I’m reminded of a passage from Salinger’s Just Before the War with the Eskimos:

“… She reached into her coat pocket for her purse and found the sandwich half. She took it out and started to bring her arm down, to drop the sandwich into the street, but instead she put it back into her pocket. A few years before, it had taken her three days to dispose of the Easter chick she had found dead on the sawdust in the bottom of her wastebasket.”

Move on. Let go. Easy to say, not so easy to execute.

But if you can do it, I mean really, really do it, then there’s freedom in letting go. I’m not saying you should forget; embrace what you’ve done. Learn from your past. And then move on.

I, for one, am going to make a concerted effort not to hold on to dead chicks.

I run a copywriting company, so you’d think someone applying herein would take the time to spell check, but I’ve received some applications which make the spelling below seem downright sophisticated. Though sadly, none of my applicants have ever sent a headshot like this one….

Resimay

To hoom it mae cunsern,
I waunt to apply for the job what I saw in the paper.
I can Type realee quik wit one finggar and do sum a counting..
I think I am good on the phone and I no I am a pepole person,
Pepole really seam to respond
to me well. Certain men and all the ladies.
I no my spelling is not to good but fi nd that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety.
My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think that I am werth,

I can start emeditely.  Thank you in advanse fore yore anser.
hopifuly Yore best aplicant so farr.

Sinseerly,
BRIAN

PS : Because my resimay is a bit short – below is a pickture of me.

Employer’s response:

Dear Brian ,
It’s OK honey, we’ve got spell check.
See you Monday.

The Montreal Copywriter, age 3.

When I say I’m not that sort of writer, they ask which publication I write for. And while I’ve worked as a journalist in the past, I’m not that sort of writer either.

So then I tell them I’m in the copywriting business. “Oh”, they say, “so you do legal work?” Nope, not that either. But they’re not that far off. They’re thinking of Copyright, a term used in the legal world for the rights granted to the author or creator of an original work. As a copywriter, I do write original work. So while I’m not in the legal profession, that terminology is related to what I do.

But I’m not in the copyright business. I’m in the copywrite business.

I am, quite simply, a writer of copy. A wordsmith. A language wrangler. A copywriter.

Who do I write copy for? Businesses, mostly. This surprises a lot of people, but it’s true. If you read text on a website, or get a newsletter, chances are it was written by a copywriter. Press kits, letters and emails. Blogs. Storefronts. Branding. Catchy advertising slogans. And that person of interest you heard speak last month? Someone may have helped polish his language.

So, next time you see a line in an ad, or on a sign, that you find fun, take a moment and think about the person hiding behind a keyboard who came up with it. Those little wordsmiths who are seldom seen, but whose voices are more frequently heard than you can imagine:  The copywriters.

My friend and colleague has become a self described social media ninja, so it occurred to me that I could use his (now rather well known) image to get my point across. This is what our friend and designer and I came up with over breakfast.

The concept is simple: Mess with Bishin, and I’ll unleash the Bandito:



Not surprisingly, my colleagues have all been a lot more prompt recently.

Clown Your golden days with Viagra Professional! Fruit Cup.

There was a link (for discount medications) but I can’t help wondering what the rest of the gibberish was for. Does it have something to do with spam-checkers? It got relegated to my junkmail folder anyway. Let me know what you think… and enjoy:

Arm Radar Bomb Solid Bird Jet fighter

Discount medications for you.

Milkshake Car-race Hose Explosive Flower Girl

Bridge Button Gloves Chair Tapestry Chocolates Space Shuttle Ship Bathtub Pyramid

Arm Rocket Bridge Fungus Satellite Sandwich Spiral Sandwich Drum Foot

Diamond Chair Bank Clock Leather jacket Desk Album Balloon Pocket Brain

Jet fighter Magnet Sandwich Gate Snail Insect Rope Library Fork Square

Pants Festival Boss Compact Disc

My friend and colleague CT Moore and I were talking about the most effective way to write a particular press release when he made the following comment:

“Unfortunately, the decline of Western civilization (for which the filed of marketing is partly responsible) has made it necessary to write for a 9 year old.”

This comment really made me laugh, because as a writer and marketer, I’m constantly reminded of just how true it really is.

Sure, there are a variety of exceptionally intelligent people out there. But, when you’re writing for a mass audience, you’re most often writing for the lowest common denominator within that group. And marketing is all about writing for mass – albeit targeted – audiences.

The best marketing campaign in the world can still miss its mark if you’re audience doesn’t understand what you’re talking about. You want to be creative and clever, but don’t ever forget that there’s a fine line between effective and “I don’t get it.”

As a marketing writer, it’s important to remember that it’s not about how smart you can sound – it’s about making sure your message is received and understood by your market.