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First! Now, I'm going to watch the vlog.😂❤

thanks 🍻

A prime example of how culture significantly impacts language.

@bostoncopywriter Oh and I have misused "hone in" and "home in." 🙋 Thanks for clarifying it.

@bostoncopywriter In most cases, if a client doesn't understand the word or phrase, I just drop it. You don't want to make it tougher to get the message across. If you're explaining, you're losing. I had a similar experience with the phrase "late models." It means new, or pretty new. The latest fashion. Or "The robbers were seen driving away in a late model Chevy sedan." But a client didn't understand the phrase. I was trying to say their equipment was newer and ran well -- unlike competitors that may have old, beat up machines. The client thought the phrase made them sound old... Like they're late to an event, I guess? I knew I was using the word properly, but if they didn't understand it, someone else might not either. So after explaining it to another copywriter, I changed the phrase. Better to be clear.

@bostoncopywriter One of my journalism professors used to talk about dictionary publishers who were prescriptive (telling you what was correct) and those who were reflective (listing the way people used words even if it wasn't standard English or "correct."

Great advice. Something else worth mentioning is that there are a LOT more small businesses than there are major brands.

Fire, thank you🔥

Thank you so much, Robyn! Informative, helpful a lot.

Another perk of Google docs: If you're using (even a basic) Chromebook or Android phone, you can download and share the file as a Word doc. You don't need to have Word on your device. It hasn't happened lately, but ive had clients who couldn't figure out how to open a Google doc. So I just shared it as a Word file instead.

You are a great instructor. You showed the steps of how to do a certain task in Google Docs and than you repeated those steps a couple of times. That helps the person retain the information better. I’ve been using Google docs more because most people I know have a gmail account but don’t have Word installed. The difficulty I have as a longtime user of Microsoft Word is finding where similar features are in Google Docs. It’s even worse for me trying to use Google Sheets in lieu of Microsoft Excel. I could navigate Excel with my eyes closed. I spend so much time in Google Sheets trying to figure if the same features exist. Forgive me, I digress. This was another great video. Thank you.

I love Google Docs! I find it super intuitive and honestly enjoyable to creatively customize documents.

I'm not too worried about AI/Chat GPT even if it does get to the point it can nail tone and voice. I won't be surprised if it gets there in my lifetime. I adore technology as a whole and seeing how far we've come with animatronics and robotics makes me of the belief it's more of a matter of "when" than "if" humans figure out how to progress tech to a certain point. I mean... Disney's animatronics in Tokyo in particular :O it's like the animations literally came to life. Whoa! I wonder if Walt ever thought his animatronics would ever reach the point they have now. Science in all its forms is always ahead of ethics and humans are so busy creating they don't always stop to think of the consequences. How very Jurassic Park of us, right? Despite that, tech has always needed humans to be part of that progress. Copywriting and content writing can't be totally replaced by AI simply because AI is a tool. No one worries about hammers replacing construction workers. There's just too many steps that go into construction that the hammer is simply not equipped to do all on its own. Copywriting and content writing involve communication, empathy, marketing know-how, etc. AI's respond to prompts given to them, they don't take the initiative nor are they "programmed for chaos" in the way humans are. But that chaos is what makes content become relatable and allows us to figure out how to reach the intended market. AI writes to complete a goal. Humans write for an audience. There will totally be companies who try to use AI to replace people, but one of the most important investments any company can make is in its marketing department. Actually, screw "company"- we're talking *anything* made to sell *something*. Selling tickets to a movie? You need marketing. Selling merch at a con? You need marketing. Selling "views" on a TH-cam channel? You need marketing. Marketing isn't just a big thing, it's EVERYTHING. So if you cut corners there, you simply won't last too long out here in the digital urban jungle. The vicious tiger of obscurity will devour you into oblivion and you'll be lucky to end up on the 10th page of Google. The smart CEO's and business tycoons care about profit and they know how to invest to make that happen. They aren't satisfied with being on the first page of Google, they want to be the very top result. And you don't get that with using AI as your entire marketing team. The concern imo is how long that learning curve will be. I wonder just how much garbage that AI will be leaving in the public park that is the internet for the park rangers i.e. *us* to clean up later. The algorithm is surely gonna become some bratty child in a toy store. What a nightmare that'll be. But I'm confident good writers will be able to whip into shape whatever monstrosity people create in the future. Call me overly confident or optimistic, but I've always got hope for humanity. We can be messy sometimes, but we make cool shit. 😎 Great video, Robyn! You always bring a refreshing perspective to the conversation. I hope your channel continues to grow because your voice is so incredibly valuable, especially right now. Not only do copywriters need to see this, but entrepreneurs could greatly benefit from this information as well. Looking forward to what you make next! <3

Thanx for the video awesome staff, exactly what I had been looking for all in one place

Another great vlog. I’m like the mafia. Pay me my money on time or else there will be consequences.😅

@bostoncopywriter Had you suggested the client do some brand voice exercises? Or were they not interested?

