I love gardening.

Fortunately for me, I seem to have inherited my Grandmother’s green thumb. But little did I think that my gardening green thumb would help me to write compelling copy.

And to be honest, it took me a while to make the connection. It wasn’t until recently when I was doing some copy coaching that I finally refined my thoughts on this.

So, I wanted to share this with you…

Part of my role as a copy coach is to help business owners to write their own copy for a landing page and their Facebook ads.

Now these business owners are not copywriters… and they have not done a copy course.

In fact, the first time they ever heard about copywriting was when they joined the program. And I’m one of the first copywriters they meet when I start to coach them.

To make things more interesting (and more difficult), I only get to coach these business owners on group calls… and for 10 minutes each person on each call.

So, to help me get my message across quickly, I need to be simple and direct.

It’s a good brain-workout, because as I work out how to simplify what I’m saying, I often come up with little distinctions on the fly.

One distinction I came up with recently was in relation to writing bullets (small snippets of copy that target a specific mini topic).

As I tried to help one of the business owners grasp what I was saying, I said…

“Your bullet needs to plant a seed of curiosity… or a seed of doubt in the mind of the reader.”

Wow! That was so cool! Planting “Copy Seeds”… I love it!

(Sometimes I surprise myself!)

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how true it was. But then I realized, it doesn’t only apply to bullets.

It works for all copy.

And by the way… there are way more than those two seeds.

(I haven’t shared any of the other seeds with the people I coach, because I don’t want to overwhelm or confuse them.)

So, before I share the others with you, lets’ talk about the first two seeds I mentioned.

#1 – The Seed of Curiosity:

Curiosity is a powerful tool when used the right way. And with bullets, we can create curiosity by giving the reader tidbits of information… but not the whole story. That way, they need to buy what we are selling to get the rest of the story.

But here’s a warning… there needs to be a payoff to the curiosity you create. Otherwise you will disappoint the reader (and increase your refund rate) and potentially ruin your reputation.

#2 – The Seed of Doubt:

When we artistically weave a little bit of doubt into our copy, we undermine the confidence the reader has in other solutions. And that includes the solutions they’ve tried up until now.

This is a bit of a ninja trick and you should only use it if you know what you’re doing.

And the reason is, if you’re going to “shit talk” other solutions… you draw attention to them, and you turn them into the “underdog.”

And people often gravitate towards the underdog… and away from you. (The book “How To Win Friends And Influence People” maps this out perfectly.)

The way I see it, these are the main “Copy Seeds.” And if you only use these 2 seeds… you’ll have a bumper crop!

But there are other seeds you can use… and they are all linked to common emotions.

For example, there’s the seeds of hope, happiness, anger, fear, joy, surprise, jealousy/ envy… and so on.

Actually, that reminds me… the “7 Deadly Sins” are great copy seeds too. (Lots of financial copywriters plant the “greed seed” in their copy. More about that in a moment.)

As you can see, I could go on for days naming all the seeds we could use. But not all of them are going to grow into the crop you want.

Just as I would sow specialized seeds in my garden to serve a specific purpose… I also sow specialized seeds to serve a specific purpose in my copy.

Not sure what I mean, well…

Knowledge Nugget #251:
The Wrong Seeds Become Weeds!

Weeds are really only plants that are growing in the wrong place. And when they grow in the wrong place, they give the wrong result. So, a weed doesn’t have to be a “junk” or an undesirable plant.

You see, in a field of beautiful blood red tulips… a single yellow tulip growing in that field will be treated like a weed and removed.

And the reason it will be removed is because it’s disrupting the effect the gardener is looking for.

Imagine a cottage garden, or a highly manicured garden… seeds are planted strategically to create a desirable effect.

And our copy is like a fertile garden…

As we write, we strategically plant our “Copy Seeds” to create the effect we want.

But if we plant the wrong Copy Seeds in the wrong place… it can kill our copy.

A great example of this is planting a “Seed of Anger.”

The problem with anger is… angry people don’t tend to buy things. And if they do, they often have remorse about their purchase. Or regret it.

So, you need to plant the right Copy Seeds.

I mentioned earlier that a lot of financial copywriters sow “Seeds of Greed” in their copy. But the problem with that is… most people aren’t greedy.

Sure, people want more money, but they don’t identify with being greedy. Greed is more like a judgement people make of others… not a judgement people make about themselves. (This is a powerful distinction.)

You want to make sure you use the right seeds, otherwise you might accidently sow the seeds of doubt. And that will ruin your copy… and your chances of selling anything.

And like any good gardener, you need to weed your writing by editing out any rougue seeds that will affect the results you are looking for.

So, from now on, if you use any of these powerful Copy Seeds… make sure you use them carefully and purposely.

Until next week, stay awesome and stay safe   : )

Pauline xxx

Pauline Longdon
a.k.a. “The Copy Alchemist”

P.S. I didn’t mention too much about the “Seeds of Hope,” but in my mind, they are some of the most important seeds we can plant in our copy… and in life in general.

If we trigger too much negativity or make things sound too hopeless… people give up. And in copy, when people give up, people stop reading (and buying.)

Plant the seeds of hope in peoples mind and then deliver on that hope.

P.P.S. Another type of seed you can plant in your business are the “Seeds of Potential.” I have planted a few of those seeds in my time, but sadly they don’t always grow. I don’t think it has anything to do with the seed itself or how you care for them. I think it has everything to do with where you plant them or the “soil” you sow them in.

One of the “Seeds of Potential” I planted turned into a multi-million dollar business for the guy I planted it for. And I was super happy to receive some of the abundant crop as well.

I have another “Seed of Potential” growing in a private plot of land right now. It’s had abit of a rocky start, but it’s starting to flourish now. I’m excited to see what it becomes.

P.P.P.S. From experience, the “Seeds of Potential” can look like they are taking a long time to grow… but there is a lot happening that you can’t see (like bamboo.)

I will warn you against giving up too soon, otherwise you may end up giving your opportunity away to someone else. An then they will reap the rewards, not you. And that would be such a shame. You deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor.