Copywriting Tips – Velocity Media

22 January 2021

The gift of a crappy first draft

The deadline is looming. The ticking clock is getting louder by the minute as you sit there watching the cursor flash like an indicator on the blank page. You need to write, but the words just aren’t coming. You concentrate harder as if to will the words out of you. But nothing. The cursor goes on flashing.

Sound familiar? That my friend is an unfortunate case of blank page paralysis. It’s when the stress and pressure of needing to write blocks your creativity and flow and leaves you with, well…nothing.

We’ve all been there, and as a perfectionist who has made a living from writing, I know I’ll be back to revisit this dreaded place sometime soon. The good news is, though, that there is a way to navigate yourself out of it and the map you need comes in the form of a crappy first draft.

Are you feeling a little sceptical? That’s alright. Let’s delve into this further to look at why a crappy first draft can help you get the words flowing out of your head and onto the page. But first, let’s look at what a crappy first draft is.

What is a crappy first draft?

A crappy first draft is where you get all of your thoughts down on paper without judgement, order or structure. It’s your writing brainstorm. Spelling, grammar and punctuation don’t matter (it’s meant to be crappy after all) and no editing is allowed until the draft is complete as this can inhibit your creative flow.

So, now that we’re all on the same page let’s look at why the crappy first draft is one of the best gifts you can give to yourself as a writer.

It takes the pressure off

While some levels of stress can make your creativity soar, a lot of stress can make it plummet. Knowing that you aren’t doing the final version but rather a crappy first draft that only you will read, can take the pressure off. Once this pressure reduces, you are in a better position to start.

It gets you started

Like many things in life starting is the hardest part. When the pressure is on, we can make the task so much bigger in our minds. A crappy first draft gives you permission to suck and start without judgement or correction. Once you start, it easier to keep going.

It helps you find your flow

When you’re focused on perfection, you’ll more than likely try to write from start to finish. But the start may not be the best place for you to start. Stay with me here. When I write, whether it be a blog post, speech, email or web page, I’ll often start in the middle then go back and write the start, end and headline.

Start where the inspiration strikes. Don’t try and persist through the areas that haven’t come to you yet, start where you need to then you’ll get into the flow.

It allows you to order your thoughts

Often when we go start to finish, we become stuck on a specific structure to our writing. The crappy first draft allows you to step back after you’ve written it and work out the right order to your writing. It gives you the space to evaluate the most important messages (and ditch the not so important messages) to create a better, more persuasive piece.

So, the next time you are staring at that flashing cursor on the screen, and the pressure is on, permit yourself to do a crappy first draft. You’ll find, as I have, that it’s a great way to ease the pressure and let the creativity flow.

8 January 2021

The power of your customers discomfort

In business, we’re told to identify the problem we solve to appeal to the customers we serve. But focusing on the solution to the problem often results in skipping a crucial part of the sales process that makes your pitch more persuasive – letting your customer feel their pain.

In sales and marketing, we need to let our customers experience the pain and discomfort of the problem before we get them out of it. Why? Great question. Let’s look at the three reasons why discomfort is a key part of your sales process and your customers buying decision.

1. Discomfort tells your customer that they have a problem

While there is a select group of people that are highly motivated by pleasure and rewards, if we were to talk generally about the human race, most of us will move faster away from pain than towards pleasure. We don’t like to be in discomfort; in fact, we’ll do a lot to stay out of it.

Emotional eating, retail therapy and big nights out are just a few of our methods of choice when it comes to numbing the pain and discomfort we feel. But to create change, to want a better way, we need to feel discomfort. Otherwise, we carry on in a blissful state of ignorance, unaware of a problem or unaware of how big it really is.

Discomfort is a key driver of change. It tells us something is wrong, and it needs to be fixed because this uncomfortable feeling has got to go. We don’t learn, grow, stretch or solve problems without dipping our toes into the pool of discomfort first. It gives us a reason for change and the motivation to make it.

