It’s often claimed that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession. But before prostitutes could ply their trade, they had to market themselves, thus making prostitution the second oldest profession.
When it comes to today’s highly competitive world of promoting your ideas, originality of thought is a must-have resource.
If you were looking to lose weight, which article headline would you be more likely to open?
How To Lose 10 lbs in 10 Days
vs
Here’s How To Stop Feeling Ugly, Lose 10lbs and Make Your Husband Go Weak at the Knees Again
Or even….
How To Stop Drinking Alcohol
vs
Is Alcohol Destroying Your Children’s Future?
Originality wins time and time again. All it takes is a little imagination. Use fascination to get your readers’ attention and provoke curiosity. Depending on what you’re marketing, the offer can be implied rather than a direct BUY MY STUFF.
Yesterday I spotted this ad on Social Media.
Sure it’ll attract some business but the download rate could have been much higher if they appealed to what people want that they’re not specifically searching for.
It’s a fairly dull subject but any one of these would have tipped the scales:
• 5 Essential Tips to Secure Your Legacy: Inheritance, Probate, and Estate Planning Made Simple
• Avoid Common Mistakes: A Free Guide to Inheritance, Probate & Estate Planning Success
• Plan for the Future: How to Manage Inheritance, Probate, and Estate Planning Stress-Free
• Unlock Peace of Mind: Expert Advice on Inheritance, Probate, and Estate Planning”
• Protect Your Family’s Future: A Complete Guide to Inheritance, Probate & Estate Planning
People want to know how something will benefit them. And so they welcome insider tips and expert advice, they want simplicity, peace of mind, to avoid mistakes, and to secure their family’s future, yet the plain ad doesn’t trigger any thought of these benefits.
Copywriting, phrased correctly, is the beating heart of persuasion; the verve that separates the memorable from the monotonous, the brilliant from the bland.
It’s not simply a matter of finding words that fit but conjuring phrases that sing, dance, and slap the reader across the face with a knowing wink.
The headline below was written by one of the greatest direct response copywriters of the past 50+ years, Eugene Schwartz. His ads promoted a variety of products and services and resulted in sales of billions of dollars because he caused people to stop and look.
‘The sex food so potent, priests were forbidden to eat it’
Take Nike’s “Just Do It.” Those three words are as succinct and muscular as a sprinter’s calf, encapsulating an entire ethos without breaking sweat. It’s a masterstroke of brevity and universality, a slogan that doesn’t merely sell shoes but inspires action, resilience, and an almost religious belief in personal triumph. Its originality lies in its audacity – three little words telling the world to stop whining and start winning.
But true originality isn’t all stoic, granite-jawed motivation. It can also be irreverent, cheeky, and delightfully subversive.
Consider Dollar Shave Club. They didn’t just offer razors; they swaggered into a saturated market with the brazen, foul-mouthed charisma of a pub brawler, declaring, “Our Blades Are F***ing Great.”
It wasn’t about blades at all, really. It was a smirk at the pomposity of overpriced shaving paraphernalia, a wink to the modern man who was tired of being wooed with faux sophistication. It was fresh, rude, and hugely successful.
Then there’s Old Spice, a brand that was teetering on the edge of its own irrelevance until it pulled off a spectacular resurrection with “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”
It didn’t sell soap; it sold swagger, with a surreal, muscular charm that winked at the viewer.
In a world awash with tepid, interchangeable copy, originality is the lifeboat. It’s what makes words memorable, relatable, and gloriously effective, ensuring a brand doesn’t just survive but thrives, flipping a two-finger salute to the ordinary.
And so, we return to where we began – at the altar of words. Copywriting, at its best, is an art form that masquerades as commerce, a little slice of literary alchemy.
It’s the deft turning of a phrase that makes you laugh, think, or spend more than you should. It’s where creativity rubs shoulders with capitalism, and if done right, both leave the table a little richer.
So, next time you find yourself seduced by a slogan or charmed by a turn of phrase, tip your hat to the humble copywriter.
They are the poets of persuasion, the unsung bards of the everyday, wielding originality like a sword in the great battle for your attention – and your wallet.
For over ten years, I relied on Aweber to send out my newsletter, but recently switched to Convertkit. I appreciate its feature that allows users to collaborate and help grow each other’s audience. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time.
On the topic of originality, I came across this site:
https://sarahjaneburt.ck.page/profile on Convertkit. I don’t know Sarah from Sadam but I love the approach she takes to make her articles stand out from the crowd.
Make yours as well.
Last week, I revamped my ebook, Engaging Metaphors, Similes, and Phrases for Newsletter and Article Writers, to better align with my original vision.
Whether you use it for your online business, your restaurant, events at your children’s school or your book club, if some useful guidelines for your own output would help draw the attention you’re looking for, you’ll find ideas here.
Graeme Dinnen
ResourcesForLife.net
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