I was talking with a couple of very experienced and successful copywriters recently.
The three of us were at an industry event and catching up. Talking about work, clients and so on. The usual stuff.
Then one guy says something that really grabbed my attention.
I don’t remember his exact words, but here’s the gist what he shared with us…
“I’m not sure I can do this anymore. Some of my clients are expecting me to stretch the truth so far it feels like I’m being asked to deliberately deceive my readers. I know, I’m a copywriter. It’s my job to be persuasive. But that doesn’t mean I should have to hype things up to such a degree that I’m pretty much lying.”
My other colleague agreed and said he’d been feeling much the same.
Don’t get me wrong. Neither said this was their experience with EVERY client. But it was happening enough to make them feel really uncomfortable.
My point being, if you feel uncomfortable about the “hyped-up” side of being a copywriter, you’re not alone. Many experienced copywriters feel the same way.
For myself, it’s been about 3 years now since I last worked for a client that asked me to really lay on the hype and make outrageous promises in my copy.
It was when I walked away from that client that I started digging deeper into the idea of conversational copywriting.
I was looking for a way to still deliver powerful results as a copywriter, but without the hype.
I wanted to find a way to be a good copywriter, without having to shout. I didn’t want to have to get in my readers’ faces and sell AT them.
Instead, I wanted to feel like I was getting into a lively conversation, and making my pitch with a perfectly natural and honest enthusiasm.
If that sounds more like the kind of copywriter you’d like to be, I have some good news for you.
The low-hype, high-enthusiasm and conversational approach to copywriting is a perfect fit for the web right now.
People online have increasingly sensitive BS detectors.
They know the web is not a traditional, one-way, broadcast medium like TV or a magazine.
They know it’s a two-way medium, where they can be publishers too… even if that only means having their own Facebook page.
They know the web is a shared, social and conversational place.
And that means millions of people online are becoming increasingly resistant to sales pitches that are heavy on one-way hype. They want to feel included and engaged.
When they come across too much hype they simply click the back button, or install an ad-blocker.
And if they get too much hype in their email inbox, they just mark the offending senders as spam.
They have choices and the power to make those choices.
It’s a great time to turn your back on hype…
My copywriting colleagues are feeling under pressure to write MORE hype. And they’re stepping back.
Millions of people online are becoming totally fed up with hype, and are voting against it with their back buttons and adblockers.
So… if you want to build a career as a copywriter, but don’t like hype, you’re absolutely not alone.
In fact, you’re in exactly the right place at the right time.
Because there is a powerful alternative to old-school copywriting.
It’s an alternative that fits the two-way nature of the web perfectly.
It’s called Conversational Copywriting.
It’s the anti-hype… and it works by engaging and selling in a way that is honest, enthusiastic and real.
NOTE: If you’d like to add the craft of conversational copywriting to your online writer’s toolbox, find out about the Conversational Copywriting course here…
What people are saying…
“I can definitely see how all the usual cliches and sales patter of traditional marketing is getting overlooked now, and that conversational copy is the way to go. Fab course Nick, thanks!” Katie Sayce
“By nature, I’m not the pushy, hype-y, manipulative salesperson type. That is what turns me off from doing any type of sales work. I like the genuine, honest and friendship forming kind of two-way copywriting that conversational copywriting conveys. In my opinion, conversational copywriting is more appealing to the younger generations of consumers coming up in today’s marketplace.” Sheila Koester
Learn more about the Conversational Copywriting course here…
