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Hey George, I've Gotta Tell You About This New Gig I'm Working On...

by Mark Pescetti
16 replies
One of my branding secrets has always been going to the coffee shop after a collaboration session with a client and chatting with a writer friend of mine.

He used to be a big time editor for a well-known magazine in the 80's.

Now he's one step up from being homeless.

I would always buy him an Americano and bagel.

He wanted to give me something in-return.

That's how the era of picking his brain on the daily began.

Anyway...

Going back and forth with him would always help me organize my thoughts, ideas and trigger some ah-ha breakthroughs.

I actually just finished a project that's already a wild success...

...and the tag that opened up this campaign's can of whoop ass would have never seen the light of day - IF I didn't engage in a casual conversation with George over a cuppa joe.

Recently...

I moved an hour or so north of Mount Shasta to Ashland, OR.

George doesn't have a phone or Skype, he hates email and never checks his Facebook messages.

So my process for framing the biggest benefits of this new company I'm working for wasn't feeling as effortless as I'm accustomed to.

Then I remembered how I used to come up with some pretty awesome tags, hooks and USP's.

I'd write a letter to "an old friend" telling him about this new gig I'm working on.

It's not as good as talking with George in person...

But today...

By writing a letter to George (that he'll never see,) I stumbled upon a tagline that's the perfect foundation for this new project. (Which the owners absolutely loved.)

I know it's not an unheard of technique.

However...

It works.

It gets the creative juices flowing and allows you to get into a stream of consciousness.

Try it.

Mark
#george #gig #gotta #hey #working
  • Profile picture of the author RickDuris
    "Levenson was famous among up-and-coming admen and women for advising them on how to write copy: "Start off with 'Dear Charlie,' then say 'this is what I want to tell you about. Make believe that the person you're talking to is a perfectly intelligent friend who knows less about the product than you do. Then, when you've finished writing the copy, just cross out 'Dear Charlie'."
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    • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
      Banned
      That link gave me a boner. Especially this -
      In another ad, Levenson devised a New Yorker-style cartoon - at a time of rising petrol prices - showing a man holding the nozzle of a petrol pump against his temple as though suicidal. The caption: "Or buy a Volkswagen."
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      • Profile picture of the author max5ty
        [QUOTE=The Copy Nazi;8160661]That link gave me a boner.

        If it lasts over 4 hours, seek medical attention.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mr. Subtle
        Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi View Post

        That link gave me a boner. Especially this -
        Here's the actual ad in case some of you have never seen it:



        Doesn't get much simpler than this.
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    • Profile picture of the author The Copy Warriors
      Originally Posted by RickDuris View Post

      "Levenson was famous among up-and-coming admen and women for advising them on how to write copy: "Start off with 'Dear Charlie,' then say 'this is what I want to tell you about. Make believe that the person you're talking to is a perfectly intelligent friend who knows less about the product than you do. Then, when you've finished writing the copy, just cross out 'Dear Charlie'."

      - Rick Duris
      Thanks a million for sharing that.

      You can never be reminded of "write as if you were writing a good friend" too many times.
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  • Profile picture of the author Igor Fridrihs
    Good post and very good tip
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    50-100 Clicks HQ Solo Ads

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  • Profile picture of the author RickDuris
    Originally Posted by The Copy Warriors View Post

    Thanks a million for sharing that.

    You can never be reminded of "write as if you were writing a good friend" too many times.
    I believe the "Dear Charlie" method is even more relevant today given blogging, email and social media marketing.

    - Rick Duris
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Pescetti
      Originally Posted by RickDuris View Post

      I believe the "Dear Charlie" method is even more relevant today given blogging, email and social media marketing.

      - Rick Duris
      Yup.

      And if you record yourself talking to a friend, it can have an equal (if not better) effect in uncovering some fantastic copy. It just depends on how your brain works. Personally, typing to me is like channeling, but both are valuable tools to any copywriter.

      I listened to some of Brian McLeod's last webinar. He mentioned recording yourself and having it transcribed. It's an old school technique, but it works just as good now as it did 50 years ago.

      Mark
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      • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Mark Pescetti View Post

        Yup.

        And if you record yourself talking to a friend, it can have an equal (if not better) effect in uncovering some fantastic copy. It just depends on how your brain works. Personally, typing to me is like channeling, but both are valuable tools to any copywriter.

        I listened to some of Brian McLeod's last webinar. He mentioned recording yourself and having it transcribed. It's an old school technique, but it works just as good now as it did 50 years ago.