2. Discomfort tells your customer that fixing this problem is a high priority

Let’s get real here for a moment. There are loads of problems your customer faces daily. So, what makes the problem you solve more important than any other problem they are facing today? What makes your problem the problem they need to spend time, money and energy on right now?

Discomfort. Your customer’s level of discomfort is directly related to the level of priority they will place on their purchase decision.

When your customer is in enough pain, they will come to you. Granted you need to do your marketing right so they can find you, but when they are in this state, they will be actively searching to resolve their issue. While this illustrates the need for discomfort in the buying process, these aren’t the customers we’re talking about right now.

We’re talking about the people who you want to buy your product or service that aren’t at that ‘please solve this painful problem for me right now’ buying stage. These are the customers you need to take supportively into a place of pain and discomfort, so they are motivated to get themselves out of it.

3. Discomfort makes your product or service a ‘want’ over a ‘need’

While having a product or service that is a ‘need’ sounds ideal, you actually want it to be a ‘want’. Think about it for a moment, you need water to hydrate your body, but you want that coffee to wake up. What is the stronger driver?

A ‘need’ is often born out of a sense of obligation, we know we need to do it, so we do it – or should I say eventually do it – and this is the key, there is rarely a sense of urgency with a ‘need’. A ‘want’ is born out of a desire to get closer to something or away from something. It is more time-sensitive, most times immediate, and there is a level of excitement or nervousness that drives you to act.

How to get your customer to feel discomfort – without shutting them down

There is a fine line between getting your customers to feel discomfort and pushing them into other big negative emotions like anger, guilt and shame, or negative thought patterns like I’m a failure. This is not the direction we want to take them in – nor is it a direction you want your brand to be associated with.

I should also be clear that we don’t want to be unethical with this tactic or use it to manipulate people into buying. The art of persuasion, like many things, can be used for good or bad, so it is important to have the right intentions – and your customer’s best interests at heart.

What we want to do, as mentioned above, is to get your customers to a level of discomfort where they know that:

There is a problem
The problem needs to be fixed
They want to fix it

We do this by practising empathy, calling out the problem and vividly painting their current reality.

So, I want you to step into the shoes of your customer for a moment. For this exercise, imagine one specific client, it could be your ideal client or a past client you’ve loved to work with or that you felt was a great fit for your company, product or service.

Now I want you to answer these questions with them in mind:

What is happening for your customer – or not happening for them?
How is this problem hurting their life or business?
Where are their areas of frustration and inefficiency?
What is this problem holding them back from being, doing or achieving?
What are the risks of leaving this problem unsolved?

From these answers, you can now start to talk about the problem in a way your customer can relate. Be descriptive and practice emotional intelligence and compassion by calling out how it is likely making them feel – frustrated, tired, overwhelmed or concerned.

Now, I want you to notice that we’re not calling out those destructive, spiralling emotions mentioned earlier (anger, guilt or shame). The emotions I’ve mentioned are temporary emotional states that let us know a boundary has been pushed, that something isn’t right or that we are off-balance in an area of our life.

As a general rule, when I’m trying to get a customer to the state of discomfort we are talking about, I won’t talk about the problem longer than two paragraphs. These will be short paragraphs too – but persuasive ones.

By the third paragraph, I transition into the ‘what if’ scenario or the ‘why you couldn’t resolve it before now’ approach to get the customer focusing on resolving the problem, not wallowing in it.

As you can see, getting your customer to a level of discomfort can be incredibly useful within sales and copywriting. But you do need to exercise caution.

If you need help in bringing discomfort into your messaging, or you want us to look over how you’ve incorporated it into your marketing material, then get in touch, we’re always happy to help.

2 March 2016

Copywriting tricks for more memorable marketing

Every day we are exposed to thousands of brands and marketing messages. Texts, emails, social media, television, radio, billboards, cars and buses all tell us what we need to be, do, have and buy. As a result, our customers have never been more savvy, or more immune to marketing messages as they are today.

