Lessons From A Good Old-Fashioned Ad Man

As a relative newbie and fresh face in the Ad Universe, I felt I needed some guidance, strength and mentorship from a seasoned pro. For a while there I launched into New Media's Social Networks and how to communicate through those avenues. I was also reading a bunch of branding books and blogs and still do, but I needed to dip my toes into the classics.

My choice is none other than "Ogilvy On Advertising."

I've never read anything so beautiful and opinionated and brash and straight-forward. While there are so many striking lines and statements, my favorite has illuminated and verified my recent personal experience.

"If you will take my advice, don't get a job in advertising unless it interests you more than anything in the world."

Those words will rest in the bottom of my heart, Mr. Ogilvy.

Armed with pictures and littered with jokes, this classic will remain close to my pitter-patterin' heart. My eyes are bright and my tail bushy. I stand here on the cusp, Mr. Ogilvy, ready to make you proud. Now let's make some art that changes people.

10 Ways To Become An Expert In Anything

As a writer, I have to be a bit of an expert on whatever I'm writing about. If there's no knowledge and fact, then the writing comes out as vague generalities that don't get anything sold. So for me, writing begins and ends with research. Here are my methods...

1. Read the book.

2. Read the blogs.

3. Attend the events.

4. Meet the people.

5. Meet the teachers.

6. Attend a class.

7. Follow the Tweets.

8. Read the NY Times articles.

9. Ask other experts.

10. Write about it.

Fun With Analogies!

I love analogies. They are so basic that they are sometimes overlooked.

When I have absolutely zero understanding of something, the best way to explain is to place it into something I already know about. You'll notice my blog posts riddled with analogies. You'll also notice I love reading blog posts with analogies.

Here is my favorite recent analogy: The internet is like a town. Web pages are like little stores, clubs, and sometimes people. Would you go into a store if the lighting was wrong or you couldn't find anything or the salesperson wasn't helpful? I try to make sure all these real-life features are taken care of in the virtual world. Smart, easy-to-navigate web page design and copy that is informative and fun are the keys to a professional-looking store. I could keep going with this analogy, but I'll let you do the rest if you care to do so.

Analogies are to concepts what translation is to language. I don't know how to speak your language, put it into mine! I like to understand, so help me to understand.

Please take this last moment to reflect on the previous paragraph where I made an analogy out of analogy. I was quite pleased.

The Downfall Of Specialization

It was said to me, "The more you learn, the more you earn." But who has time to learn anything outside of their area of specialization? Every subject now has a endless library of books, blogs, and websites dedicated to it. With all the information available, it seems impossible to know everything about a given subject. There was a time when having your hands in a little bit of everything was revered. Now everybody's gotta be an expert. This, I think, is a mistake.

Ben Franklin wore many hats and look at the impact he had on advancing American culture. He was an inventor, publisher, statesman, landlord, writer, and more. Franklin was able to come up with ideas because he knew how systems interacted and affected each other. If he only knew how a printing press worked and refused to truly investigate anything else, there is no way we would have the libraries or the communications tools that we have today.

This post isn't about Ben Franklin. Rather, it is encouragement to all of us to be like him and explore different roads that have absolutely nothing to do with our "area of expertise."

Copywriters need to have naturally interested minds or else they won't want to write about the subject they've been paid to write about. It will be boring and without passion. I believe my job is to be a passionate learner and then a passionate conveyor of subjects. Like when you hear a song you fall in love with on the radio. You buy the artist's cd, memorize all the lyrics, and insist on playing it for your friends in the car.

I am a writer, but I am more than that. I play guitar. I read lots of books about branding and social media and fiction. Science and metaphysics are fascinating to me. In my opinion, "How It's Made" is one of the best shows on television. I wish I could list to you all of my interests, but there are simply too many.

Here's a great way to start becoming fascinated by the world again and this is something I myself do. A repairman comes to fix your hot water heater. Ask him if he will show you and tell you about what he is doing as he's doing it. He will probably be surprised and honored that you're interested in his work. People love to be teachers. Let them teach you.

Why People Hate Your Company ...

...and therefore won't buy from you.

There is a deep mistrust in the American public consciousness at the moment. AIG, come on. Bonuses. Really? We want to trust our financial institutions and big companies. We want to know it's safe to eat a hamburger. Companies, you used to be able to get away with this lying. There are simply too many watchdog groups and forums for customer feedback. Companies are learning that the rules have changed. The American public has enormous access to information now and they are on to you.

Copy in company imaging has to be more than stats, figures, and numbers. It has to put a human face on otherwise untrustworthy companies. By becoming accessible, companies will save themselves from bankruptcy. Find marketing people who understand this need for trustworthiness.

