have.

I wouldn’t be the copywriter I am.

You know, I’m not sure anymore, but I used to think I created everything in my life, in order to learn.  If this is true, it really sucks!  However, it certainly gives me a depth of understanding and empathy I would not otherwise possess.

I am grateful.  I’m still standing.  I’m still smiling.  I understand.

Yours in understanding,

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Are you still plunking down money on marketing that doesn’t, directly, put money in your pocket?

That won’t seem like a silly question to direct response copywriters and marketers, but it may feel a bit vague to some business owners.   
For those of us, who have discovered and highly believe in direct response — offline or online — we try to help our clients to always spend advertising and marketing dollars on the kinds of marketing you can truly measure.

If you just pay for a glitzy ad to be written and designed and then pay for the space in a spiffy publication, without making a direct offer to buy, you’re not doing direct response.

By its very name, it’s the kind of marketing/advertising that asks for the sale.  So, you can judge the success or failure of it by how many orders you get, right?

This, IMO, is the only kind of marketing that makes any sense to any business, unless perhaps you’re Coke or Microsoft.

Why does anyone care about ‘image’ or ‘branding,’ anyway?  Making profits is not about you, your business or your products.  It’s only about your customers!

No one really cares about all the techno-babble about how your widget is built.  All your prospective customers care about is, “What will this product do for me?”

So, in all of your marketing, tone down the features of your newest widget and focus on how it will alleviate the pain of your customers.  Or how it’ll make their lives easier, sexier, faster or more fun.

You’ve probably all heard it before, but it’s still true.  The only station a consumer is tuned to is:  WIIFM.

Always do these Things in your Marketing … 

1. Answer their question, “What’s in it for me?”  (WIIFM)

2. Tell them why they should believe you.

3. Tell them how much it costs.

4. Tell them how to order right now. 

5. Tell them they only have a limited time to order.

6. Tell them you only have a limited quantity.

7. Then, tell them you’ll refund their money, if they don’t like it.  

Tell them these things in everything you print or put online!

If it don’t bring in the bucks … don’t do it.

If you need a kickass copywriter and marketing strategist to help you out with these kinds of things that SELL … I know where you can find one.

Here’s to making the phone ring, the server crash and the cash register ka-ching!

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

I’m sure there have been times in your life when you had to decide whether something was worth the fight … or best to just let it go?

In my personal and professional life, I’ve had many opportunities to watch this choice in action. 

For example, with my kids when they were little.  It was well worth the fight to teach them it wasn’t nice, nor acceptable, to hit each other. 

But, if they accidentally let the dog in, with muddy paws, I may have decided it wasn’t worth it to get my panties in a knot over … depending on what else was going on.

Many of the same kinds of scenarios, with partners or boyfriends have occurred.  Some things are worth fighting over/for – and others just aren’t.

In my professional life as a copywriter and marketing strategist, most of my clients are great.  Some have been a little testy, but I’ve been able to win their trust and calm whatever possible storm that may be a’brewin, with impeccable follow-through and a quality end product that accomplished the mission.

But sometimes, sometimes, you just gotta cut someone loose.  In the case of my kids, that wasn’t an option … well, not till they grew up anyway.    :) 

But, with a problem client (or customer), it’s sometimes the best course of action.

You can see where this is going, can’t you?

Yep, I recently had this lovely experience.  A new client, very intelligent.  Very well-known, popular and very good at what she does, yet I found it impossible to deal with her.

Actually, the red flags were there from the beginning.  You know how that works, in personal and business relationships, right?  In hindsight, we can usually see what we should have seen in the beginning.

I did see it, though, and she even admitted she was hard to work with.  Boy, was that an understatement.  And, she even said that her grown son had refused to work with her anymore.

Well, to make a painfully long story short … she didn’t understand the process or what she really needed, for that matter. 

To use an analogy of building a house, she only wanted me to paint it, before the foundation had been poured.  She simply wanted (or thought she did) me to write the copy for her site to make people buy right now, without knowing the direction, theme and audience.

Everything was wrong with the site, too, which I tried to help with.  She wanted suggestions, so I gladly gave them.  Because without them, the site would not convert.

I tried to build the foundation, before I started painting, but she had no way of appreciating that.  I could have gone ahead and grabbed some of the 2 x 4’s and started painting them, but the foundation and frame weren’t even up, yet.

Bottom line, I decided that I’d be willing to let this go, so I told her that I could only proceed under certain conditions.  And that I’d refund half the fee, if she would prefer to end the misery.