        Mark
        Why do that when you can just get yourself voice recognition software like "Dragon Naturally Speaking"? Makes no sense.
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        • Profile picture of the author deezn
          Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi View Post

          Why do that when you can just get yourself voice recognition software like "Dragon Naturally Speaking"? Makes no sense.
          How well does Dragon recognize voice? I understand it learns it a little right? If there is editing involved, I know some people like to use transcription places so they don't have to edit.

          SpeakWrite: Voice to Document is one place a lot of people I know use.
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          • Profile picture of the author The Copy Nazi
            Banned
            Originally Posted by deezn View Post

            How well does Dragon recognize voice? I understand it learns it a little right? If there is editing involved, I know some people like to use transcription places so they don't have to edit.

            SpeakWrite: Voice to Document is one place a lot of people I know use.
            More you use it - the better it gets. I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It's been a blessing for me - DNS not Carpal Tunnel. And since when don't you have to edit?

            I'm a lousy copywriter but I am a good editor.
            David Ogilvy.
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            • Profile picture of the author deezn
              Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi View Post

              More you use it - the better it gets. I have Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It's been a blessing for me - DNS not Carpal Tunnel. And since when don't you have to edit?
              Oh yes I edit everything that goes out. But there are a bunch of recordings where it won't go out (basically notes for me).

              I bought Dragon a while ago so I need to give it a try. I hear a good mic helps a lot.
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        • Profile picture of the author Mark Pescetti
          Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi View Post

          Why do that when you can just get yourself voice recognition software like "Dragon Naturally Speaking"? Makes no sense.
          I do use it, especially the iPad app.

          And you're right, it gets more accurate when you use it a lot. I've just never gotten it tuned up enough to eliminate the frustration factor when it does mess up.

          On the other hand...

          My daughter uses it for school with minimal mess ups. I guess it doesn't like my voice. I tend to start sounding robotic. I focus more on overly enunciating my words, which defeats the purpose of getting into a stream of consciousness.
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        • Profile picture of the author BrianMcLeod
          Originally Posted by The Copy Nazi View Post

          Why do that when you can just get yourself voice recognition software like "Dragon Naturally Speaking"? Makes no sense.
          I like using Dragon on my iPhone and my Mac for this[period] [new paragraph]

          And it's surprisingly accurate[comma] when you take the time to train it[period] [new paragraph]

          The only think [scratch that] thing that irritates me is that sometimes it gets in the way of the flow because you find yourself thinking about the software[comma] instead of what you're saying[dot dot dot]

          But there's plenty of times you simply won't have Dragon handy... for instance, if you record conversations with clients (and you should) you'll capture all those "man, I wish I recorded THAT..." moments.

          I pay under $100 per audio hour for finished, edited transcriptions. So, throwing a $20 bill at having a perfect "read" of the pitch already "written" always feels like a win to me.
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          Brian McLeod
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  • Profile picture of the author KingOfContentMarketing
    I've used Dragon since way back. Years ago it was not very good. Recent versions have improved considerably. I guess it is about 95 percent accurate. It gets better over time as it learns your voice, and you get better at using it.

    Ideally, you want to say a whole sentence in one go, not fast and not slow. It remembers words partially based on context, the words used before and after each one. For that reason they recommend...you...don't...speak...like...this, or stop to think in the middle of a phrase. You'll get the best accuracy/speed balance by speaking the whole sentence, pausing, then saying the next sentence.

    But, sometimes you just want to ramble about a topic and see what gold you find. You know more than you think about many topics. Editing is harder with this method because you'll go back and find some passages make no sense, and the software has borked the spelling so bad you can't figure out what you said. You probably lose some good thoughts this way, but you can generate so much material overall it doesn't matter.

    You'll also see how much you slur words every day. We say things like "toldja," "didja" and "youwannago with us?" Dragon does much better when you say "told you," "did you" or "do you want to go with us?" It makes you slow down and speak more clearly, which helps your presentation on any other videos or podcasts you create.

    Another benefit: If your copywriting niche has a lot of words that are hard to spell, for example health-related words like "intussusception" or "epididymitis", you can enter the spelling one time, and then train it on that word. From then on, it will type the exact spelling the same way every time.

    Now say intussusception 10 times real fast.

    More:
    http://tomtunguz.com/the-dawn-of-the-voicetotext-era

    http://www.warriorforum.com/copywrit...r-charlie.html
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    Marketing is not a battle of products. It is a battle of perceptions.
    - Jack Trout
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Pescetti
    I agree with Brian on voice recognition stuff. It becomes more about the software.

    Still a great tool. Just not the end all, be all.

    I still say...

    If you have the opportunity to discuss projects with a real person, especially if he or she is a writer/copywriter, take advantage of it. I'm still looking for my next real life George.

    Mark
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