Dear Chase,
Does writing come naturally to you?
It didn't for me.
You have a voice that sounds like you. I could do the equivalent of a blind taste test for writing style and I'd probably be able to identify your style.
I think one of the most important things for writing long-form branded copy is having a cool style that feels easy to read.
In the same way that you're more likely to listen to an interesting person tell a story than a boring person, your writing has to have the same presence.
How do you give writing "presence"?
Words on a page can't be tall, handsome, and wearing Gucci sunglasses.
How do you add "sauce" to writing and make it naturally good?
There are a couple of points I can offer here if you're interested.
And listen, I know you didn't ask, but I'm doing this more so for me. You are my human diary.
Anyway, here are 3 tips I thought of last night for how to give your writing "sauce".
1. Be physically better looking.
Hear me out. This may sound crazy, but you have to feel confident before you begin writing.
Obviously, as a freelance copywriter, I don't really need to show up to an office, and I don't really need to look presentable.
I used to write in my pajamas with slippers on. I didn't feel clean. I wasn't feeling myself.
Now, I make a point of going to the gym every day, I dress decently well, and I shower before I start work. I might even actually put a pair of sunglasses on.
When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you write well.
That's how it is for me.
2. Live a cool life and talk to a lot of people.
The biggest mistake that a copywriter can make is to shut themselves off from the outside world. Your job as a copywriter is to be the "output" machine. There are days when I'll have to write 2000-4000 words in one sitting.
If there's no input feeding my output, I'm out of gas.
If I have to write a lot, I need to be taking in opinions and ideas from other people that'll give me inspiration to write.
Some of the best copy I've ever written was inspired by something cool that someone else said to me that I re-contextualized and put into an email or an ad.
Pretty interesting when you mix different people's ideas and consolidate them into your own brainchild.
3. Roleplay as someone else and pretend you're them.
When I first started writing copy, I had zero style. It was very flat and boring. I just didn't have enough reps. Only about 4-6 months in did I find my voice and relay it across different brand voices.
Before I had my own sauce, I had to borrow sauce from other writers to keep my clients happy.
I was a student at the time, so I was reading a lot of Barstool Sports content. It was right up my alley.
I noticed that Barstool had a pretty consistent voice across all of their content, so I just broke it down and stole it.
Their style was to talk like a clever and clear-headed frat guy, and include a lot of pop-culture references in their writing.
I actually still do that today, and it serves me well. People love it.
If you were to replicate this, pick a content site or publisher that has a style you like and reverse engineer to see why you love it.
John Mayer had a cool quote on this.
He said that you find your style as a guitar player by trying to play like your idol and failing.
Even if you don't play guitar, this analogy is perfect for copywriting, too.
Without style in your copywriting, nobody cares.
You have to make people feel something.
That's why they buy.
In order to make them feel something, you have to make them fall in love with you.
Sounds crazy, but it's actually pretty simple.
Chat next week.
Yours truly,
Alex
Sent From My Smart TV
P.S. I highly recommend you go watch Chase and Cardinal Mason's latest podcast here.
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