In all fairness, she wasn’t enjoying the process, either.  Process … she didn’t even realize there was a process!  
So, she chose the refund.  I was glad, because I don’t think there was any way to please her.

Sometimes, it’s just a whole lot better to part company than to keep beating your head against the wall.

5 Lessons in all this?

1. Listen to my inner voice in the beginning and follow it.

2. If someone is not really sold on their own project … run!

3. If they are a problem in the beginning, they’ll continue to be.

4. If they can’t see the amazing value in what I do — they can’t/won’t no matter how ‘on target’ it is.

5. If they nickel and dime me, they don’t understand the value of strategic thinking and copywriting that fulfills an approved strategy.  Run faster.

If you’re in business, have a web site that needs to convert better or have a list you need a killer email campaign to talk to, by all means hire a copywriter with a keen sense of marketing and the human psyche. 

And let them do what they do … SELL for you!

And remember, sometimes in certain situations … the fight just isn’t worth it.  Let it go.

Yours in higher octave marketing,

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Monday morning blues … I think it probably resonates to most folks, at least in America, don’t you?

I don’t know about other cultures, but in ours I think it’s a pretty common malady to wake up in a fog on Monday mornings, wondering what happened to our weekend?   
Maybe, today feels particularly ‘premature,’ because my dog got sick on Saturday and ended with an emergency hospital visit in the middle of the night on Saturday.

She’s OK.  Apparently, she had an allergic reaction to something.  What, I don’t know, but her eyes were very swollen and she had hives all around her snoot, with at least one that we found on her body.

After an antihistimine injection, along with a steroid, she was much better the next day, thankfully!

This is the best dog I’ve ever had in my life!  She’s also a therapy dog, who gives love to so many.  So, when something happens to her, my whole world is put on hold … until she’s recovered.

I wonder, then, if the real meaning behind Monday morning blues is that we have to ’snap out of’ our real, important life of just being with family and friends – and re-enter the world of commerce, where we have to get into our business-mind and get out of our being-mind?

I’m fortunate enough to work from home, and I still feel the MMB!   
This week, I commit to combine my being-mind with my business-mind and to remain in a state of calm and flow. 

Do you have anything to share about Monday Morning Blues?  What do you think it’s all about?

If you’re a business owner, and your marketing seems like it’s about as exciting as the MMBs — seek out a marketing strategist and copywriter to give your marketing a swift kick in the pants!

Oh, blue Monday, I accept you and all that you represent.  I now transform my thinking to include you as a welcome guest.  Today is today.  It’s all I have.  I will bless it as the opportunity it is.

Here’s to the enjoyment of Mondays!

Carolyn

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com

Did you see the deplorable ‘presidential’ debate on ABC last week?  Have you seen the fallout?

Maybe you don’t think ABC’s Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos acted more like lame ducks than respected TV news journalists …  but I found it deplorable!

With our nation in dire need of new leadership, due to the mess our current illustrous leaders have gotten us into, and for the billionth debate … shouldn’t they at least attempt to get Clinton and Obama to talk about something more important than a lapel pin?

 As I sat stunned on my couch, I was hoping against hope that Obama would stand up for right … and refuse to wallow in the pettiness of such idiotic questioning.

But he didn’t.

Was it political correctness or the response of a genuine gentleman?

In Denny Hatch’s, Business Common Sense, he captured my sentiments exactly.  To Mr. Gibson’s question about the lapel pin, Barack Obama replied …

SEN. OBAMA: Well, look, I revere the American flag, and I would not be running for president if I did not revere this country. This is—I would not be standing here if it wasn’t for this country.And I’ve said this—again, there’s no other country in which my story is even possible; somebody who was born to a teenage mom, raised by a single mother and grandparents from small towns in Kansas, you know, who was able to get an education, blah, blah, blah …Among Barack Obama’s many attributes is that he is a gentleman.I was not in the mood for a gentlemanly rejoinder. I cringed with embarrassment at the question and Obama’s failure to serve a high hard one back into ABC’s court.

The Exchange I was Hoping for
SEN. OBAMA: Excuse me, Mr. Gibson. Are you going to also ask Senator Clinton why she does not wear an American flag pin on her lapel? Or around her neck? Or in her hair?

MR. GIBSON: Uh …

SEN. OBAMA: Because, Mr. Gibson, people are dying all over the world in wars and acts of violence. The price of food is skyrocketing and millions are starving in Haiti, in Africa and places in between.

