Reason #4638 to hire a copywriter: Upcycling

My dear, adorable friend, Jenni Avins just astounds me. I may have mentioned her to you before. She has a blog called, Closettour, and she is, in the true flavor of a Gen Y’er (I think she’s in Gen Y—regardless, she’s younger than me), turning the world upside down and doing it her own way. She has boundless energy and she…well…she just makes the coolest shit happen.

Her ‘genre’, if you will, is a mash of fashion, sustainability, history/origin/storytelling and journalism (read: new media).

I wanted to share one of her webisodes with you so that 1) you could get a hit of her—the enthuse will stick with you all day, and b) because its concept, I think, is spillable to our focus here. (That would be, in case you got lost, ‘writing where you want to go’—’writing’ being code for ‘however you create’, of course.)

In this webisode, Jenni is trying to clean out her closet. Which is exactly like me trying to clean out my writingroads.com cache of posts and drafts. I mean, how can I throw any of it away? As for the completed posts, each word has meaning and memory. As for the hundreds of drafts I have, ummm…I might use them someday. Those of you wondering, ‘Why would you want to throw any of it away?’ I love you.

Alas, in the midst of her heart-wrenching struggle to closet-thin, Jenni heard about these extraordinarily magnificent English women that call themselves Junky Styling. Kerry and Annika take your old clothes, the ones that you just can’t let go of, the ones that might still serve some sort of critical purpose…and make them new again.

They don’t call it recycling, they call it—upcycling. Because they are making your items better. They are bringing them up—to now. To what you want now, to what you need now. And they do it in a way that lets you hang on to the past, the what if, the hope, the thread.

For all intents and purposes, if you are someone that likes to hold on to things, the women of Junky Styling are actualizing our deep belief that all of those items—be they skirts, one line random thoughts, sweaters, poems, scarves, postless titles or whatever—were purchased or devised and then held on to for a real reason.

So I started thinking about how amazing it would be to have Junky Styling for words and ideas. People that take ideas, scraps of words, worn out prose, random concepts, hopes, futures, bits of brilliance that just didn’t match the rest of your message or ad or article—and upcycle them. Turn them into clear, concise, wordy perfection–exactly what you need now.

And then I remembered that we already have people that do just that.

Oh, how I love my job.

Behold Jenni Avins below in all of her Closettour glory:

CLOSETTOUR: Wardrobe Surgery with Junky Styling from Jenni Avins on Vimeo.

Reason 314 to hire a copywriter: We bring it

You know that I love my work. But some days, well, I love it an extra lot.

I got a rush assignment on Friday to write the opening speech for an annual company meeting. Does that sound boring to you? Okay, keep your pants on. It gets better.

During the prep meeting, I learned that the company is not thrilled with its team’s performance. The tone of these opening remarks was to be unapologetic, in your face, take no prisoners. Terms like, ‘there are no excuses’ were tossed around. And I couldn’t help jotting down in my notes, ‘there are no points for second place’ – just like Jester said.

Oh, and then I was told that the audience is primarily men. Smart, high-performing, extremely motivated, (cocky, arrogant bastard) men. The words in the parentheses are all mine. I’m a writer, I editorialize, I can’t help it—but believe me, that was the tone. (I editorialize, but I don’t make things up—I’m not a fiction writer, after all.)

“This thing needs testosterone,’ I was told.

Remember the Brady Bunch where Marcia gets through her speech-giving nerves by imagining the audience in their underwear? Well, I just imagined this audience full of my old boyfriends.

And I had so much fun bitch-slapping them around with my words, that it took me all of 45 minutes and one draft to nail it.

Which brings me back to Reason 314 to hire a copywriter. We really can bring it—whatever kind of it you happen to need…

Image credit: khowaga1 (and yes, that is a picture of my exes in their underwear)

Getting to write

I was working with a delightful blogger/copywriter-to-be yesterday in my consulting capacity – and she asked me this:

How do you get yourself to write everyday, how do you get yourself into the habit of regular writing?

1. You’ve got to love it…or at least love the rewards it will get you – if you don’t have a penchant for the writing itself. The endgame is important here.
2. Find your community. You (yes, I’m looking at You) are part of why I can’t wait to write and then publish here everyday. I revel in your comments and your tweets and your emails, in our connections.
3. I never force myself to write. If it’s not working, I move on to another project. Or I walk away from my computer. No one likes to be pushed. I don’t believe in writer’s block – I do believe that there’s a time and a place for everything. Sometimes it’s not your time to write – accept it and move on. It will come back. I promise. But it will take a LOT longer if you don’t just let it go for a bit, if, tragically, you insist that it happens.

