#108: More About Brilliance in Copywriting

“In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love; they had five hundred years of democracy and peace and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.”
–Orson Welles

In This Issue:

More About Brilliance in Copywriting
by Monica Day

Last week, I wrote you about the difference between being smart…and being brilliant. And I mentioned that I have occasions when my copy gets passed around to other copywriters – and is made exponentially better by their feedback.

Then, I got the following note from one of those very copywriters…John Forde. He wrote:

“Nice articles in this issue.

About that phenomenon… ‘Good stuff. But what about this as a lead…’

I just did exactly that, with three alternate lead suggestions, for one of our writers in the UK. And I think the alternate leads are so good that I sent them to somebody in the U.S. to use for a whole new promo.

But the way I think of it is kind of like that old joke about handing someone a jar with the tight cap. You try and try and it doesn’t budge. Them someone else picks it up and it twists right off.

"Well yeah," you say, "but I loosened it for you."

And I think that’s exactly what’s going on here. The person who comes along may or may not have an edge on you in experience. But a large part of the reason they can hit you with a good idea right out of the gate is because you’ve done all the footwork for them.

You found the research, the stats, the details… and you’ve spent many hours, days, weeks shaping that into a message. So by the time they look at it, it’s so close to already there. And they’re getting the benefit of seeing that without being worn out by the effort to get there.

Of course, what’s really "brilliant" for a lot of writers is this willingness to hand off their material to other people… and then to listen willingly to their best suggestions.”

Thank you so much John for reminding me of the advice I so often give others. As a copywriter, you can never let your ego – or your insecurity – keep you from accepting feedback from others. The copywriter is simply the vessel…the copy the libation.

You assemble the right mixture of information and swirl it around. You pour it out in the form of copy to your peers and clients. And as everyone else drinks from the cup, they either get drunk on it…or they make suggestions for how it could be improved. Or a little of both.

Either way, best to enjoy – revel even – in the process.

When someone else comes up with a brilliant idea, it doesn’t minimize your contribution in the least. It simply expands on what you’ve already done.

I also like John’s reminder that a person’s experience doesn’t always make them more or less inclined towards stumbling upon the brilliant idea. Rather, any of us can have a moment of brilliance. When you get a golden nugget of copy from someone, don’t always consider the source – but consider the merit of the idea, too.

Genius copywriters have promotions that bomb. Novices pen multi-million dollar letters. Never discard – or elevate – someone’s idea based on their reputation or experience alone.

In the end, the market always decides the merit of our copy. Not each other.

John Forde has an excellent ezine about marketing and copywriting himself – and if you don’t read it already, you should. It’s called Copywriter’s Roundtable. To sign up, send an email here: signup@jackforde.com.

But one of John’s many endeavors in addition to his copywriting practice is his brilliance as a teacher and mentor. You can meet John at various conferences, from travel writing conferences all over the world to AWAI’s upcoming Bootcamp. He’s very generous about sharing what he knows. Which is a lot.

One of my favorite resources that John had his hand in is the AWAI program, Secrets of Writing for the Internet. Here’s more on that…

Resource Referral: A Mother of a Market…

Many of the best opportunities for new copywriters are in writing for the web. Focus on this for a few months, and I think you’ll see what I mean. People are desperate for decent web copy. And once you learn what works and what doesn’t in this medium, you could be turning clients away in droves.

Because John is one of the most well-connected writers I know…and one of the most meticulous researchers…this program offers a wealth of information. I don’t always say this – but I think its value far, far exceeds what you’ll pay for it.

In it, you’ll find secrets and proven techniques that are drawn from real marketing efforts… secrets that have already produced hundreds of millions in online revenue. You’ll learn:

If you’re hemming and hawing about picking a niche…can’t seem to score a client…not sure which rock to look under for work, you owe it to yourself to get this program. It will set you straight once and for all about how to start swimming in the ocean of opportunity that’s sitting right in front of you as you read this!

http://www.thewriterslife.com/internet/fwb7/

Bootcamp Journal #1: Listen In As A Newbie Preps For Bootcamp

AWAI’s Bootcamp is right around the corner – and many of our readers are attending, some for the first time. We thought it might be fun to follow along with one such reader all along the way – as she prepares to go, while she is there, and when she returns home and figures out what to do with all her newfound knowledge and list of contacts. Her name is Ann-Marie Giglio – and when she wrote us and offered to share her diary – and promised to keep it real – we took her up on the offer. Here’s her first journal entry:

Dear Journal,

It’s finally here. My first Bootcamp. I’ve only put it off for two years. Hey—I’ve been busy. Teaching pilates and yoga classes, writing freelance articles, coaching one daughter’s cross country team, co-leading the other’s Brownie troop, working my AWAI course, and above all, waiting for the right moment…if there is such a thing.

Does anyone else have butterflies in their stomach? I think I have little birds in there. I go to lots of other events, but I never feel like this. I usually am excited to get there and play with my peers and the see all the new fitness toys. I love to learn from the pros, and pick up the new choreography.

I guess I need to view Bootcamp like this. I’m going to hang out with peers, learn from top earners, and soak up all sorts of choreography. After all, that’s what we do: choreograph our projects, our marketing, our copy, our day; smooth out movements and timing until they are seamless. No different from what I already do in my other profession, right?

Ah—but there is a rub: it’s the idea of rubbing elbows with all those peers and top-paid pros that has inserted those little birds in my mid-section. I’m afraid I’ll feel like a fake. I have no clients. I haven’t finished my vitamin letter. (It’s 4/5 done…and it’s taught me I don’t want to write for the supplements market…)

I have to call on something from T’ai Chi: the image of a cat readying to pounce. Alert but still, she gathers energy and focus to her center one muscle at a time, never ever taking her eyes off the prize, and only when she’s finally full of steam, full of chi, she leaps. Full ahead. With laser-vision, straight to the target.

That’s me….well…that’s going to be me. I’ve studied the manual, the markets, and every pitch AWAI has delivered to me. I’ve gathered plenty of steam. Despite distractions, I’ve kept my focus on copywriting. I suspect I’m more ready for the leap than I realize.

Time now to just do it.

Ann-Marie Giglio is an AFAA certified group fitness instructor and a certified ChiRunning/ ChiWalking instructor. She’s written a book called Labor Day. When she’s not writing, walking or running, she’s taking care of her 2 children, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 gerbils, and one husband. And any day now, she’s expecting to be ready to call herself a copywriter…and mean it.