For those of us who play in overcrowded market places or are busy creating new ones, the need to be different and memorable in our marketing has never been more important. Here are three copywriting tricks to help.

1. Metaphors

Never underestimate the power of a good metaphor. Metaphors compare two items that are seemingly unrelated, yet are similar in a way. Think Coco Pops’ ‘Just like a chocolate milkshake only crunchy’, or Butter Menthol’s ‘Like a comforting hug from Mum’.

Metaphors give you the opportunity to simplify complicated concepts or introduce new ideas and products in a simple, relatable way, allowing your potential customers and investors to understand the value in what you do.

Metaphors can also help you evoke emotion, quite quickly in fact. Get the right comparison and you can often transport your customers back to a time or situation that creates the right emotional response for them to see the need to buy your product or service.

2. Rhyming

I know rhyming has a bad rap in some circles (forgive the pun), but there is still benefit in using it. Not only does it make messages easier to remember, but research has also suggested that rhyming phrases are perceived to be more accurate and truthful.

I’m certainly not saying you need to go and make lyrical magic with every piece of marketing material you put out, but don’t be afraid to get a little creative. Give rhyming a go on one of your calls to actions and test your results.

3. Play the role

As you develop your brand personality, it is important to identify the role you want to play with your customers. Your role or relationship to them can dramatically change the tone of voice and content you use in everything from a social media update to an ad campaign.

Do you want to be the older authoritative figure they listen to and admire? The quirky aunt they love? The best friend they can’t live without? The older brother or sister who is looking out for them?

Find the role your customer needs that best matches your mission and why. Not only will it make you more relatable and your tone and purpose clearer, but it can also help you build rapid rapport and loyalty simply by reminding them of someone who is important to them.

Amanda

19 May 2015

Five ways to overcome blank page paralysis

There can be something quite intimidating about a blank page. The pressure to fill it with words can be overwhelming. Even the most experienced writers can, at some point, feel as though their ideas have dried up, and they don’t know where to start. But it can be overcome.

Whether you need to write a presentation or proposal, a book or a blog, an advertisement or an anecdote, a newsletter or news release, here are five ways to help you overcome blank page paralysis.

1. Work backwards

When you are stuck, it can help to look at the end goal. What do you want to happen as a result of this? What is the next action step? What do you want customers, readers, journalists, staff members or other stakeholders to take away from it or do as a result of it?

Once you know the end goal, it is easier to determine what you need to write to achieve it, giving you a place to start.

2. Be inspired by the work of others

Need to give a presentation? Watch some TED Talks and other great speeches in history. Have a blog to write? Read other blogs and publishing websites. Need to develop an advertisement? Look over the most successful advertisements developed over the years.

Sometimes we need a touch of inspiration to get us on our way. To see an example of how it is done right or to see it achieving results for us to know it is possible and make a start.

Inspiration should not be confused with plagiarism though. You don’t want to copy what you have read, listened to or watched. Instead, look at the subtle details that appealed to you like their tone of voice, presentation of facts, how they formulated their argument, captured attention or used imagery.

3. Reconnect with your creativity

Sometimes sitting behind a computer can stifle our creativity. We can get too caught in the humdrum of routine and are too easily distracted by the noises of new emails and social media updates coming through.

Think back over the times when you have been the most creative. Chances are it wasn’t in front of your computer screen; it was with a pen and paper, over a whiteboard, away from your desk or talking with others. Also, take into consideration the time of day it was. Identify any patterns and do what you can to recreate these moments of creativity.

4. Write your way

You don’t need to write from start to finish. If you are more inspired to start at the end or halfway through then follow your inspiration. Pressure will only fuel procrastination and overwhelm.

Make notes under different sections or headings and come back to them when you feel you have more clarity. There is no right or wrong way to fill a page. You need to find the process that most suits you.

5. Delegate it

If you are experiencing severe writers block and can’t find a way around it personally, then delegate it. Give yourself something to work with by asking a staff member, ghostwriter or copywriter to do the first draft for you.

