Creativity - Your Way?

tacked on to the end of evening prayers...

And Lord God, please, PLEASE don't let any Warrior think that I lack creativity. I just couldn't bear that burden, it is just too much to ask of me. Amen.


Having found the great masses live in a fog of uncertainty, wandering aimlessly through their days, that one of the most creative things I can do is: use both a fog horn and a search light to illuminate their path.

Often time, the most creative thing I do is to shine my light on common sense, and because it seems to be lacking in many areas, a little Reason Why goes a long way.

It doesn't take all that much to be a tad bit more creative than the next guy.

There is one "recipe" other cooks can use.

GordonJ

PS I dissect the PROSPECT'S mind first, then the product.

I'm not really a copywriter, I'm a salesman. But I write my own copy.

But to me, creativity isn't the goal. Clarity is the goal. If what I do looks creative, that's fine. But people don't buy because you are creative.

How do I create a presentation (or parts of one) that increases the likelihood that they will buy?

I figure out what the buyer really wants...deep down...this usually consists of some buried desire. For example, not "savings" but more like "approval from peers' or "The desire to fit in the group", or "The envy of my friends"

Then.....I do this, always...

I make a list of every feature of an offer (usually mine). I break it down as small as I can go.

Then each feature gets as many benefits, that fit the customer's inner needs, And then I make a list of how they benefit from buying from me, instead of anyone else. Then a list of benefits (that apply to them, always) of buying now, rather than later.

I check off any benefits that, by themselves, would make the purchase worthwhile (again, from the buyer's point of view)

The results may look creative, but they really just involve grinding thought and several hours of writing and organizing.

If I don't know the most important need of the prospect (meaning the group of prospects) I just read a successful sales letter to the group, and it will tell me what appeals work.

Anyway I know talking about features and benefits is old stuff, but it's the way I think.


added later; After this process, I may have a solid dozen benefits that are each strong enough alone to justify the sale, and a hundred to two hundred benefits that will apply to most people that may buy.

When selling, one of the most important keys (Don't know how to do this in writing copy for mass distribution) is to not ever mention benefits or features that aren't exactly matching the customer in front of me. That makes the offer a perfect fit for them (in their eyes).

Often, when selling, this involves a different presentation to each customer, even with the exact same offer.

In writing, most confuse creativity with being artistic with words. But actually, being creative is being able to generate new ideas.
In short, researching - reading about your target audience - is key.

A quick shortcut (that I forgot to mention)...

Ask the product/service a few open ended questions (it may not reply - but you can).


What, Where, Why, When, Who, How


Often the answers give you a blast of "creativeness" - which may well appeal to the good people you want to sell to.


Steve

Sometimes the "creativity" is just sayin you'll give the basics
you'd expect others would give, but don't.

Like I did in my lawncare biz.

"I will Turn Up On Time, Do What I say I Will Do,
Clean Up After Me...If Not, I Will
Pay You $1,000".

That only came about by being immersed in the market,
hearing the complaints on the other end
of the phone and addressing the problem
head on right on the headline in the
newspaper ad.

To me that's creative mixed with guts.

Seems rare today.

Best,
Ewen

This is exactly what I teach in my copywriting courses. If you have a choice between clarity and creativity, you should always choose clarity. Creativity is a bonus.

However...

I disagree a little with this. If you are creative and clear, the creativity can help you capture attention that you would not otherwise have. And sometimes the creativity creates such a strong appeal to the imagination that it wins the sale.

A good example: Ann Handley wrote about a little experiment she performed when she couldn't even give away two poop-colored couches. She conjured up a highly creative pitch for them and they were sold for $95 in no time. Her case study is worth a read:

https://annhandley.com/power-of-copywriting/

Marcia Yudkin

What are fairy lights without a tree?

Jus' a whole buncha flash can't stand up on their own.

Vinery. Finery. Decor.

Always I would wanna figure copy in terms of meaningful dialog, resonant in the moment, fulla promise for next steps forward in the potentially hunny-drenched maelstrom.

First step is the necessaire.

You got that, then you can finesse with flair.

Plus also, start point for the necessaire is sumthin' actschwlly worth writin' about or promotin'.

So ... Steve ... Claude ... Gordon ... how much you wanna write out the glories of the zero-cellulite 3-prong bamboo noodle fork holder attachment?

Always there gotta be intrinsic tangible advantage, an' from here you can flourish out into desirable metaphor.

Gotta watch always for transformative touchpoints.

