Note: It’s ironic in a sad way that this post on Red Hot Copywriting tips is being published in Southern California on a weekend of horrific wildfires whipped by winds. The air is full of ash.
People in East San Diego county have been forced to evacuate their homes. The winds haven’t died down and fires are spreading rapidly in the direction of the Wild Animal Park. Many residents have fled with their horses, and of course other pets.
Here in my home office, my desk and papers are covered with soot. We put the air conditioning on to close up the house. My nose is running and sneezing. But for the 21,000 500,000 people who have to flee their homes, it’s much worse. The fires are spreading. The morning TV news is not good.
Red Hot Copywriting Workshop Notes
It’s hard for me to concentrate with the view outside of red skies and smoke. Here’s what I wrote before the fires broke out…
As the years roll by, the more I’m convinced how important to my any online business it is to write good content that persuades readers to act. Last Friday I attended Lorrie Morgan Ferrero’s Red Hot Copywriting workshop in L.A.
I’m skeptical of copywriters – like many Internet users, my antennae
are sensitized to hyped up words that sell fluff and fantasies. As to
Lorrie – well, I get drawn into reading her email promotions and
stories that reveal personal details of her work and life.
Lorrie’s
storytelling techniques are powerful. It’s not that her life or work is
unusual or amazing or anything like that. I think we as humans just
like reading details of other people’s lives.
Here’s my Red Hot Copywriting Tip #1: Tell a story. More importantly, tell YOUR story.
In one of Lorrie’s workshop exercises, we told of a time in our work
when things were bad. Then we spoke of a turning point. We pointed to a
major crisis and an ‘aha’ moment. We spoke of the learning lessons that
make us who we are today, and why we do what we do in our businesses.
How is storytelling related to good copywriting? Stories get us to
read content out of curiosity. But the key is this: stories build trust
with the reader.
To Know You Is to Trust You
In the details of a story, as a reader, you see the author is human just like you
and you begin to feel a connection. That leads you to be influenced by
them. It brings you closer to the author and more likely to buy.
To some of us who are more business-like or academic, this style of writing is
contrary to how we were educated. Blogs in particular offer challenges
to be more conversational.
The new trend in communicating with your audience is to write more personally, sharing your experiences with readers.
Don’t Bore Me
There’s a fine line between building trust through stories and boring readers with insignificant details. As a business writer, it’s still important to stay on purpose and get to the point as quickly as possible.
Recent Comments