The Golden Thread – The Week in Review
May 12–18, 2002
Welcome to The Golden Thread Online, your free e-letter from American Writers & Artists Inc. Every Saturday, you will receive this recap of all the strategies, insights and opportunities we send to you and your fellow AWAIers each week. Whether it’s a message from a fellow writer about how he landed a new client … a technique from a Master copywriter for writing a control … an insight into how to succeed in a new market … news of a brand new writing job or business opportunity for you … you’ll find it here in this easy-to-access and always available “Week in Review.”
In This Issue:
- You Got an Assignment – Here’s Your First Step to Writing a Winning Package
Bob Bly reveals the steps every copywriter should take when first digging into a new assignment. - Roadmap to Success: The Copy Platform How to Write One and How to Use It
Once you've done your research on your product and audience, Bob Bly shows you how to get everything organized and keep your client in the loop. - Success Story: AWAI’s Tom Schueneman Is Looking for Travel Writers
In an interview, AWAI's Tom Schueneman reveals why he needs your travel stories. - Marketing Insight: Michael Masterson on Fear and Greed
Michael Masterson tells you why fear and greed aren't the most powerful motivating emotions in your copy.
You Got an Assignment – Here’s Your First Step to Writing a Winning Package
As an AWAI member, you already understand this basic principle of successful copy: the more relevant facts you include in your writing, the better chance you have of getting a control.
Not all clients understand this. That’s why I use this four-step procedure to get the information I need to write persuasive, fact-filled copy for my clients. This technique should be helpful to anyone who works with copy – copywriters, account executives, and ad managers alike.
Step #1: Get all previously published material on the product.
For an existing product, there's a mountain of literature you can get from your client to use as background information. This material could include:
- Past promos – both successful and not successful
- Tear sheets of previous ads
- Brochures
- Catalogs
- Article reprints
- Technical papers
- Copies of speeches
- Audio-visual scripts
- Press kits
- Swipe files of competitors' ads and literature
- Customer service correspondence
Did I hear someone say he can't send me printed material because his product is new? Nonsense. The birth of every new product is accompanied by mounds of paperwork. These papers might include:
- Internal memos
- Letters of technical information
- Product specifications
- Engineering drawings
- Business and marketing plans
- Reports
- Proposals
By studying this material, you should have 80 percent of the information you need to write the copy. And you can get the other 20 percent by picking up the phone and asking questions. Steps #2-4 outline the questions you should ask about the product, the audience, and the objective of the copy.
Step #2: Ask questions about the product.
- What are its features and benefits? (Make a complete list.)
- Which benefit is the most important?
- How is the product different from the competition's? (Which features are exclusive? Which are better than the competition's?)
- If the product isn't different, what attributes can be stressed that haven't been stressed by the competition?
- What technologies does the product compete against?
- What are the applications of the product?
- What industries can use the product?
- What problems does the product solve in the marketplace?
- How is the product positioned in the marketplace?
- How does the product work?
- How reliable is the product? How efficient? How economical?
- Who has bought the product and what do they say about it?
- What materials, sizes, and models is it available in?
- How quickly does the manufacturer deliver the product?
- What service and support does the manufacturer offer?
- Is the product guaranteed?
Step #3: Ask questions about your audience.
- Who will buy the product? (What markets is it sold to?)
- What is the customer's main concern? (Price, delivery, performance, reliability, service maintenance, quality efficiency?)
- What is the character of the buyer?
- What motivates the buyer?
- How many different buying influences must the copy appeal to?
Two tips on getting to know your audience:
- If you are writing an ad, read issues of the magazine in which the ad will appear.
- If you are writing direct mail, find out what mailing lists will be used and study the list descriptions.
Step #4: Determine the objective of your copy. This objective may be one or more of the following:
- To generate inquiries
- To generate sales
- To answer inquiries
- To qualify prospects
- To transmit product information
- To build brand recognition and preference
- To build company image
Before you write copy, study the product – its features, benefits, past performance, applications, and markets. Digging for the facts will pay off, because specifics sell.
Roadmap to Success: The Copy Platform How to Write One and How to Use It
The next step in Bob’s process for writing controls is to create a copy platform. In addition to being an extremely helpful organizational tool for you, it’s an excellent method for communicating your ideas and plans to your client.
You can use this copy platform model as a template.
[Keep this link handy. I think you should use Bob’s model for all your copywriting assignments. Not only does it provide a strong outline for your writing but it gives your client the opportunity to see where you're headed with the promotion and correct anything you may have misunderstood in the beginning. I'm going to ask every member that submits an idea to me to submit it with a copy platform from now on. ]
Success Story: AWAI’s Tom Schueneman Is Looking for Travel Writers
A graduate of both our copywriting and travel writing courses, Tom Schueneman currently publishes his own website and e-zine in addition to doing travel writing. You may remember our interview with Tom last November, when he told us how he got started in his new career. Recently, we caught up with him after he returned from Paris, where he attended the second Travel Writing Workshop sponsored by AWAI and International Living.
