Lesson 6: What to say if you don’t have anything to say.
ROB: Often, when we coach copywriters who are working on getting more visibility, they tell us, “I don’t have anything original to say… what could I share that someone else isn’t already sharing?”
And our answer to that is “lots.” You have a lot to share that others aren’t talking about.
KIRA: We understand why copywriters feel this way. After all, there are so many copywriters out there talking about copywriting… we do that ourselves. And almost no one wants to take something they learned from another expert and call it their own. That’s not right. And that’s not what we’re suggesting.
But we do think there is plenty of room for you to talk about your expertise without stepping on the toes of other experts.
For example, Eugene Schwartz was the first person to walk through the stages of awareness. He wrote about it in-depth in his book, Breakthrough Advertising. But that hasn’t stopped dozens—maybe even hundreds—of other copywriters from talking about this same principle. Most of them give credit to Mr. Schwartz. Then they put their own spin on the ideas and show how it applies in their work.
They’re not copying, they’re teaching well-known principles. And you can do the same.
ROB: On the other hand, if a copywriter has developed a unique framework to help explain their process or an idea that is uniquely theirs, you should come up with something different when you talk about that same principle.
But here’s how you ensure it almost never becomes a problem. Don’t teach copywriting or marketing to copywriters and marketers. Teach it to your niche. Show your potential clients how copy and marketing principles can be applied in their businesses to get results.
In your niche, very few people are talking about that stuff. In fact, we’re pretty certain that no one is talking about any of that stuff the way you would talk about it. And we promise that when you do that, no one in your niche will raise their hand and say, “wait I just heard that famous copywriter talking about this…” More likely they’ll say, “I’ve never thought about it like that before.”
When it makes sense, credit the sources where you learned the ideas.
KIRA: Just in case you really don’t have anything to say, let’s talk for a minute about your expertise. Back in lesson #2, we shared a list of things you probably know something about, specifically we mentioned…
copywriting, marketing, list and funnel building, offer creation, persuasion, risk mitigation, grammar, editing and proofreading, psychology, search engine optimization, analytics, data visualization, conversion rate optimization, testing, creating thinking, problem solving, storytelling, and user experience.
Of course, your particular list of expertise will look different from this. But consider what you know. Then think about how you apply that knowledge within your niche. What can you combine in unique ways to make your ideas interesting.
For example, let’s say you were an actor before taking up copywriting. Can you take your research process or your writing process and use a term or skill from acting to make it interesting? Could you create the ACTOR framework or talk about your exclusive “Curtain Call” customer experience.
Or maybe you work with architects… are there words in that niche that lend themselves to frameworks, ideas, and principles you could teach? Things like blue print, foundation, structure, build, etc.
ROB: Or maybe you have a love for ancient philosophy. What did Plato or Sohpicles say that applies to communication or marketing?
What do you disagree with in marketing or in your industry? Is there something conventional wisdom is getting wrong? What can you rant about?
There are so many ways to take what you know and combine it with other ideas, experiences, stories, metaphors, abbreviations and words… just start playing around and see what you come up with.
