Quick Copy Tip: Gladiator Edition

LaptopLauraCopywriting, Podcast [listen here!]

In this episode we talk about why you need to make your copy “entertaining.”

  • russell-crowe-gladiatorWhat copy sounds like before applying this tip [2:25]
  • What copy sounds like after applying this tip [2:56]
  • Why this tip produces more results [3:18]

Quotes:
“Writing with personality helps the client feel less apprehensive.” – Laura Petersen

Show Mentions:

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Host: Laura Petersen
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Want to read this episode instead of listen?
Your wish is my command! Here are the transcripts.
(Let me know if you see any errors so I can fix them up!)

Intro: Welcome to Copy That Pops. The only podcast that goes deep into the psychology and strategies of getting more traffic, more conversions, and more sales from your digital copy and marketing efforts. Join Laura and her guests as they share actionable advice, step by step strategies and psychological research to help you earn more with your online business than ever before. Here’s your host, Laura Petersen.
Laura: Hey everybody, welcome to Copy That Pops, this is Laura Petersen, and today I’m coming to you from just south of Westport, Ireland. It’s on the western coast, it’s super green and there are sheep everywhere, on all the hills all around. It’s really cool.

Actually, we’re staying in an AirBnB with this really nice older couple and they’ve got three sheepherding dogs, and the man of the couple, he is actually a sheepherder, and a sheep shearer, so we’ve been asking him a bunch of questions. My husband and I are sort of obsessed with sheep at this point.

So check out my Instagram for some pictures of sheep and the beautiful green hills and water all over the place. Handle: @lsp_s You can find me there on Instagram or Twitter with that exact same handle. Would love to hear where in the world you’re listening to this from.
Today I’m bringing you another quick copy tip, short and sweet. It is called, are you not entertained? Gladiator edition.

Gladiator with Russel Crowe is one of our favorite movies, well maybe not favorite, favorite movie, but I really enjoy that kind of a movie. So, named after Russel Crowe’s gladiator, the tip is: Make it entertaining, show some personality!

With the caveat of as long as it furthers your goal, and aligns with your brand.

Side note: If you want to learn more about branding and how to create your own it brand that gets noticed, check out episode 4 with Minling Chuang. That’s www.copythatpops.com/004. She launched 54 million dollar products with Lean Cuisine and Nestle and brings some really amazing experience and stories to us to learn from about how we can improve our own brands as well.
Let’s look at an example of some copy before and after applying this tip to it. So before, maybe you’re a tax preparation consultant, and you write on your website,
“Call today to learn about a free tax audit from one of our experts who will show you how to save money, and stress this tax season.” Now that’s clear, straightforward, it’s to the point. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it could show some more personality to really attract the reader even deeper and connect with you. So how about we change it to something like this:
“Yup, we’re crazy enough to love taxes. Call today to speak to one of our number loving experts to see how you can save money and stress on your taxes this season. No obligation.” In this case, you’ve essentially said the exact same thing, but you’ve done it with a little bit more personality, a little bit more flair.
So why does this produce more results for you? Well, people like to work with other people, and you’re really showing that you’re a human, and you’ve got a personality, and, in this case it really acknowledges this particular industry’s negative perception. The elephant in the room, so to speak.

Most people hate doing taxes, I know I personally dread it and I just can’t do it correctly on my own to save my life. Thank God I have an accountant now to help me with that, because it’s just too much of a beast, and I don’t care to learn all of the ins and outs. I’d rather have an expert help me out. But I still kind of dread it every year. Even collecting all the papers that I need to send to her, and answer questions and remember everything that’s happened the past year. It’s just a bit arduous and daunting.
So, someone like this who writes with some personality and is a little bit funny, it makes me feel more at ease. Like, “Okay, I’m going to have a good experience working with this person.” They’re a real human, not just like a robot who I can’t explain something to and they’re not going to get me.

So writing with a bit of personality, and making it a little bit entertaining, it helps the client feel less apprehensive and want to just dive in and connect with you. It’s also more natural sounding language, as if you were talking aloud versus just reading and writing.

I think a really good way to be a bit more entertaining, to show some personality is to actually write as if you were speaking. That’s one way that you can put this into practice.
I’d love to see how you put this quick copy tip to work for your business, in your writing. So make it entertaining, show some personality. I would love to see some before and afters, if you make some edits and want to share and tell me about the results that you get.

So you can ping me on Twitter or Instagram at @laptoplaura. You can also email me at laura (at) copythatpops.com and for your official homework, text the word network to 44222.

If you text network to 44222, then I will send you an email back with a link to the show notes, so you can check out the social connecting information for me, and all the guests that I’ve had on past episodes to really grow and expand your network. Also, I’ll add you to the weekly copy tips, and the written format. Each Wednesday I send out one of these quick copy tips to help you improve your copywriting.

It’s short and sweet and I’ve gotten some really good feedback from them so I hope you’ll enjoy them as well and put them to work.
Signing off from Western Ireland, this is Laura, reminding you to find ‘copy that pops!’
Outro: Thanks for listening. To learn more and find additional resources, visit www.copythatpops.com. Please subscribe, rate and review if you’re enjoying the show, and we’ll see you next time.