And there’s one more answer.

So often when we can’t do X, it’s because we’re only thinking about X. And hence, we forget that we can do A, B, C, D….

I hate speaking in intangibles so, let’s do this: I wrote a post yesterday about making up a portfolio if you don’t have any ‘official’ writing samples. And Dave Doolin commented that it’s the same with programming. And I responded, ‘Isn’t it the same with everything?’.

The thing, the ‘X’ you think you can’t do is: make a writing portfolio, designing a website, baking a cheese cake, running 5 miles. But the how is the same: you do it one piece at a time, you ask others for help, you follow directions, you jump in, you PRACTICE, you realize you should hire someone else to do it.

The Point is this: the WHAT isn’t important. It’s the HOW that matters. And you already know how to do the HOW – you HOW all the time. Sometimes easily, sometimes with a bit more sweat and grit.

So, when it comes to writing…

….there must be other ‘things’ in your life that you do on a regular basis with ease and joy.

• What are they?
• Why do you like them?

Now: apply those answers to writing, blogging, your business.

Here’s how I do it.

4. For the love of Running: It gives me a sense of accomplishment to finish my course. It makes me feel strong. I thrill at saying hello to other runners along my way. I like the rhythm of my foot falls on the road. Writing Translation: I get a sense of accomplishment when I finish a post. I feel strong and smart after I’ve written. I thrill at saying hello to my online community…and I love the rhythm of my finger falls on my keyboard.

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FYI: You may have noticed a new button up there at the top of my sidebar, courtesy of the astoundingly good Amanda Farough. Check it out if you need some personalized juice or jumpin’ for your writing, blogging or other businessly pursuits.

Image credit: The Hamster Factor

Do it yourself

When I started Writing Roads, and I started hawking my services, almost across the board, people asked me for the same thing: my portfolio. They wanted to see my work. I know, it’s shocking.

I knew I could write. I knew I could write for them. But I didn’t have anything that I could show them in the way of a portfolio per se. And that seemed impossible to me. I’d been writing my whole life – how could I not have any writing samples?

There was a moment where I thought, ‘Shit! I’m stuck in the classic Catch-22. I need a job to get writing samples, but I need writing samples to get a job.’ I felt dependent and a bit hopeless. I’d thought this was all going to be so easy – people would need good writing and I would write for them, goodly. All I needed was my computer and my brain. But now, with the writing sample roadblock, I was convinced that I needed other people to make my life as a copywriter begin.

I hate when that happens. It can be paralyzing. But really, it’s just an excuse not to move forward – born of the fear of taking a risk and the possibility of being great. Which is why I was thrilled when I saw that there was another way.

I cobbled the pieces together in my brain like this:

• I’m a writer.
• I’m trying to prove that I’m creative.
• I’m trying to prove that, as a freelancer, I can be responsible and self-manage.
• I have absolutely nothing to lose.
• I have a computer – and I know how to use it. (just like I’d said before, I was just going to use it for me first and then for my clients)

So in a stunning show of non-procrastination and verve, I gave myself twenty writing assignments. And then – and here’s the kicker – I completed them! I made the whole thing up. I wrote ads, I wrote sales letters, I wrote press releases, I wrote web copy, I wrote marketing letters. And I put them in a lovely black binder.

I also told potential clients what I’d done. I wasn’t about to start out under false pretenses. This was me - love me or I’ll leave you. I figured one of two things could happen:

1. They’d respect it and jive with the gumption. And this would be good.
2. They’d think I wasn’t for real and judge the fact that I didn’t have ‘real’ samples. And I wouldn’t want to work with those kinds of people anyway.

Most of them hired me. And I slowly replaced my made-up pieces with actual client work. Though I kept a few in there…for posterity.

I’m thinking about how often we don’t do things because we think we need something outside of ourselves to complete the task.  I’m thinking about how often we wait for someone to come through and do their part before we can take our  next step. I’m thinking about dependency. I’m thinking about self-sufficiency.

Is there anything – right now – that you’re not doing or finishing or starting because you think you need someone or something else to help you? Why in the world are you doing that? I bet there’s another way.

Image credit: newwavegurly (those are not my feet, but I do have and love those shoes)

Uphill sprints

Over the last few weeks I’ve received quite a few ‘how’ questions from readers and clients.