MR. GIBSON: Senator Obama …

SEN. OBAMA: Let me finish. Forty-seven million Americans have no health insurance. We are involved in two endless, unwinnable wars that are costing over $20 billion a month—wars that are bankrupting our military, our country, and our children and grandchildren.

In the city of Philadelphia, where we are right now, more than one person every day is murdered. Every month, thousands of illegal immigrants are pouring unchecked into the country, bringing with them drugs and crime.

The Middle East is turning into a vast cauldron of sectarian violence, and the United States is regarded as a pariah all over the world as the invader and occupier of a Muslim nation. The price of oil is $110 a barrel and rising.

These are just some of the huge issues facing the next president of the United States, and you have reduced them to a quarter-inch-square piece of jewelry that you claim is missing from my lapel.

And, the story continues on the next page, getting even better!

Personally, I’m an Independent.  But, so what?  I still don’t have anyone to vote for out of all 3 of the candidates.  And I know I’m not the only one, who feels this way!

With America teetering on the brink of too many disasters to even list … why can’t someone step up to the plate of ‘right’ and tell it like it is!

I fear, with all of my heart, that we could very well be on the verge of a revolt.  When the people do not have sufficient leadership in Washington to run the country for the good of the country (middle class?), but rather sell-out our country to special interests, other countries and wage war under the guise of ‘freeing another country’ (after WMD didn’t work) …

a revolution may soon be the only answer.

How applicable might these immortal words, of Thomas Jefferson in 1787, be today, I wonder?

“What country before ever existed a century and a half without a rebellion? … The tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.  It is its natural manure.”

There may not be a helluva lot we, as individuals, can do about this runaway train, headed for disaster right now.  But, in our own lives, as mothers, fathers, sons, daughters … at school and in our work with each other and our customers … let’s stand for right every chance we get.

In business, let your word be your bond.  Let your marketing messages be transparent, without hidden traps that set out to trick, rather than honestly communicate your sales/marketing message.

I think when we stand up for the little things, they’ll accrue to the bigger things.

And, if your marketing calls for a “higher octave” copywriter, I know where you can find one!   

Standing up,

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

Admittedly, I’m having a difficult time deciding what I want to write about here on my professional blog! 

Get it right and people will read it and love it.  Get it wrong, and they’ll hate it and speak ‘evil’ about it … and me.

What’s a girl to do?

I’m a copywriter, so why not just jot down more overly-simplified bullet points on how business folks can write GREAT copy?

Or, maybe I could join the ranks of some copywriters and try to tell budding copywriters how to write GREAT copy?  (It’d be good for the spiders, too.)

But being a great copywriter, I feel, is the result of being a good student of life. 

And, I think one must be awake and aware of what’s going on in the world on a deeper level, in order to write real kickasscopy.

I AM Aware … (A blessing and a curse)

Being able to genuinely connect with people, lots of different kinds of people, isn’t because I’m a schmoozer or because I’ve learned all the ‘catch phrases’ from a self-styled guru.

I’m able to connect heart to heart because I genuinely care about and understand the human condition.

And, quite honestly, I’m appalled at the hype, dishonesty and psychological/emotional manipulation used by some copywriters to prey on their unsuspecting victims.

The Rub …

If I talk about controversial things, like politics or religion, it’s because as an ‘aware’ being, I have some views on both of these most divisive elements of our society … or any other society, for that matter.

Rather than have one political or religious view that I feel a need to harp on, trying to convince everyone of why I’m obviously right (and by contrast, they’re wrong)…

I just don’t have any specific beliefs that I need to proselytize.

It’s all insane and inane to me!   (Ooops, did I offend?)   J

Julius Caesar said to his wife, Calpurnia  …

Cowards die many times before their deaths.  The valiant never taste of death but once. 

I wonder if I’m just being a coward, fearing someone will be offended by what I say here on my expert copywriting blog, if I speak from my heart?

And, God forbid that a prospective client may be so offended by me that he or she wouldn’t want me to write for them!   J

Conclusion?  I think the real reason I’ve been derelict in my blogging is that I’ve been so conflicted as to what I ‘should’ write.

Might I suffer from cowardice?

I’m tired of worrying about it. 

And, what’s more important anyway …

To please or not to please … myself? 

I choose to please myself — to be brave and valiant and trust that I’ll attract others who’ll appreciate the depth and breadth of who I AM.

http://www.kickasscopywriter.com