Message in a Bottle, Progress!, 5th Grade Writing, Inner Sanctum, Wunderman
by Colin | February 18, 2009
by Colin | February 18, 2009
If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, I have an AMAZING little time-waster for you. (I say “amazing” tongue-in-cheek.)
The application is called “Distant Shores.” You walk around this deserted island collecting bottled messages and sending them out. When you send one out, the app selects someone randomly to receive your message. They can choose to reply to it, or “discard” it - which then goes to some other person’s “beach” to find.
Think of it as sending an anonymous letter to a random name on an anonymous list.
As a sales copywriter, I cannot help but delight in the social experiments my marketing mind comes up with. I send out messages like…
- If you had to kill an innocent person to prevent the world’s destruction, would you?
- When was the last time you floated down the sidewalks, oblivious to the world - because you just received the happiest news?
- Or Shaune Clarke’s Secret Six-caliber questions.
The responses you get vary greatly, and I find if you want an interesting answer, you have to write your message as clear as possible.
Now, after promoting this time-sucking application, I strongly recommend you NOT to download it. Go study your copywriting manuals instead.
Promoting My Copywriting Services…
Were you expecting another week of apologies for not gaining ground on creating my marketing materials for Shaune Clarke’s Copywriting Client Marketing System ?
You win… sort of.
I am SORRY to disappoint you… because I will NOT be apologizing this week.
I managed to squeeze some self-promotion work in last week.
Ha! (That felt good… especially after John’s little cheap shot on Sunday at my addiction to House on his podcast.)
If you haven’t already downloaded John’s podcast to your iPod yet… please do - especially if you’re just starting out as a copywriter. John offers a lot of wise answers to newbie questions… questions I had when I first got into this game.
Anyway…
I began to sketch the outline for the free eBook that I’ll be giving to prospective clients - I decided to work backwards on the sales funnel. eBook, then report, then sales letter. Makes sense to me as I am essentially selling the next step in every step of this multi-step campaign.
Remember, this eBook (and report, and initial sales letter) is already written. The dilemma I wrestled with three weeks ago was whether to send out pre-made material and start making money or create it myself.
The one, most important advantage to doing this my way…
I understand the material intimately - so in theory, when I consult potential copywriting clients… I am much more comfortable in my knowledge.
Writing for Copy Clients…
Did “traditional” research this week. Read a parenting book that highly influenced my client’s philosophy as a parent coach.
I also started to read another one. (They pushed five books on me!)
The two books I read fell on opposite ends of a language continuum. One was very easy to read — I skimmed through it and the concepts simply sunk in. As well, at the end of each short chapter, the author suggests techniques you could put into action straightaway.
The other one spent pages talking about how she came to learn her philosophy - including detailed, irrelevant minutia, like her childhood and etcetera, etcetera.
Why do I bring this up in a copywriting e-column?
Simple. It’s about SIMPLICITY. (Repetitive pun intended.)
I’ve been toying this idea around my head for a long time now. Most copywriting courses and books tell you to write in a conversational manner… but they don’t really go into WHY you HAVE to. And for the most part - it seems to just “make sense” in our heads so we don’t question it.
Let me explain further with a story…
When I first started editing my clients’ blog posts, I met a wee bit of opposition. They had strong academic careers behind them. Their writing style reflected that.
The problem with academic writing, however, is that it is disengaged, aloof and objective. (Like the second book I’m reading.)
It got my gears going. How can I explain the “reason why” for writing at a 5th grade level?
What results do my clients want, I asked myself?
They want their customers to USE their parenting tips to become better parents. Busy parents can’t spend time reading difficult-to-understand books. They need ideas they can digest quickly and start using the very next hour when little Johnny starts throwing a tantrum.
Here was my revelation.
Sales copy and info-products MUST be written at a fifth grade, conversational level. Your reader cannot spend ANY time trying to figure out what you’re trying to say… or you will lose the sale, or generate a refund.
In other words, your readers CANNOT stumble over your words at all. They must be able to digest your ideas immediately and start visualizing how their life can be better.
Shaune Clarke’s Copywriting
Coaching Experience…
Diving into Shaune’s “unique techniques” (Part II) of the copywriting coaching program. This one call on Saturday alone surpassed the value of the entire course put together.
Not kidding.
By the end of the first hour, we had barely covered 20% of the exercises to be discussed. We went into copywriting mastery concepts I simply cannot share in a free e-column. I’m sorry.
The more I study with Shaune, the more I realize what it means to be in the “inner sanctum.”
There are certain tricks-of-the-trade that just stay behind closed doors. Take Gary Bencivenga’s $5000 DVD set for example. He doesn’t sell you the DVD set. He makes you sign a leasing agreement that allows you to use his techniques on the DVD set. If you get caught sharing those secrets… you’re in trouble.
And yes. It’s limited to 2000 copies.
This week’s call with Shaune Clarke was an “inner sanctum” call.
Copywriting Income & Expenses…
And yet another neutral week. I bought a few books… but nothing financially serious.
One of them was “Being Direct” by the father of modern day direct-marketing.
- In 1967, this man named direct marketing in a M.I.T. speech. (Before him, it was simply called “mail-order”)
- You can blame him for getting sucked into the Columbia Records Music Club (I did it. Twice.)
- Whenever you flip through magazines at the grocery store, and you get annoyed by the card insert falling out? That’s him too. (I remember stealing those things to subscribe to magazines I wanted. I didn’t want to pay cover price for one issue just to get the card…)
- Toll-free 1-800 numbers? Yep.
- Royalty Programs for Credit Cards? Ditto.
His name? Lester Wunderman.
It’s important to study the history of your industry, I feel.
Talk soon,
Colin Y.J. Chung
P.S. Let me know your comments, thoughts and questions in the comment box …
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