Why is everyone so afraid to say something in their copywriting?!

April 3, 2013 • Glenn Murray

Earlier today, a friend sent me a link to this video, showing Australia’s Opposition Leader acting like a rabbit in the headlights. (I’ve skipped to the end, but the whole video is worth watching.)

Don’t get me wrong. I know this isn’t new in politics; I’m not commenting on politics, per se. But it got me thinking about how nearly everyone in my professional sphere seems too scared to say something real. Especially in copywriting.

Another friend added this comment to my Facebook post of the above vid:

“Where are the statesmen and women? Where are the Keatings, Hawkes, Frasers, and the like? We have no political leaders of worth up front at the moment.”

Where are the statesmen?

I find it hard to look at Twitter anymore. Most blogs too. There’s just too much of the same old crap. ‘How to succeed in social media’, ‘How to get links’, ’10 traits shared by all successful people’… Blah, blah, fucking blah.

Where’s the original thought? The social commentary? The new findings, the insight, the boldness?

Why the hell would I want to invest time reading your copywriting if you don’t invest time thinking about, researching, writing and editing it? You wouldn’t expect me to BUY crap, so why do you expect me to read it?! It’s still a commercial transaction.

Give me your point of view

Back in 2008, Nick Arnett said:

“This is supply and demand – when people have access to lots of facts, the value of facts drops and the value of point of view about those facts rises. The Internet has created enormous amounts of data, and as a result, value is shifting to viewpoints about the data. The big challenge is figuring out how to organize, filter and prioritize all these points of view for people to get the most value out of them.”

What people want is your point of view. Your own artwork, not a photo of a picture in a masterpieces book.

Say something, for God’s sake!

This applies to your web copy too. If it’s vanilla, so are you. Don’t be afraid to speak up. Show some personality and flair. Make a point. Imagine your website is a person at a party. Make it a magnetic, charismatic, engaging, credible, authoritative.

And, no, ‘flair-by-numbers’ doesn’t count. Office Space proved that!

You really have to show what your company really is. What makes you great.