It might just take someone else’s interpretation of your business, product, service or topic to help you gain more clarity around your positioning and what you do and don’t want to say.

19 January 2015

Four content marketing mistakes you need to avoid

There is no questioning the benefit of content marketing. But while attracting and converting customers with valuable, relevant and consistent content can yield a significant return on investment, not everyone gets it right.

To ensure you do, here are four of the biggest content marketing mistakes businesses frequently make so you can make sure you avoid them.

Mistake #1 – Thinking like a marketer not a publisher

When it comes to content marketing you need to think like a publisher not a marketer. A marketer’s focus is on selling, where a publisher’s focus is on producing interesting content that engages readers and keeps them coming back.

Your content should build your credibility and expertise and showcase your value in such a way that readers see the benefit in working with you without you having to push for the sale. Sales naturally come when you add value.

Mistake #2 – Being inauthentic

When customers and potential customers sense inauthenticity they lose faith and you lose followers. To build credibility in your content marketing you need to be authentic.

To ensure you are being true to yourself and your brand you need to know what you stand for, why you do what you do, who you are targeting, what they want and why you are using social media. When you know this you can then establish your tone of voice, personality and the content that aligns with both you and your target market.

Mistake #3 – Unoriginal content

There is nothing worse than reading blog posts, books and resources that are a regurgitation or blatant copy of someone else’s content.

While it is only natural that some content will be similar when you have a similar viewpoint or process to someone else, you can always find a way to make it your own. It could be through using a personal anecdote, a case study of a client, your professional experience or approaching the topic from a different angle.

Mistake #4 – Publishing for the sake of publishing

We’re all told about the importance of regular content. In fact it’s drummed into us so much that often regularity gets prioritised over quality.

The result? We publish content we know isn’t our best, prescribing to the theory that something is better than nothing. But it’s not.

You can lose credibility and followers if your content isn’t valuable to your readers. Missing a blog because you can’t think of anything to write is far better than publishing something that is irrelevant or of a lower standard.

Amanda

22 September 2014

Three sales writing mistakes that will lose you business

Sales letters can be an extremely effective way to generate new business. Whether it is sent via email, social media or good old-fashioned snail mail, when you get the right message, to the right people with the right call to action you can generate a great marketing response. When it’s wrong however, it can be uncomfortably quiet.

The good news is that the common mistakes people when writing sales letters are easily avoided – when you know what they are. So here are the three most common sales writing mistakes to avoid so you stop losing business and start winning sales.

Mistake #1 – Appealing to the wrong ego

Ego is an important part of sales writing, but not your ego. Too many people make the mistake of thinking sales writing is all about them, they build their ego through the text, when really they should be appealing to their reader’s ego.

How you appeal will obviously depend on who you are targeting and what you are selling, but comments like “as you would know” or “from your experience” can be a great start. You don’t want to be blatant with your ego stroking as people will become highly suspicious of what you’re doing or selling, being subtle is crucial.

Mistake #2 – Selling first instead of relating

The fastest way to turn people off is to go straight into a sales pitch. Think about it in terms of a networking event, you’ve just walked in the door and someone comes straight up to you, shoves a business card in your face and starts selling to you. What are you thinking? Chances are you want to get away from them as quickly as possible. It’s no different in writing.

You still need to build rapport and find common ground as you are writing. Get people nodding in agreement. Be relatable and friendly. Then once you have done that while telling the story, go in with the pitch in a way that adds value.

Mistake #3 – Calling your reader to act without incentive

While you need to call your reader to act, there is a difference between a passive “call us today on [number]” and a more active incentive like “call us today on [number] and receive/save [x]”.

An incentive doesn’t always need to be a discount, special offer or free checklist, e-book or report. It could be an emotional pull, creating urgency through a time sensitive promotion or appealing to our sense of competition by “not missing out”.

Just keep in mind that the less you know the person you are targeting, the stronger your incentive needs to be.

Do you use sales letters as part of your marketing strategy? What has or hasn’t worked for you?