This year I’ve been doing a lot of copy coaching.

I don’t often share a lot of copy lessons in these emails, but it’s probably time I did.

Anyway, one of the ways I like to help people to grasp what I’m talking about is to use metaphors and analogies.

One metaphor I’ve been using lately has been helping people new to copywriting to speed up their progress.

So, I thought I’d share it with you here…

Years ago, a new ice-cream store opened up near my house. Like most of the excited locals, I decided to go and see what all the fuss was about.

I’d heard about this store from my American friends, but I had never tried the ice-cream for myself. When I got to the store, I was instantly overwhelmed by the choice in front of me. Most of the flavours were totally new to me. So, I had no idea of what to pick.

The young girl behind the counter asked me if I wanted to try any of the 31 flavours. I was surprised. So, I chose an ice-cream I thought I’d like.

But when I tasted it, it turned out that I didn’t like it that much after all. So, she offered me a taste of another ice-cream. Again, I was surprised because I had never been offered a taste of any food before I bought it.

So, I pointed to another ice-cream “Love Potion #31,” and I watched her load up the spoon.

She passed over the fully laden “mini” spoon… and I popped the spoon into my mouth. It was delicious! So, I ordered a scoop of my new favourite ice-cream.

But then the girl suggested that I taste a few more ice-creams to make sure that was the one for me.

I liked the way she thought… and the fact I was getting free ice-cream, so I kept tasting.

And as you’d expect, there were other ones I liked just as much… if not more.

So, now I had the problem of deciding which ice-cream to get. And the only solution to my “problem” was to get a double scoop with 2 different flavours.

Really, when it comes to problems, it was a great problem to have.

Now, you may be wondering what this story has to do with writing copy. And let me assure you… it has everything to do with copy… Especially bullet writing.

Imagine you have a product that can solve a person’s problems, and you need to write some copy to sell it. There’s so much advice out there on how to write copy… and a lot of it contradicts itself.

So, how do you know what advice to follow?

Well, for me, I like to follow what works. And one thing I’ve seen work and experienced it as a consumer is the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream taste test.

And best of all, if you do what they do… your copy will be filled with irresistible gooey goodness too.

So, here’s how it works…

When you ask for a taste of an ice-cream, let’s say “Love Potion #31” … you’ll get a scoop of ice-cream on the world’s smallest spoon. But on that spoon will be a mouth-watering sample of all that ice-cream has to offer.

For example, “Love Potion #31” has white chocolate and raspberry ice creams swirled with a raspberry ribbon and loaded with raspberry-filled dark chocolate hearts and chocolate chips.

But when you get a taste of that ice-cream on the world’s smallest spoon… do you just get a small smear of only the white chocolate ice-cream.

No, you don’t!

What you get is a yummy taste of almost everything that ice-cream has to offer. And the reason is, the more of a taste Baskin-Robbins can give you, the more of a taste you’ll get for it… and the more you’ll want it.

So, that’s why they give it to you on the little pink spoon. It’s so they don’t give you enough ice-cream to fill you up. Where would be the point in that?

But the key is to give people a good old taste of what you’re selling.

And the same thing happens when we write copy. The more of a taste that we give people about what we’re selling, the more they’ll want it.

So, when I see people write what are the equivalent of bullet points instead of bullets filled with a taste of gooey goodness… I instantly see a smear of plain vanilla ice-cream on a little pink spoon.

What they need in their bullet is enough of the best parts of what they’re selling… wrapped up in an easy to consume, compelling “mouthful.”

And that’s exactly what a bullet or a fascination is.

It’s just enough information to give a taste of what’s to come… but not enough to make you feel that you got everything you need to do it yourself.

Here’s a quick example of a “smear of vanilla ice-cream” bullet…

• The #1 mistake most women make when trying to lose weight

This bullet is ok… but it only gives the reader the slightest “smear” of flavour. And it could be way better.

So, let’s add some of the other “flavours” of the product/ program in the bullet…

• The #1 mistake most women over 50 make when trying to lose weight (it has nothing to do with fad diets or endless workouts!)

Or…

• The #1 mistake most women over 50 make when trying to lose weight… and how you can avoid it)

Or…

• The #1 mistake most women make when trying to lose weight and how it sabotages all their hard work

You can see that these bullets actually have more intrigue and they are more compelling. There’s enough “flavour” in these bullets to make the reader want to know more.

When it comes to copy, think of it as the ice-cream display at a Baskin-Robbins store. In the display, there are 31 flavours… and you don’t know exactly which one is going to get the customer to buy.

Which is why we give them a taste of as many as we can, so then they get a taste for more. And that’s when they take the next step and buy a whole scoop or get a tub to take home.

Every time I write copy, and bullets specifically, I think of that little pink spoon. My job is to make sure I’ve given my reader enough of a taste so they’re more than happy to do what I ask them to do next.

And that’s the whole point of writing copy. We want people to take the action we are leading them towards with our words. If we don’t do that, then what’s the point of writing in the first place?

So, next time you need to write copy or write some compelling bullets… think of the little pink spoon.

How can you give your prospect a taste of what you have to offer that’s so good they’ll be left wanting more?

And that’s where the metaphor and the copy lesson end.

So, that brings me to…

Knowledge Nugget #247:
Get Good At Using Metaphors To Help People To Grasp What You’re Saying

You might have thought the Knowledge Nugget was going to be about the pink spoon… but that would be too easy. Besides, I really wanted to share a deeper lesson with you.

When you know how to create and use great metaphors… you become a masterful communicator because more people will understand you.

And that’s the whole purpose of doing what we do.

Until next week, stay awesome and be creative   : )

Pauline xxx

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

P.S.  I remember when I did an NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) course years ago. Part of the course was coming up with powerful metaphors. Well, I sucked at it. So, I started to work out ways to get better at it. And now I use them in my conversations all the time.

Humans love stories which is why metaphors and analogies work so well.

P.P.S.  The Baskin-Robbins taster spoon is a stroke of genius. They know you can’t fill up on what they put on the mini spoon. So, they are happy to let you “taste as many as you want.” And that little pink spoon is what we call a “Low cost, high perceived value” strategy.

So, when you think about your business… what’s your little pink spoon?

P.P.P.S.  This is the longest I’ve stayed at home in quite a while. It’s strange not to be traveling as much as I used to. I can’t wait until we can start to travel again.

I know things will be different, but as I’ve said, when I travel, I do it for the destination not the journey… so, it will be worth it.