TGT: When we last talked, your e-zine, "The Traveler," had around 600 or 700 subscribers. How is it doing now?
TS: Great! We're up to 1,500 subscribers. It's exciting to see my little e-zine steadily growing. Since I'm wearing all the hats – publisher, editor, copywriter, and contributing "freelance" writer – I'm continuing to learn a lot about the process of building and holding onto an audience.
There are so many newsletters out there. Why would anybody subscribe and read my e-zine? What's in it for my readers? That’s the question I keep asking myself as I put each issue together.
I use what I've learned in the copywriting course to help me focus on my readers and how I can make "The Traveler" beneficial for them. And I've found that Jen's course on Travel Writing has been a great help to me in organizing my research and planning articles for inclusion in "The Traveler" as well as for submission to other publications. The 7 templates of good travel articles, tips on writing well, the ins and outs of the travel writing business, everything I've learned at AWAI … all of this I have put to use in the "real world."
TGT: You recently attended our Travel Writers Workshop in Paris. Tell us about it.
TS: Yes! Oui! What a magnificent city! What a magnificent experience!
Well, first of all, you're in Paris. And you're not in Paris merely as another tourist. You're there as a travel writer with an assignment. Part of the curriculum of the workshop is to write a short piece "on spec" for International Living. If you really want to get a feel for being a travel writer, there's nothing better than traveling to Paris "on a mission." This is a city that has been written about thousands of times. Our task was to go out there and find something interesting and unique about it. (Hmm … "unique" … where have we all heard that before? Turns out that many of the concepts I learned in the copywriting course – like the "four U's" – apply to travel writing as well.)
TGT: What do you think that was the best part of the workshop?
TS: Honestly, all the sessions over the three days had something important to offer – and being able to interact with the other attendees is a great way to learn.
Since attending the workshop, I definitely feel more prepared and confident about submitting my articles to outside publications. We learned how to approach editors, how to find story ideas, how to research a story, the formula for putting together a good travel article, how to write headlines that will get an editor's attention (we wrote a lot of 'em), and even what editors don't want.
And then to top it all off, there's the "Little Black Book" that all the attendees received. It lists more than 100 resources for travel writers (including my website TouristTravel.com and my e-zine, "The Traveler," where you can research, book travel, and get published as well!)
There's even a website that lists the submission requirements for dozens of publications. Another one – Travelwriters.com – has press releases, press trips, and a site where you can syndicate your articles. [See below to learn how you can get a copy of this exclusive “Little Black Book.”]
TGT: Are you planning on publishing any stories written by attendees of the Paris workshop in The Traveler?
TS: Yes, definitely. I was very impressed with the level of writing that I saw there – and I am looking forward to getting submissions from my fellow attendees. I know that they're serious and have received great instruction.
I'm happy to be able to give new writers a clip and a byline. Of course, nobody is going from "The Traveler" to Conde Naste in one fell swoop – but I'm a paying publication. It's a start! Anyone interested in submitting articles can get my guidelines. If you're interested, subscribe and read a few issues. It's free. All you have to do is visit TouristTravel.com.
TGT: Any parting words for our members?
TS: I'd sincerely like to encourage anyone serious about travel writing to consider attending AWAI's next Travel Writing Workshop. Believe me … it's well worth it!
Marketing Insight: Michael Masterson on Fear and Greed
Direct Marketing gurus will tell you that people buy information products for one of two reasons: greed or fear. In my presentations at AWAI’s copywriting bootcamps, I try to dispel that myth by pointing out all the other feelings that are involved in buying and selling (e.g., pride, shame, anxiety, loneliness, etc.).
The subject came up last week in a conversation with PG, one of the most successful copywriters in America. We were talking about marketing a service that would help people through the times ahead, which he sees as very bleak.
When the conversation turned to "how would we write," the promotion, PG said, "One thing we don't want to do. Spend too much time trying to scare people."
He went on to say that his success in selling fear-based products (any kind of problem-avoidance or problem-solution product) increased geometrically when he realized that "fear paralyzes people."
Scaring people, briefly, might be a good way to get to their attention, he acknowledged. "But the copywriter who leaves his customer too long in fear will end up with very low response rates."
I believe this is a major insight. It corresponds to what I learned about selling health cures. You don't want to dwell too long on the problems of cancer or heart disease. Your prospects understand this stuff. What you need to do is offer solutions – or "comfort," as PG put it.
[Learn more about AWAI's FastTrack to Success Copywriting Bootcamp]
