{"id":2380,"date":"2010-01-26T10:40:10","date_gmt":"2010-01-26T15:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dobermandan.com\/?p=2380"},"modified":"2010-01-26T10:55:32","modified_gmt":"2010-01-26T15:55:32","slug":"catholic-copywriting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dobermandan.com\/blog\/catholic-copywriting\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Copywriting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunday, 5:34 PM<\/p>\n

Dear Friend,<\/p>\n

I love the Catholics.<\/p>\n

I better! I’m married to one.<\/p>\n

Seriously, I love their faith, their traditions, their prayers, the rosary… and all those saints.<\/p>\n

They’ve got a saint for everything<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I’ve even heard there’s one named St. Wrigley. He’s the patron saint of chewed gum stuck under desks and tables.<\/p>\n

I’m not Catholic so don’t quote me on that one.<\/p>\n

It’s obvious I don’t really understand everything about the Catholic faith, but I go to mass pretty frequently with my wife.<\/p>\n

I enjoy it. The priest is a really charismatic speaker and he always has a good message I can apply to my life.<\/p>\n

At today’s mass, a nun was reading something and the congregation had to respond after each passage with:<\/p>\n

Tus palabras, Se\u00f1or, son espiritu y vida…<\/strong><\/p>\n

For us gringos that means “Your words, Lord, are spirit and life.”<\/p>\n

Now don’t go getting your panties in a bind. I’ve learned not to talk about politics and religion… and I’m not going to try to convert you to my way of thinking on either subject.<\/p>\n

Spiritual stuff aside, there’s a HUGE direct response copywriting lesson here.<\/p>\n

Words are POWERFUL!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Your word choices can determine if your sales copy is going to be a huge raging winner that brings in millions of dollars… or a big flop that stinks up the joint and loses all your money. (I’ve written both, by the way.)<\/p>\n

Gary Halbert was hired once to try and beat a client’s direct mail control. Gary got his standard fee of $15,000 plus some kind of royalty on the back end.<\/p>\n

After the check cleared (Important lesson there, freelancers)… Halbert changed two words in the headline and gave the piece back to the client.<\/p>\n

Boy, was that client upset!<\/p>\n

Until he tested it against his control.<\/p>\n

If memory serves me, changing those two words boosted the response about 33%… and brought the client in hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales he never would have had.<\/p>\n

Want another example?<\/p>\n

Did you know the shampoo industry DOUBLED their sales almost overnight by just adding one word to their product bottles?<\/p>\n

On every bottle of shampoo, the instructions used to say “Lather and rinse.”<\/em><\/p>\n

They changed it to…<\/p>\n

“Lather, rinse, REPEAT.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The addition of that one word instantly doubled sales. (Duh! The customer used up the product faster.)<\/p>\n

That<\/em> is the power of choosing the right words.<\/p>\n

Back to mass. (Hmmmm… Should “mass” be capitalized?)<\/p>\n

As I was sitting there, pondering the power of words… and wondering if there’s a patron saint of quality footwear… I had a semi-intelligent thought.<\/p>\n

Yes, words can be spirit and life… but they can also be the exact opposite<\/em> of that.<\/p>\n

And chances are you have to battle against those “anti spirit and life” words every day.<\/p>\n

You probably hear a healthy dose of those “anti spirit and life” words from friends and family.<\/p>\n

It’s kinda ironic. The people who should<\/em> be speaking only “spirit and life” words to you are the ones most likely to bombard you with the opposite.<\/p>\n

It hurts to hear that crap from people who are supposed to love and support you. But there’s one person whose words are even MORE damaging to you.<\/p>\n

Ya know that little guy
who sits on your shoulder?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The little critic always whispering stuff in your ear?<\/p>\n

The one who’s always saying those “anti spirit and life” words.<\/p>\n

The guy who says stuff like “That’s a dumb idea. It’ll never work.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Or when you’re writing copy, “That sucks. You’re a lousy copywriter. Gary Bencivenga would think you’re a loser.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Or while you’re trying to get into the flow state and free write…<\/p>\n