An' I would naht wanna suffer no reflex WF ban by summonin' no meandatory wandah 'round the FLUXSCAPE.

Like the breath you got when you floppin' out cutesy on the yogah mat ... all ins & outs commune in a pulse around the transformational tweensyflux.

Anywan pinpoints this kinda breath of life stuff prolly got a product or service gonna play out OK.

An' for copywritah persons, you gotta figure DEAR DIARY.

How enthoosiastically do I wanna write this out?

Or do I gotta scrape the barrel to make up stuff makes it sound even moderately tolerable?

Substance & finesse.

Emptiness & dreams.

Meaningful narratives uniting distant touchpoints.


We meet up thusly with alla our things, an' whenevah we feel good about it, seems we gaht wings.

On one occasion I got "creative" to dramatize the cost
of jet lag.

I got called in by friend who was the sales guy
at a London ad agency.

Their creative team couldn't come up with anything
my friend's client would accept.

He had overnight to present an acceptable ad or the contract
would be torn up.

It was for a jet lag pill.

So, using my ATM framework
to come up with a winning ad for jet lag pills
I got to work.

I wanted to dramatize the cost of getting jet lag
to a dealmaking frequent flyer.

Grabbed an image of this business guy sprawled out
at an empty airport terminal with a lone cleaner in the background.

The message was he missed his flight and that caused him missing
out on a big deal.

It wouldn't happen if he used the same jetlag pills used by airline pilots.

Client loved it, my friend got to keep the trailing commissions..

I had fun making the ad using my ATM framework.

Best,
Ewen

Shhh....

Don't tell the Princess, but I might have worked out how to make the "Mop Gas."

Just bung a few drops of lemon grass in the bucket.


Steve


P.S. I once did a Phenomenal Postcard campaign for a cleaning company. One of the many benefits was " As a bonus for using us - just ask - if you want your home to be extra specially super fresh after we've vacuumed - we'll use harm free, non allergenic, organic essential oils - pick your favourite"

Lemon grass was the winner.

Thank you Steve...

when I talk about being creative, I'm not referring to blind squirrels swinging across alligator-infested rivers while drinking a Budweiser and smoking a Marlboro.

I'm referring to a person's ability to see beyond the ordinary and achieve the extraordinary.

Products can sit in a lonely warehouse in Phoenix...because nobody cares about them...a creative copywriter can come along and repurpose the campaign or rephrase the idea behind the product and they start flying off the shelves to the point where the products become a viral sensation.

A company can be struggling to grow and a creative copywriter can come along and turn the business into a booming powerhouse.

Being creative is being able to see beyond what others see.

Sure, it's ok to just use clarity...it's what most small businesses do on a daily basis whenever they feel the urge to waste their advertising budget.

Bob's Shoes
Been in business since 1431
Great Customer Service
Buy some shoes at 3% off till next whenever

A smart copywriter with some creativity would take the above nonsense...even though it's as clear as anyone can make it...and turn it into something that grabs customers by their eyeballs and drags them in to spend until they end up selling all their family heirlooms to buy more shoes.

It's really simple. Ask yourself what makes one copywriter in high demand...and 1,638,439,021 others still trying to figure out how to get customers.

Creativity is what makes or breaks copywriters.

Interesting subject you brought up

The idea of taking an idea from one industry
and applying to another where it's not used.

I stole the reverse penalty idea from a book of Jay Abraham case studies.

It was a pest control co specializing in food manufacturing plants.

They went in saying if the plant got shut down by health inspectors
due to vermin after their treatment
they would pay for the cost of the plant closure.

I moved it over to lawncare.

I gave a successful plumbers Yellow Pages ad
to a marketer to use for his
electrician client

He used it on Craigslist which turned into a new $30k per month
new revenue stream.

I gave a proven to perform home remodeler flyer
used in Auckland. to the dad of a Florida builder.

He adapted it to Adwords, invested under $50 and
then shut it down.

His son got $150k worth of work and was scrambling to service his clients.

The ad I wrote which become the most ripped off ad on the Internet
for web design, I adapted it from a Texas furniture removal co
that became the dominating force in it's local market.

Call it creative what I did...I don't.

Just street smarts.

Best,
Ewen

Added later.
The baseline was I knew the numbers on the performance
which gave me confidence to have the ads used in a
different country, different media
and different year.

It becomes riskier if you don't understand the underlying trigger that got the reader
to respond in the first place and secondly do those same circumstances apply today.

I will go for a new message that is also evergreen, meaning that it
will continue to work for years to come so long as competitors
haven't adopted a similar message.