This may sound like I’m being derogatory or mean towards copywriters… but I’m not.
I said they “act” like dogs… not that they “are” dogs. And perhaps I should have said they act like excited dogs because that would be a better description.
But I’m not talking about an excited dog, like a chihuahua who tries to hump your leg at every opportunity… I don’t mean that at all. (Although maybe that is true of some people… but that’s not what this email is about.)
I’m sorry about the visual you probably have in your head right now. But the visual is probably going to help you imagine the next thing I say…
Copywriters often act like dogs who sniff trees, poles, and everything else other dogs have peed on.
They find it almost impossible to see any type of copy without checking it out.
And most of the time, before they are even aware of it… they’ve read all of the copy, whether it’s good or bad.
Now, I can’t imagine that to a dog, another dog’s pee actually smells “good.” But there they are, sniffing around and getting an idea of the dog that was there before them.
Occasionally, but not always, the dog will pee over the top of old pee to leave their own mark.
Copywriters do that too!
We look at the copy and then think about how we would improve it… with our scent.
The funny thing is though, while dogs are out and about sniffing pee… other animals are walking right past, oblivious to its existence.
And… that happens to copywriters too.
While we are sniffing the copy and working out how to make it better… other people (often the intended prospect) are scrolling past, not reading it at all.
Oh, the horror! Imagine someone not being interested in copy the same way copywriters are.
How can that possibly happen?
Well, here’s how it happens…
Knowledge Nugget #314:
Copywriters Are Curious To See What
Other Copywriters Are Doing
And that’s ok.
But what we all need to be more curious about is… what our prospects are doing.
They won’t be bored. And they won’t read copy beyond their interest/disinterest point.
And why would they? If they lose interest (or never have any in the first place) … obviously, the copy has failed to answer the simple questions of “What’s in it for me?” And that’s a huge problem.
Here’s why… no matter how much another copywriter likes your copy, they are unlikely to buy from you.
That is unless you’re selling a copywriting course… of course. Even so, if you’re selling a course to writers… you’d better write better than the writers reading your writing.
But sometimes, even that doesn’t matter because there is another thing copywriters do that dogs do.
They sniff each other’s butts!
That’s right! Copywriters will buy other copywriters’ courses. But they don’t always buy them because they’re interested in them, want to learn more, or improve their skills.
They often buy them to validate themselves. So, what do I mean by “validate” themselves?
Well, they want to see where they are in the copywriting “pack.”
Because copywriters are often “lone-wolves” … it can be hard to gauge where we are and where we belong. So, we check everyone out.
That’s why we buy all the copy courses… and read all the copy.
But we really need to remember that our prospects aren’t as interested in us as we are.
We can spot a Chris Haddad Video Sales letter or a Stefan Georgi sales letter at 20 paces.
Show us a health promotion, and we can tell you whether Parris Lampropoulos or Carline Anglade Cole wrote it.
But our prospects can’t.
And they don’t have to.
It’s not their job.
Their “job” is to read what interests them… then buy it if it benefits them.
So, while it’s fun playing with the other copy “dogs” … we need to remember that writing to impress other copywriters is a fool’s game.
It may make you feel good in the short term… but there’s something that will make you feel even better in the long run. And it involves our prospects (and our clients by default).
Write copy that clearly communicates to the prospect that you have the solution to their problem. That way, they buy what you’re offering. The client makes money. And the client keeps hiring you to write for them.
That sounds great to me!
Until next week, stay awesome, and keep writing : )
Pauline x x x
Pauline Longdon
a.k.a. “The Copy Alchemist”
P.S. I’ve been reading a lot of copy lately. Not because I’m bored or necessarily want to. It’s because I am doing around 33 copy coaching/mentoring sessions each week … and mentoring a group of 23 copywriters for my friend Stefan. (It sounds unbelievable, but I assure you that number is on the conservative side.)
Something that surprises people is when I show them in their copy where I believe a non-copywriter would stop reading. And it’s often not even past the headline. We can’t take readership for granted. We need to give people a solid reason why they need to read and keep reading.
P.P.S. My partner Rae planted a seed years ago that I think is about to sprout. She suggested that I do a print newsletter. And I’m seriously thinking about it.But rather than go all in… I’m thinking of doing a limited 3 edition series to test the waters.
Depending on the interest, I will probably cap the subscribers at 50. And to keep it neat, the subscription fee for this series will be $50 a month.
So, if you’re interested in getting on the early notification list… let me know.
P.P.P.S. Now that I know that doing group copywriting training isn’t as terrifying as I thought it would be (even with Zoom kicking me off my own calls) … I’m also thinking of doing some copywriting workshops and copy Q&A sessions in the near future.
If you’re interested in these, make sure you sign up to my email list.