• How do you get it all done?
• How do you write every day?
• How do you deal with writer’s block?
• How do you get new clients?
• How do you grow your business?

There are more….but they don’t really matter. I mean, they matter, but the details don’t – because these questions are all basically asking the same thing: “how do I/you/we keep going when it gets hard”.

Of course, I can only answer how I do it, how I make it through adversity, through the uphill climbs. I can’t possibly answer that for you.

But, I’ve been thinking about this a lot – my answers to these how questions, and found some insight this morning on my run.

I have a love/hate relationship with my usual loop – because the first 3 miles or so are just excruciating. For the most part, they are flat and straight. There isn’t even an ocean view. These miles are treacherous and hard. And seemingly endless.

All of this contributes to the fact that by the time I get to the first hill (straight up past the lighthouse), I’m thrilled – for the novelty, the challenge, the difference, the ocean. But that doesn’t make the hill easy.

And while I was noticing this, I was also busy running up the hill. Not jogging, but running, sprinting. That steady pace I’d survived through for the first three miles was gone. The harder it got, the steeper it got, the harder I pushed and the faster I ran.

Et voilá. That’s my answer.

The uphills are going to come, right? There’s nothing we can do about them. And they’re going to be what they’re going to be:

• A 50 page website that needs to be written
• A month’s worth of blog posts
• An ebook you want to create and all the trappings that go with it (here’s how you do it, by the way affiliate link)
• Finding new clients
• Reaching out to a site with a guest post
• Getting out of bed
• Eating well
• Exercising
• I could go on and on and on…

The point is this: writing a blog post means writing 400 +/- words. It doesn’t matter if you take a month to do this or twenty minutes; it’s still 400 words that must be written. How quickly, efficiently, and well you complete the task is up to you.

How do I do it? Apparently, I look forward to the hills and then I sprint up and over them. Though sometimes I gather hardship, piling it as high as I can.  And then, I stand at the bottom and freak out for a bit and complain and talk about my plans. I do this until the hill is a mountain. ‘Cause I like a challenge. And because I find easy to be excruciatingly boring.

image credit: Stiphy

Reason #4343 to hire a copywriter: Seeing eye to eye

One of the best things about walking out from behind your computer screen and going to conferences is meeting people that heretofore you only knew as an avatar.

Let me fill you in on something. No one looks like their avatar. Some look worse, some look better (Oh! How my fingers ache to put examples behind those statements!) and they’re all decidedly warmer. But, no one looks like you think they will.

Case in point, Steve Sherlock came to find me at SOBCon. There were big hugs, “I’m so glad to finally meet you”s, and on and on. And then there was my realization that he was roughly 8 feet tall. And that I’m not (I forget this fact a lot – sort of like a chihuahua). He noticed too, saying, “Wow, from your Twitter avatar, I thought you’d be much taller!”

“She’s larger than life,” said my dear friend Andi. God bless ‘er.

This ‘in person’ thing is the only time I don’t like being short – ’cause otherwise, I really like it:

• I curl up in chairs easily.
• My feet have never hung off the end of a bed or stuck out of the covers.
• I can be carried easily in cases of emergency (or passion).
• Falling down hurts less.
• I’m afraid of heights.

But, when I’m talking to a peer and I have to look up at them to converse, a power imbalance ensues. And, unless the tall person gets off on intimidation and lording over others or unless the short person thinks of themself as unworthy and, well, small – I don’t think it’s comfortable for either party.

Personally, I simply won’t stand for it. I want to look into your eyes, not up your nose. So I did this (see below) and it was caught on camera and tweeted by Steve Woodruff.

@Swoodruff: Julie @writingroads strategy for having face time with tall people

(Ignore the face I’m making in this photo, I’ve run through every word I know and I can’t find one that causes that face.)

See, it’s like I told you the other day, I’m not above stepping on things to get what I need.

The Power of the copywriter

Good copywriters solve problems. If your competition or your dream clients are ‘taller’ or ‘shorter’ than you, copywriters and content creators (and social media strategists) should be able to figure out a way to get you to eye level, to position your message and brand in a way that creates a natural conversation, connection and relationship.

