Reality
Bad copy pulls punches, and sneaks around the point. It tries to sell people without telling them - tires to sell by trickery. And really… it just comes across as weak. On the contrary though, good copy is real, and it’s honest. If it’s sales copy, it asks for sales. If it’s fundraising copy, it asks for money. It backs it up, sure - it tells you why you should give money. But it never shirks from the point. Good copy isn’t ashamed of what it is. It stands on it’s own, self-validated (and more powerful).
Example: I wrote the following for a client the other day: At the Auditory Oral School of New York, we’re doing some amazing things. We’re teaching deaf and hearing-impaired children to listen and speak normally. We’re teaching them to interact normally in the world, and we’re giving them the ability to live normal lives. Lives not hindered by what’s regarded as a tragic anomaly… but lives enriched by sound, and lives open to whatever experiences these children seek.
…However, as you can imagine, doing amazing work is difficult. It takes persistence, energy, and money. We’ve got the first two covered, but we need more money...
I think it’s good. I think it’s to-the-point, and I think it’s powerful. But, the response came back negative - they thought it was too “aw shucks.” Too informal. Translation? It made them uncomfortable, and they didn’t want to make their donors uncomfortable. Translation? They didn’t actually want to ask for money. They just wanted to imply it, and wanted rich people to comply. That’s bullshit. It’s waste of time (for me and for them). If you don’t want to ask for money, don’t hire a writer to do it. If you do, than go ahead and do it. Be comfortable with what you’re doing, then write stuff that backs it up. Don’t write stuff that compromises what you’d like to say… write stuff that enhances it. Have some personal power, and write powerful stuff.
Anything else sucks.
6 comments
I completely agree, we face the same kind of headwind with our work, where companies want to do social media but do not understand the transparency and are very restrictive and therefore ineffective when it comes to us telling their story.
Really makes you wonder why they decided to work with us in the first place.
great post and i think you points are strong and well written about. i think there may be a middle ground that isn’t selling out to either you or your client. saying something along the lines of we have the first two covered, but could certainly use your help with the third, or we are able to provide the first two, but would like to give you the opportunity to be part of this by chipping in and help us with the financial piece. once while i was talking to eric about his job at spw and all the fund raising i voiced my dislike of asking people for money, he said he liked it because he was able to get excited about what they were doing, and the offer people to be part of it all by donating some moolah bullah! the honesty part is strong and important to stand by. m
@margie Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for contributing something of value.
And yeah, I agree with you - there has to be a middle ground there. I wish there wasn’t… I wish I could just tell weak clients to buzz off. But, if they pay, I have to find some way. Some way to write powerful stuff that’s not abrasive. To compromise a little, without compromising the point.
More thoughts about how to do that? Other people?
Brian-
I agree with your basic premise about getting to the point and not dancing around the issue.
However, I also agree with Margie. There is a middle ground where you are still asking for donations, but doing so in a way that is simply more familiar and comfortable.
People have been used to that method for so long that they have a hard time adjusting to anything else that is more straightforward. They see it as too “in your face”.
Although the cliche is true: You can please some people some time, but you can’t please all the people all of the time. (apologies to Bob Marley)
Keep up the good work!
–Jared
@Jared: “You can please some people some time, but you can’t please all the people all of the time.”
Well said. Or, at least well re-quoted. I was probably a little harsh in writing the post, and missed one of the main points. Namely, that it’s about doing anything right… it’s about doing it in your own style (and being willing to face the consequences).
[…] and say it plainly. He was honest, and upfront… he was everything I talked about in the last post. As a result, he was good. One of the […]
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