| Here's one of those beefy, super-cool advanced copy tips…
... that most professionals won't share with you (cuz they're selfish bastids).
Ready?
Here it is: The big secret behind the most profitable ads in history…
… all have just one thing in common: The massive deployment of empathy.
Look the word up if you're rusty with definitions. Basically, it's the ability to actually (not in a fake way) put yourself into the head of someone else. To see the world through their eyes, to feel life through their heart, to think like they think.
Seems easy, doesn't it.
It ain't. In fact, MOST of the people walking around you have zero empathy for others. It's the human condition — you live inside your own head, and the bulk of your fears, goals, dreams and aspirations…
… are all centered around the real star of the show: You.
Which is fine… for civilians.
But if you're an entrepreneur or ad creator… you're asking to be ignored (and, worse, poor) if you can't kickstart your empathy gland.
I am not being mean when I say this: You write with empathy after you learn to LIVE with empathy in your life.
Here's a nice homework assignment to goose your empathy chops: Pick 3 people you don't like. They can be family, in your social circle, biz associates, or even someone famous or infamous.
Now, walk a mile in their shoes. Get into their head, their life, their outlook, their opinions. Own it. Put your own biases aside, completely.
The copy you write, while in this zone, will the best you've ever created.
This is a tactic I learned from doing debates in college -- my prof purposely assigned me to argue positions she KNEW were opposite to how I actually felt or thought.
Damn her. This forced me to put aside my own feelings -- cuz I wanted to win the debate more than I wanted to hold onto my own biases -- and essentially "try out" a completely different John.
A John who had the opinions, outlook and determinations of someone I would normally not like, and might even despise.
Best lesson I've ever had. My entire career (and life's happiness) rests on the foundation of what she taught me. Took me out of my own head, and gave me the ability to peer deep inside someone else.
Great writers are able to "box up" everything in their head. Their own feelings, beliefs, opinions, all of it…
... box it up, put it aside, and open a different box up and OWN that new set of feelings.
I have written for markets where I had ZERO personal experience… and yet, whenever I met one of the new customers, they would bet their life that I felt exactly like they did, and shared their passion for the product, or service, or whatever.
And, no, I usually didn't change my own way of thinking. After the gig, I easily returned to my "normal" bad self, unchanged in opinion or outlook.
Though, sometimes, I changed a little bit. Other times, a lot. It was all good.
It's as close as most of us will come to being in a real science fiction story. When you get good at this, you actually become — for a short time — another person. Seeing, feeling, and thinking differently.
That's what you aim for.
Start practicing now. Empathy is NOT standard equipment in humans. You gotta birth it, nurture it and grow it.
The rewards are beyond counting. Your ads will create firestorms of interest, because you're one of the tribe. Your sales campaigns will start to bring in the Big Bucks, because folks trust their own.
And your reputation and fame (or notoriety) will reach levels of appreciation you cannot even imagine yet.
Keys to the kingdom. Use this new power wisely, though, or you'll burn in hell. It's that powerful.
Stay frosty,
John
"Truth & order amidst the chaos" 
P.S. The best "crash course" in empathy, if you're interested in being guided toward it (rather than fumbling around with your own plan)…
… is still the Simple Writing System. I crammed everything I know into that truly simple coaching program. And yes, we start with empathy early on in the lessons.
It's not for everyone. But if you suspect this legendary course might be for you, here's a fast way to see what the fuss is all about. |
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