Interruption marketing just isn’t cutting it anymore. It’s done from a perspective where the company is decidedly bigger or smaller than their customer, and therefore, has to scream to get their attention. Interruption tactics include:

• TV commercials
• Radio commercials
• Let’s face it: all commercials
• Blinking, obnoxious ‘BUY THIS’ windows that open when you’re just trying to read a post
• Pushing your products on people
• Not listening, just talking/yelling/shouting
• Taking, sucking and bogarting the energy

As opposed to relationship, or relational or human, marketing. Blogging and social media tools can be used quite effectively as a means to this relationship building, by the way.

• Meeting people where they are.
• Listening to what clients and customers need.
• Solving their problems.
• Not pushing your product on them.
• Giving, not taking.
• Being a real person.
• Building a relationship of trust.

All difficult things to do when you’re staring into someone’s belly button.

Ze interview

I love doing interviews because they make me consider things that I either think about a lot and never say out loud or completely take for granted and don’t think about enough. When someone asks you the questions point blank, you’re forced to find answers, scour your brain for how you really feel and then put those thoughts into words.

If you’re trying to come up with a strategy or a plan (business or personal) or you just can’t figure out how you feel about something…ask someone to interview you. If you feel like you haven’t ‘done’ anything lately, let their questions force you to take stock of how far you’ve come and what you’ve done. Let their curiosity and their point of view, unstick your mind and your gears.

Of course interviewing other people also begets great blog content.

Alyssa Martino recently interviewed me about writing, my personal brand and giving back to other writers. Her questions made me step back and think about the present and the past, and I’m quite certain, jolted me forward as well.

Check it out here.

Image credit: Thomas Hawk

Our web connection, my blog setup and your blog writing

Our Web Connection

They don’t call this a web for nuthin’. We’re all connected, sometimes in strange ways, by its invisible strings.

Seriously, the number of times that I write something, then read another post and blink with surprise that my message is right there on someone else’s blog wrapped up in different words – is astounding. The reverse is also true, just look at the comments in my posts – it seems at least once a day someone links me to a brilliant post they wrote that connects right in or exclaims, ‘I was just thinking/writing/talking about this!”

I absolutely love this. To me, it’s like the air around us is ripe with these ideas and we’re all just plucking them off the tree and making them ours. To share this brain and thought process with so many other people is like getting to swim in that pool with the pods in it in Cocoon – I think it actually feeds us and makes us better. Sometimes it even glows.

So, I was not shocked when I woke up this morning and saw Chris Brogan’s post on the necessity of purpose and focus for your blog, when I was sitting here with the guts of a post with a similar vein. My post is about my blog and about yours…

My Blog Setup

Well, really my whole site. Way back when I started my copywriting business, I thought it was all about the website – so I got one. And I loved it. When I quickly discovered the world of blogging, I dove in full force – for my clients – helping them write and leverage this platform for their own businesses. But I didn’t blog for myself.

Eventually, the uber-talented illustrator, Elizabeth Whelan – after hearing me go on and on about what blogging could do for a shared client we had, asked me where my blog was. Uh, er, um, well… She told me she wouldn’t speak to me again until my blog was up and running. THANK YOU, Elizabeth. I pulled a WordPress blog onto the writingroads.com site and my life hasn’t been the same since.

And then, recently, I’ve been finding myself in another one of these ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situations. I’m telling people left and right…

• to just build a blog, not a traditional website
• and add static pages
• for SEO purposes
• for ease of use, content management
• for UI (user interface) or VEO (visitor enhanced optimization)
• to use plugins for expansion and growth
• to maximize sidebar real estate

And the whole time, I’m eyeballing my blog with a sideways glance. The cobbler has no shoes, the therapist’s family is full of nutjobs, and yes, the blogger’s blog is out of whack.

So, finally, with the help of the lovely, Shauna Callaghan, I’ve redone my site – the right way. You might not even notice, because it’s likely you didn’t ever click on those typewriter keys up above that shot you over to the ‘web’site and off the blog. But now when you click on them, they keep you here whilst showcasing my work and services. And www.writingroads.com gets you here now as well (no more need for writingroads.com/blog). Ahhh…c’est fini! (besides the incessant tweaking I’m doing). My wish is that it’s easier now for visitors to know who I am and what I do…

What does your blog/site need? How can you tweak it so to perform better?

Your Blog Writing

The other thing on my mind is your blog. This morning, when I tweeted CB’s post about blog focus and purpose, I added this: “(and if you need help focusing/purposing, call me)” – and several people responded with messages that looked something like, “Please help me!!!” in varying degrees of agony.

