Getting A Grip On The Big Idea

“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.
Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it.
Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.
Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.”
– Buddha

In Issue #176

Getting A Grip On The Big Idea
by John Forde

Monica’s Note: It had been a while since I last spent time with John Forde – I’d almost forgotten about his long-winded stories, dry wit, and copywriting brilliance. When I got his email today that he had just gotten home from the AWAI Writer’s Retreat, and I’d been home for two days already – well, I figured a few words from John today were in order. These are excerpted from his ezine, Copywriter’s Roundtable – and if you don’t already get it, you should.

The master copywriters on hand talked to attendees of the retreat about this topic all week long – the importance of finding a Big Idea. Here are some words of wisdom from John about Big Ideas that are worth following:

* Big Ideas Have Instant Appeal:

Have you ever had a ‘gut’ feeling about a person? Have you ever asked a long-married couple when they decided to get married, only to find out they ‘just knew’ after just meeting each other?

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book "Blink," calls it ‘thin-slicing.’ And it’s what we do, naturally, whenever we encounter something new.

Your target audience will do it too. Which is why you have ZERO luxury for trying to convey a complex idea in that very first instant your copy flashes them in the face. They’ll "thin-slice" you, as a reflex. They’ll compress all their judgment about whether to read on into that moment. If you don’t manage to win them over, in milliseconds, say hello to the trash can.

So, the Big Idea is an idea that can be sorted, absorbed, and understood instantaneously. Which is why cleverness and complexity in advertising can be so dangerous for even the most skilled of copy wordsmiths.

* Big Ideas Have Momentum:

Gladwell has another more famous book, "The Tipping Point." He starts off talking about a suede shoe. It was big in the ’70s, then disappeared. Suddenly, over 20 years later, it came back with a vengeance.

First, on the hip street corners of Manhattan’s East Village. Then across town… uptown… then to young and artsy areas in cities across the U.S. Why?

Nobody, even the shoe-maker, could tell.

Only that an idea started to build. It spread. By the time everyone noticed, it suddenly petered out again. It was too late. The trend had come and gone, elusive to all who’d tried to do anything but hang on for the ride.

Ideas are like that. They catch on, they build, And then, just when you least expect it, they can recede out of popularity again.

The best marketer is plugged in enough to see the swell of the wave coming, before it crests.

* Big Ideas Are Timely:

Related to the idea of momentum is the timeliness of an idea, especially when you’re selling information products. How so?

I write almost exclusively, these days, for financial products. My best promos lately have been about the market for oil and energy related investments.

That wasn’t always the case. In the mid 1990s, you couldn’t say anything about investing without talking about the Internet, telecoms, or biotech.

Meanwhile pitching ideas about oil, in fact most resource-related investments, was like talking a tabby into taking a dip in a hot tub. Not easy.

Timeliness also brings with it, a sense of urgency. A warning. An unfolding opportunity.

* Big Ideas Are Original:

Ideas, by the way, feel biggest when you’re among the first to deliver the message. When you’re playing catch up to everyone else, not so much.

Even an idea that’s already current, already popular, and already talked about… gains new life when you can make it even more ‘new,’ simply by finding the extra twist.

This is why headlines built on "secrets" are so effective. We naturally want to read the story nobody else is telling.

The new angle… the new information… the overlooked discovery… there are many ways to do this. All of them, almost always, are buried in the unique details of the story you’re telling.

* Big Ideas Have Depth:

We’ve already talked about how the best Big Ideas can be tightly expressed. Preferably in 8 words or less.

But don’t let brevity fool you. You can have both clarity and substance in a single phrase. In fact, you have to, if you want an idea large enough to form a stable core for the rest of your message.

What is "depth" if it isn’t complexity? Mostly, you’re talking about the idea’s impact on the life of the reader. Does the Idea suggest major change ahead for the reader, either promised or predicted?

If not, why would the reader want to read on?

* Big Ideas Are Emotionally Stirring:

The Theory of Relativity, that was a Big Idea. Newton’s Laws of Motion, very large. Liquid soap, boy I wish I could have hitched my wagon to that one, way back when.

But when we’re talking about Big Ideas that sell, there’s another shade of meaning worth getting at.

Too often, we mistake the preponderance of proof behind an Idea as all the "Bigness" we need for selling.