It is more important than ever to have a great website. People cannot interact with a TV commercial. One practical and immediate solution is to respond and open yourself to feedback and criticism. The truth is always immediately uncomfortable, but it always promotes growth to bigger and better things.

Imagine if your company marketed the CEO's self-imposed pay/raise freeze so that employees would not have to be fired. Hundreds of jobs were saved because you denied yourself a 3 million dollar bonus. I don't need to do much here to convince you that sales and public awareness would absolutely skyrocket.

Click here for the NY Times article on Saturn's "We're Still Here" campaign. A great example of "putting a human face" on the public perception of an awful corporate regime.

Touching You(r Heart) Innappropriately

I learned how to play with language in poetry class. Before that class, it was all grammar and essays. Where's the fun in rules? Luckily, writing poetry taught me that rules, once learned, should be broken. Be warned: break those rules at your own risk and only in order to produce a desired effect or result.
So what the eff does poetry have to do with copywriting? Copywriting plays with language to produce a desired effect in a reader/potential customer. The desired effect is usually to buy the company's product. But what is the immediate reaction that happens before the buying? There is an emotional response: desire.
Poetry or a song can make you long for a lover. Copy makes you long for a lipstick or a Sprite.
Let your copy touch hearts.

The Art of Good Web Copy

There are 3 necessities of a successful Literary Webfomercial.

A book called "Cashing In With Content" says: "People don't want TV commercials on the web - they want information." Essentially, the quote says that when someone "googles" a topic, they want information about that topic. Information seeking is a simple, but profound truth for a web copywriter. And so the art of the "Literary Webfomercial" is born.

I am a strong believer in creating engaging text no matter what you are writing. Not every product lends itself to humor or narrative, but most do. The ones that don't can still have strong, excited language that draws a reader in. What is it about the regular TV infomercial that draws in the unsuspecting insomniac? Three reasons: a) the person is extremely excited about the product and b) the person gives you situational information on the product and c) they talk to the viewer as if they were literally in the same room.

Artful web copy combines these three elements, but only has written language to express them. The copywriter must have a background expertise in the functions of language in order to full develop all three elements of a "Literary Webfomercial."

Read This Company's Diary

Hey Copywriters, let's get back to our roots: ye olde pen and paper.

So, after about six hours of being hunched over my laptop, I stood up on stiff legs and bowed my head so that my neck cracked like thunderclaps. It was then that I was inspired to get back to the humble pen and paper. Not only for the practical reason of wanting to avoid some freakish, permanent damage to my spine, but also because there is something more intimate - primal, even - about holding a pen in your hand. You may say, I'm writing copy, companies don't want me to be intimate and primal. That would just be weird. My response: companies may not want it, but readers do.

Humans respond emotionally when they interact with other humans. They don't respond to robotic word lists. They will take advice from a voice quicker than just drab words. Good copywriters have the ability to give a website eyes.

Now, this art of giving website life becomes easier with a pen. Like writing in a diary. Only instead of writing about the new cute boy at school, you're writing about industrial machines or cat litter.

If the site is readable and human it becomes your helpful friend and not a brochure trying to sell you something. Don't take my word for it. Look around at the most successful websites in history and you'll notice that they act like an informative friend who happens to have exactly what you need. It's hard to say no to a friend.

So, get that pen in your hand and let your soon-to-be friends read your diary whose latest entry happens to be about car parts.

The Advantage of a Local Freelance Writer

The writing process is an interactive one. The writer is able to sit in a restaurant and let smells, sounds, and sights over take her. She is able to watch the waiters and the customers talk and laugh. Let your copywriter see, feel, and hear the heavy machinery that makes your factories loud. The job of your copy writer is to translate the smells and sights into words that create the holographic entity your customers can feel when they read your brochure or web page copy. Invite the writer to come and experience what you have to offer your customers because it will show in more vivid descriptions and better understanding of your product and company. As a writer, if I just have to imagine a flower and describe it with words, there tends to be vague adjectives or fuzzy general language. No one wants to read that. When I see a flower right in front of me, the power of smell, color, vibrancy is easy to get down on paper. Your product then becomes not just a product, but a story and an experience. Don't make your patrons have to read a boring list of adjectives for your product or service. People like stories and they like to experience so let your writer give them both.

The Hinge Cafe

Met with the lovely folks at the Hinge Cafe to talk about their marketing and copy needs. They have an amazing reputation for their culinary arts, but little to no reputation for their other Art House projects. How do we solve this? One of the ways: amazing copy. I'm coming up with some exciting ideas now.

Check it out: Hinge Cafe