I was over on copyblogger.com reading
“Five Ways To Write Magnificent Copy” and found this hilariously accurate tip:
“Write Drunk, Edit Sober”.
Of course the author, D Bnonn Tennant, wasn’t suggesting that the ability to write engaging prose requires a .08% BAC. Rather, that we as blogging authors need to write with a little less inhibition. We need to put a bit of personality, a dollop of passion, a smidge of silliness, a little…flavor, if you will, into our writing.
As the author put it, “Don’t self-consciously write. Just tell.” And I agree.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in the habit of running out for a six-pack before I sit down to write the blog. Although, I will say that I enjoy the occasional Dos Equis, vodka martini or a nice glass of sweet, fruity gewurztraminer.
But I certainly don’t
need to drink to loosen up before I write. I’ve learned to automatically go to my Silly Place when I write, especially when I blog, so my creativity is not dependent on alcoholic attitude adjustment.
140 Character Ad Man
This same principle of “Write Drunk, Edit Sober” can also be applied to writing ad copy.
Case in point: I’m registered with SponsoredTweets, and the other day I received an opportunity to be paid for writing a 140 character ad for the makers of a line of worsted-wool apparel, located in Maine.
“Worsted wool garments are warm and cool equally--wearable nearly year-round,” the instructions read. Certainly a benefit to potential buyers, but I didn’t immediately see any compelling call-to-action in between the lines there. So, I flipped the Silly Switch to on and decided to go looking for the humorous angle.
I hopped over to the client’s website, where I was presented with a landing page displaying the client’s logo, some text, and a widget with rotating photographs. One of the photographs caught my eye: an idyllic, pastoral setting with a flock of sheep. One woolly fellow in the middle of the photo was looking directly at the camera as if to say, “Hey, buddy…I know the deal. I wear wool all year long.”
What did that sheep know that I didn’t?
And then it hit me: my 140 character inspiration. I switched back to my tab with Sponsored Tweets, and fingers flying over the keyboard, wrote my ad.
Now, end-to-end, from the time I first looked at the opportunity to the time time I clicked the “Submit” button, couldn’t have been more than five minutes. I only charge 99 cents per tweet, but translated to an average hourly wage, that’s $12.00 per hour. All from the comfort of my home.
Easy Money.
