It’s ALWAYS about the reader (it’s not about you)

Copywriting is above all about stepping outside your own world and truly seeing things from the reader’s point of view.

This was brought home to me when I attended a presentation at a networking event recently. The presenter clearly had good intentions, but she spent most of the session talking about herself and her organisation. The half-hour dragged on as she got into more and more detail about things she cared about, but that meant nothing to me.

Here’s an exercise for you. The next time you go out for a drink with friends, or to any social event, or a networking meeting, ban yourself from saying anything about yourself for more than a few seconds with each person.

Instead, focus entirely on the other person. Ask them about their life, work and interests. Show them you are interested. If you do talk about something you have done that’s relevant, don’t say “I” or “me”. Instead talk in general terms and turn the conversation back to the person.

For example, if they say “I like fishing” don’t say “Oh I like fishing too . .  .” and then start to talk about your last fishing trip on the Black Sea.

Instead say something like “I’ve been told that fishing on the Black Sea is good. Have you heard much about that?”

OK – this will be VERY hard for some of you. (And as anyone who knows me will tell you, it will be almost impossible for me!) But try it and see how suddenly you become much more likeable and popular.

It’s not all about you

You can try a similar approach when writing marketing materials . . .

Instead of: “We believe in customer service so we make sure that our team answers every call within three hours.”

Try: “As a business owner you require great customer service because your time is so precious. You probably need at least a three-hour response for IT support – so that’s what we deliver.”

Note we got the same message across but just used “our” once, rather than the “me, me, me” approach of the first example. Across a whole brochure or website a change of emphasis onto the reader makes a great difference.

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