The Power of the Right Message
This isn't strictly about copywriting but the principle of having the right message is no different. I thought this might be inspirational for some.
If you're not in the UK then you might not have heard of James Caan (not the actor), he is one of the team on Dragons Den UK. If you get inspired by autobiographies then check out his book "The Real Deal," I highly recommend it. Anyway ...
His business was in the recruitment industry and he learned early on that when cold calling, your opening line was everything. The rest of your message was just as important but without the right opening line, nobody wanted to hear the rest. After a few years in the industry he came up with the idea of recruiting staff for other recruitment agencies. Being in the business himself he could actually see real value in this but he knew he'd have trouble getting taken seriously. He told his colleagues, they all laughed and told him not to do it, but he wanted to try anyway. He went ahead and cold called other recruitment agencies, they all said he was mad and after a time, he did indeed become a bit of a laughing stock.
He was relentless, he knew that the only reason everybody was laughing at him was because he wasn't managing to get them to see where he was coming from, he knew his idea had great value. He went on for months refining his opening line and his pitch until he found the one that would make them want to listen, eventually he found the right message. The outcome? ... it created an entirely new multi million pound industry that's now known as rec to rec.
I don't remember what the pitch was, I can't even remember if he says exactly what it was in the book, but what's important is what he said, the way he said it and the order he said it, after constant refining was the difference between being a laughing stock and creating an entirely new industry within the niche.
Lee
If you're not in the UK then you might not have heard of James Caan (not the actor), he is one of the team on Dragons Den UK. If you get inspired by autobiographies then check out his book "The Real Deal," I highly recommend it. Anyway ...
His business was in the recruitment industry and he learned early on that when cold calling, your opening line was everything. The rest of your message was just as important but without the right opening line, nobody wanted to hear the rest. After a few years in the industry he came up with the idea of recruiting staff for other recruitment agencies. Being in the business himself he could actually see real value in this but he knew he'd have trouble getting taken seriously. He told his colleagues, they all laughed and told him not to do it, but he wanted to try anyway. He went ahead and cold called other recruitment agencies, they all said he was mad and after a time, he did indeed become a bit of a laughing stock.
He was relentless, he knew that the only reason everybody was laughing at him was because he wasn't managing to get them to see where he was coming from, he knew his idea had great value. He went on for months refining his opening line and his pitch until he found the one that would make them want to listen, eventually he found the right message. The outcome? ... it created an entirely new multi million pound industry that's now known as rec to rec.
I don't remember what the pitch was, I can't even remember if he says exactly what it was in the book, but what's important is what he said, the way he said it and the order he said it, after constant refining was the difference between being a laughing stock and creating an entirely new industry within the niche.
Lee