Sucky writing puts people off (really! – Ed)
They may get past the first sentence, but that’s it.
The sale is lost.
Does it suck because you’re writing about yourself (“I this, I that, I something else”)?
or maybe it sucks because you’re writing about your reader (“you this, you that, you whatever”)?
The truth is, it’s neither.
You can write about yourself as much as you want. You can write about your reader as much as you want.
In fact, you can write about whatever you want whenever you want to whomever you want for however long you want.
No one gives a damn…
Unless it bores the pants off them.
In which case, they’re gone in an instant. Sale lost.
Forty years ago I wrote a flyer for a business. It said: “I do this for people who need this. Call me on xyz”.
Four years later I had 2 offices and 20 workers. I sold that business, bought a house, and started another business off the proceeds.
That first business was called QPL Express Couriers. Here’s a photo of a Christmas card we commissioned from one of the UK’s top cartoonists (his name was John Holder, he drew weekly cartoons for the UK’s top newspapers. He also drew and presented a cartoon to Prince Charles – now King Charles III).
You can read more about John here: https://www.aru.ac.uk/graduation-and-alumni/honorary-award-holders2/john-holder
Every year, I commissioned something new from John and sent it to our customers.
It helped them understand we appreciated the finer things in life.
They knew we were serious about business, so they trusted us with their business.
But the real question is, how did I know the flyer didn’t suck?
The answer is: The flyer worked. It brought in business.
In fact it brought in more business than we could handle (so we had to grow fast to handle it).
Why did the flyer work?
Because we knew the audience.
They needed to know 3 things:
1. What was being offered?
2. Did they need it?
3. Was it affordable?
I knew the offer had to be all about them.
And yet it seemed to be all about ME (“I do this for people…, call me“).
Check those 3 needs above, and compare them with the offer on the flyer:
1. What was being offered? A delivery service for important documents (“…for people who need [insert service]”)
2. Did they need it? (they either did or they didn’t, I didn’t need to ask them, I simply told them what we were offering so THEY could decide)
3. Was it affordable? If they needed what was being offered, all they had to do was call the number on the flyer to find out.
And they did.
Sale won.
So ask yourself this:
If you’re looking for something, and that something pops up on your desk, will you do something about it.
It’s like this:
If people are really thirsty and somebody offers them water, they’ll usually buy it.
If a business needs documents hand delivered the same day and someone drops a flyer on their desk promising to do just that, they’ll usually take it up.
It’s not all roses though…
There’s a ton of ways to make your flyer suck.
But this is not about making it suck, it’s about making it NOT suck, and as you’ve just seen, one of the ways to make it NOT suck is to deliver the right information to the right audience.
If you would like to know how to create the right information for the right audience, join the International Copywriters Association (ICA).
It’s called the ICA because it helps copywriters around the world become better at what they do.
It contains the most useful marketing information you’ll ever read (including where to find the right audience and what to write to them).
It transforms copywriters into professional copywriters.
Why is that important?
Because professional copywriters get paid.
This is NOT peanuts we’re talking about here.
This is a way of life and income that only professional copywriters get to enjoy.
The ICA will walk you step by step through the whole process. The first step is to become a member.
Quentin Pain
Chief Copywriter and Founder of the ICA
PS. Got any questions? Contact me on our support portal here.
PPS. You can ignore this, and that’s fine, just remember that being a sucky writer is not fun. Pro copywriters never suck. Pro copywriters win. The ICA shows you how to win.