With smugness, we script any old headline, knowing it’s just a set up to hit the reader with blazing, double guns of the most rock-solid bullet points and factoids you’ve ever seen.

Sure, proofs matter in persuasion.

But, in the end, the one thing that makes one Big Idea compelling beyond any other, is it’s ability to sneak behind that locked door of the mind, where the emotional reasoning resides.

It must make a connection with that core, unspoken, and perhaps unrecognized place where the reader’s heart really resides.

Like everyone else who trekked to Virginia and back this week, Krista and I are resting and catching up – so this will be the only issue of The Copy Protégé this week. Next week, we’ll share more insights and stories from Virginia of our own, and hopefully from some of the attendees we met there. Stay tuned. And in the meantime, here is the best way to find Big Ideas I know…

Resource Referral: How To Find The World’s Best [Big] Ideas

I realized once again how important it is to know how to conduct effective research when I was working with the writer’s at the retreat this past weekend. They were often struggling with their headline and lead, not realizing that about half a dozen hours of research was the only thing standing between them and a control.

Research. Ugh. Sounds a little like selling a teenager on a special report called Taking Out The Garbage 101: Tips, Tricks and Techniques for Better Curbside Management.

OK, maybe it’s not that bad. But you get the idea. The idea of doing research is not sexy. But the end result of knowing how to conduct effective research – coming up with a killer, multi-million dollar promotion from a single big idea…

…pretty darn sexy if you ask me.

So we teamed up with one of the top researchers in the business – his name is Richard Conero, and he is the stealth weapon behind some of the top controls of leading direct marketing companies such as Forbes, Agora Publishing, and 21st Century Investor. Through a combination of charm, friendship (and a bottle of Chilean wine if you must know), we convinced Richard to reveal some of his most closely-guarded secrets garnered over the course of his decade of experience as an Informationist.

You can read them all in the very first (drum roll please) Copy Protégé course, Finding the World’s Best Ideas: How to Access More Than $100,000 Worth of Intelligence for as Little as 55 Cents a Day!

We are excited to be sharing this with you first today – testing our links and shopping cart and getting early feedback. It has been a long time coming – under construction for a year now! But now that it’s ready, I can assure you I’m not bragging when I say, without reservation…it’s really, really good.

Krista and I have both learned an incredible amount from Richard and are indebted to him for drawing back the curtain on this powerful secret. And we feel confident this course is just what beginning copywriters need to take their career to the next level practically overnight.
Click here to download Finding the World’s Best Ideas: How to Access More Than $100,000 Worth of Intelligence for as Little as 55 Cents a Day! and we’ll send you two bonus reports as well:

And please let us know what you think – good, bad or ugly! And yes, by all means, return it any time in the next 30 days if you don’t like it. I’ll be shocked – but will graciously return your money anyway.

We think this is the breakthrough information that will lead you the kinds of ideas that dream copywriting careers are made of. We hope you agree.

Quick Travel Tip: Prepare to Withstand Delays

I thought the nine hours it took me to make a drop-off at the Richmond airport and continue driving up to New York was a big deal. Until I heard about poor John Forde’s 44-hour journey back to Paris!

When AWAI said retreat, they weren’t kidding. A couple hours from the closest major airport, Wintergreen Resort was gorgeous – and the perfect place to cut out the usual Delray distractions of beach and shopping. Of course, the spa, vistas and walking trails certainly called to us. But we stayed on task…for the most part. (A few s’mores and cocktails around the campfire at night never hurt anyone!)

But the price you pay for getting to such an idyllic location is travel time. John wasn’t the only one who took a while getting home. Especially since a thunderstorm made it’s way through around departure time.

I’m all for a good nap on a short flight, or pleasant conversation with your neighbor – but once delays set in, boredom soon follows. When you pack your carry-on, make sure you’ve stocked enough to stay occupied in case a few hours turns into the better part of a day (or week, in John’s case!) And vary what you bring, too. Bring that project you’re working on for sure. But throw in a good novel, a deck of cards, a newspaper, a journal, and a sudoko book.

Also, keep in mind that the batteries on your electronics may not last the entire flight – especially if you have an extended stay on the tarmac – so don’t count on being passively entertained. Paper comes in handy.