Copywriting is Like Buddhism

[Mark Pescetti]

A few months ago, a client from San Diego came to me to rewrite his sales letter.

It was over 50 pages long.

Interestingly enough, the bugger still managed to convert a pretty decent amount of money.

Who knew.

Sill though, with the extraordinary amount of traffic he managed to send the letter’s way, it was a drop in the bucket.

The letter read like a hoarder who was afraid to let go of even just one idea for the fear that he’d lose a potential buyer.

Thus, the site read like a crazy person’s manifesto…

…I came up with a metaphor that his sales letter was like a padded wall in the insane asylum – all marked up with random scribbles that had no rhyme or reason.

I needed to get a point across that if he wanted his letter to meet the lofty expectations he set out with and harness the very real potential he niche provided, HE HAD TO LET GO!

Okay, so what’s my freaking point?

Well…

…Whether you pay a copywriter to craft your letter or do it yourself, it doesn’t matter how much you fall in-love with a certain headline or story… or the letter in general.

It only matters if your objective to reach your target audience and convert sales is achieved.

Then it occurred to me…

…copywriting is like practicing Buddhism.

You have to become unattached with your copy, no matter how much you think it should convert in order to actually manifest killer results.

I mean, hey, there’s nothing more frustrating than anticipating an enormous ROI and NOT getting what you want - just because you’re addicted to your under-performing copy...

...Is there?


Stay unattached.


Change is good.

[Ross Bowring]

Is it simple?

Is it compelling?

Two good guiding questions to ask yourself as you write.

The trick is to still keep the "full pitch" in your letter... but finesse it to fit into the simple framework.

--- Ross

[Diane S]

When you think about it, IM is like practicing Buddhism. If you get attached to a website that you have built yourself, you can be tempted to hang onto it even when it turns out not to be worth your time in the end - keyword not a strong buying keyword, for example. But because we put our time into it, we might keep it way longer than we should.

[Mark Pescetti]

Originally Posted by Diane S

When you think about it, IM is like practicing Buddhism. If you get attached to a website that you have built yourself, you can be tempted to hang onto it even when it turns out not to be worth your time in the end - keyword not a strong buying keyword, for example. But because we put our time into it, we might keep it way longer than we should.

Exactly.

When you invest yourself emotionally in something, even a website or its copy, there's a tendency to want to protect it... hold onto it... even identify with it.

I have a catch phrase I like to tell people... except my wife - who slaps me if I even attempt to spit this out:

BRACE YOURSELF... THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOU!

In other words, this is about reaching your audience, not jerking your own chain...

Another aspect to attachment is how easily you can get lost in tunnel vision.

Functioning from the belief that your copy is good or even perfect... and it's not converting...

...blinds you from actually coming up with the brilliant, usually simple idea to fix the problem...

...even if that means completely rewriting the website copy or sales letter.

Lastly, I've noticed a lot of copywriters on here try and pattern themselves after the greats.

Nothing wrong with that...

...except for when it so obviously is more about stroking your own ego, rather than using the right tone and approach to sell for your client.

...just thought I'd throw that out there...

...just another form of attachment.

[Mark Pescetti]

Originally Posted by Ross Bowring

Is it simple?

Is it compelling?

Two good guiding questions to ask yourself as you write.

The trick is to still keep the "full pitch" in your letter... but finesse it to fit into the simple framework.

--- Ross

Simple is amazing....

By the way, I'm gonna have to buy your Stripped Naked PDF.

Looks like it'll be an enlightening read...

[Steve The Copywriter]

Yea I can truly recommend them - they're jammed packed full of brilliant techniques.

And great fun to read.

(they make such a refreshing change from the usual "cut and paste" stuff).