So, I thought it was worth putting it out there, but this time here: I help you figure out the blogosphere by helping you answer these questions:

• What is my blog’s purpose?
• What is my blog’s theme?
• How do I define and rein in my scope?
• What do I write about?
• How do I write it?
• How do I focus my content and outreach?
• Should I talk to other bloggers?
• Which ones?
• How do I do that?
• What plugins do I need?
• What is a plugin?
• Do I need to use Twitter and Facebook?
• How do I ______? (fill in the blank)
• …and on and on.

Let me know if you need help…after all, with the way this web connectivity thing is going, you were probably just thinking about all of this anyway…

Image credit: Jeff Smallwood

How do you open your spigot?

You know how when you go on a diet and tell yourself that you won’t eat something – then that’s all you think about, and finally you break down and instead of having just one piece of chocolate, you’re having a fried peanut butter, banana and Nutella sandwich, a platter of nachos and a pint of Everything But The from Ben & Jerry’s?

Well, it’s come to my attention that I’m in a post-diet binge. But it’s not food that I’m inhaling.

It’s life, it’s experience, it’s sensory consumption, it’s adventure. Of late, I’ve been doing things I wouldn’t have done in the past. I’m throwing a lot of caution to the wind – almost all of it, actually. I’ve been saying yes, when I historically would’ve said no. And I used to say ‘no’ a LOT. Now my decisions aren’t making me, I’m making them. I believe it’s called selection.

My body and mind are humming with it. The adrenaline rush is palpable…and it seems to stay, not rush in and then quickly back out. It’s more like a steady build. And there’s only one way to describe the way it all makes me feel: alive.

My creative juices are flowing, my writing juices are flowing, my networking juices are flowing, my business juices are flowing, my energy juices are flowing, my – well, you get the point.

And it makes me think that maybe the ‘diet’ wasn’t so bad after all. You know, because the feeling lies in the contrast. The marked difference between before and after.

Is the secret in the risk taking? In the saying yes instead of no? In simply doing the opposite of what you would normally do? In being effective instead of being affected?

How do you open your spigot?

Image credit: lucias clay

Reason #4510 to hire a copywriter: Sushi Tacos

Seriously. I’m not kidding.

The first time I saw them on the menu, I thought, ewww, no. I thought, I can’t do that, there’s something wrong there.

But the second time? Oh, the second time. That’s the time I just let myself live.

I’m going to let you in on a little secret: I could live on sushi. The only problem with Japanese food, as far as I can tell, is that they don’t use butter. But to be honest, I’m not really above shmearing some on my next salmon avocado roll.

This past weekend, when I was in New York City, I ate sushi (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 – give me a sec, counting on my fingers) six, yes, six times. And, one of those times, I fell in love with a little something called a Sushi Taco at Nobu.

How ‘bout I break it down for you:

• Homemade taco shell, thick (like 5 or 6 wimpy Tostito’s thick), just enough oil to leave a fine sheen on your finger tips, perfect crunch, divine salt crystals scattered about, about 4 inches in diameter (if flattened)
• Filled with little pieces of either salmon (raw), tuna (raw), lobster, crab or seviche…tossed in some kind of asiany-cilantroy-stunning marinade that made you want to sing
• Covered in salsa verde that was purely savory, not tongue burning whatsoever

There was not one thing about this sushi taco that was wrong. I didn’t even miss the guacamole, and that’s saying a lot because I have a pretty intense relationship with the avocado. The melding of the flavors, the textures, the size, the beauty – all right, right, right.

But it should’ve been all wrong. When you think sushi, you think rice, not corn, and certainly not tortilla. When you think taco, you think melted cheese and chili powder saturated beef, not raw fish. (Yes, I know there are fish tacos wondering around in this world, but those are just tacos in fish’s clothing, tacos with fish cooked with mexican spices – like a beef substitute).

But this, this…this masterpiece was still inherently Japanese. It still tasted, looked and felt like Nobu.

They took their basic signature product (sushi) and added a spin (taco/mexican) that pushed the envelope, the reputation, the flavor, the brand to a new place.

That’s what you want your copywriter, marketer, blogger to do for you. Use the tools, use your stuff, but add that something that will take it to a whole new dimension. In a way that only you can do it.

I ate 4 of those dimensions…and I want many, many more.

Yes, I know, I know – I should have taken a picture of the tacos, but A) I’m a horrible photographer and the camera on my new Blackberry curve SUCKS, and B) those tacos were made for eating and eating alone – I was consumed by the edible experience and could not pause to document it. So…Image credit: NicoleLee