“That’s stupid.\u00a0 Don’t write that. Clayton Makepeace would never do it like that.”<\/em><\/p>\n

Yeah, that<\/em> guy.<\/p>\n

He’s a real Buzz Killington, isn’t he?<\/p>\n

What if you could chloroform that little S.O.B. and be creative without his criticism and negative comments. What kind of copy could you produce?<\/p>\n

If you could tie that sum-beeyotch up and gag him, I bet you’d crank out some kick boo-tay copy lickety split, huh?<\/p>\n

Well, if you’re expecting me to tell you how to shut that guy up, you’re going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

I’ve never been able to do it.<\/p>\n

Sure, I can shut him up temporarily… but he always comes back.<\/p>\n

Ya know when he’s most<\/em> vocal?<\/p>\n

After I finish the copy. He says some nasty stuff then. Makes me feel bad.<\/p>\n

Sure, I’d LOVE to hog tie that nasty little critter and stuff a dirty sock in his mouth. But I can’t let his words hamstring me.<\/p>\n

I just push on, do the work and try my best to ignore him.<\/p>\n

And he gives me periods when he’s quiet.<\/p>\n

Sitting in that mass, thinking about “spirit and life” words, I had a little epiphany about that little critic on my shoulder… and I think I’m gonna beat that bastard.<\/p>\n

See, there’s another<\/em> guy on the other shoulder. He’s the guy who speaks those “spirit and life” words to me.<\/p>\n

Problem is, he’s really soft-spoken.<\/p>\n

The critic YELLS.<\/p>\n

The other guy w-h-i-s-p-e-r-s<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Hearing the guy who yells is easy. He’s ALWAYS in action.<\/p>\n

Listening to the guy who whispers is a little harder. You have to make the decision put him into action for you… and you have to focus intently on what he’s saying.<\/p>\n

So I’m going to do a 30-day test…<\/p>\n

Every time the little “anti spirit and life” guy starts chattering away in my ear, I’m gonna wake up the other<\/em> guy and tell him to start talking.<\/p>\n

And I’m going to focus on what he’s saying.<\/p>\n

Sure, the little critic will still be chattering away at the top of his lungs… but it’s like background music in a restaurant. You know it’s there, but you don’t actually listen to it. You can tune it out and focus on the conversation at the table.<\/p>\n

Oops! There I go again…<\/p>\n

I wanted to give you a copywriting lesson today… but I veered off and turned it into a mindset\/attitude lesson.<\/p>\n

Oh well. Hopefully you’ll still find it a little helpful.<\/p>\n

All the best,
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

P.S. In case you never hear this from anybody else, here’s your daily dose of “spirit and life” words from your pal, DD:<\/p>\n

Ya know that idea you came up with the other day?<\/p>\n

Yeah, that<\/em> one.<\/p>\n

The one that at first seemed like a really good one… until your little critic started running his mouth and talked you out of it.<\/p>\n

Well, I’m here to tell you… your little critic was wrong. It IS a good idea.<\/p>\n

And you need to start on it IMMEDIATELY.<\/p>\n

I mean it. Right frickin’ NOW!<\/p>\n

Motion beats meditation.<\/p>\n

And something good is going to come out of you taking action. Probably LOTS of good things.<\/p>\n

It may not be what you initially anticipate… but it will be good nonetheless.<\/p>\n

Probably BETTER than good.<\/p>\n

I’m not blowing smoke up your skirt. It’s been proven true time and time again during this 20 year entrepreneurial journey of mine.<\/p>\n

Something good ALWAYS happens when you pursue your ideas.<\/p>\n

And you’re sitting on a good one. So here’s your step-by-step plan:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Remove butt from chair…<\/li>\n
  2. Get started… RIGHT NOW!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Peace, I’m out.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Sunday, 5:34 PM Dear Friend, I love the Catholics. I better! I’m married to one. Seriously, I love their faith, their traditions, their prayers, the rosary… and all those saints. They’ve got a saint for everything. I’ve even heard there’s one named St. Wrigley. 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