Thanks so much, Robyn! Your videos are always super helpful <3 Hope you and Mr. Word Nerd are doing well. :D

One brand that misses an opportunity with its voice is Death Wish Coffee. It's website is full of mortality puns... Except for its deathly dull blog. It's all about brewing tips. It sounds completely detached from the rest of the site. I wonder if it was written by poorly prompted AI. @bostoncopywriter

Some brands have a different tone depending on the platform -- Twitter/X posts can be snarky, for example.

The Copy *Bitch*☠️

I watched the "Crush" ad and I can see what they were trying to do. Their thought was saying "all your creative endeavors can be found here in one place *and* it's the thinnest model yet!" but they missed the mark on the filmography. Showing the explosions and the mediums being destroyed, the sound design including the popping of paint cans and strings from instruments coming undone, does not send a hopeful or inspiring message. This doesn't make me want to creative. This doesn't excite me. It's kinda heartbreaking actually. This doesn't convey as "condensing for your convenience" as intended. Rather, the entire creative workspace part is lost. The line about how this is the thinnest iPad yet also failed to emphasize *why* that mattered or how it applies to creative work. This ad could've easily been interpreted as "we're less concerned about our creative and innovative customers and more concerned about those who need this to be portable". Especially at the end when all that is left is a gray, corporate space. It can be perceived as Apple saying "we're changing our target audience". And honestly I can see the ad being received well by non-creative work-type people who go "hey that was cool and yeah I could use something lightweight to take on the plane during my work trips". If that was their goal then I mean yeah. It absolutely sends the message their target audience changed! And from here on out I expect to see a change in their voice and who they're marketing to. Otherwise, it's a yikes from me. Looking at Coke's ads could've been great for inspo. They do a lot of swirls and circles in their visual marketing, and I think it's to give it that "bubbly" vibe, but having a sort of cacophony, a visual whirlwind of tons of musical instruments and paint cans and sculptures and books, etc, being funneled into an iPad that's being held in someone's hand already, the camera pans from the flash of rainbow across the screen to the person's smiling face, and whilst walking they're able to wrap up something they were working on before sliding their iPad into their bag and meeting up with friends. Enter the dialogue of something along the lines of "all your favorite tools found in our lightest model yet". That all gives an idea of the purpose of this product and who it's for and why it matters. It might've worked well to do a "swipe" transition between various shots of different creative peoples- anything from robotics to architecture to music making to digital art, and how the iPad is being used during all of them. The people could be moving the iPad around between frames to visualize just how light and portable it is. This would've shown how efficient and great the product would be for its target audience- creatives in various industries, not just art but also things like engineering. It helps to know which programs the iPad supports and what type of people would benefit most from a lightweight computer. Showing a digital artist be able to take their workspace outside and get inspiration from nature, for example, gives a visual and practical example of how to use the product. For Apple, I think they missed the mark on not having people in this ad campaign. Crushing creative mediums in a monotone space with only a hand shown at the end was kind of alienating? It comes off cold and corporate, impersonal even. Apple tends to go more towards streamlining responsiveness across their various devices and simplifying workflow without sacrificing customization, so this vibe was a huge shift in how the brand usually operates. They often lean into the whole "minimalist modern and white backdrop but rainbows for a pop of color" so the gray was very new and not a good way. Marketing is aimed at people at the end of the day, especially the base in B2C. It's like they forgot their products get used by humans. But yeah, crushing was so not the way to go... XD Right idea, horrendous execution! Great video, Robyn! Thanks for all the helpful insights on brand voice and tone <3

Great as always. I'd like to hear you talking about any american company's brand voice you find relevant.

Whose that behind 😅

I was actually scrolling. Looking for someTHING to point me in the right direction when it comes to getting “pen to paper.” Great video and story about Larry and your relationship with him. Thanks for your video.

"Be politely persistent," is great advice! I feel like a lot of people forget to do both. They're persistent, but they're abrasive, and it can ruin relationships. Or they think they're being polite and end up getting taken advantage of. Be confident that you deserve to be compensated for your work, but be understanding that people are human and sometimes a mistake isn't ill-intentioned. Have boundaries. I see this issue too in the art community. Artists who don't ask for full payment upfront often learn to do so in stages. Otherwise, they risk not getting paid for the work they do. I've had a lot of friends get scammed, sadly. Sometimes clients don't realize how much time goes into these things and don't realize they're being rude. Like they'll cancel a project but rather than paying for the part of the work already done they won't pay for anything at all. So if an artist has done the sketch or line art or even the flat colors, all that work is for naught now. A huge waste of their time that they could've used making money with someone else. Sadly a lot of clients only think "but I didn't get the final drawing, so I'm not going to pay" and don't consider all the work that went into it up until the point of cancellation. Copywriters can run into similar issues too. You may have done research and written a first draft, but your client decides "nah" and cancels the whole thing. It could even be the project your copy was going towards went under or changed. But if you did some work for them, you deserve to be compensated for what was completed regardless of whether or not the whole product was completed. It can be extra hard for writers I think to set these boundaries because, as marketers, we can get really vested in our clients as people and treat the brand as something that we want other people to connect with. That's the whole point. And it can somewhat blur the lines between professionalism and friendship at times. Not that you can't be friends with a client, but it does make the money part hard in cases like this. I'm not sure I'd call California "pro contractor". TBH I don't know the state of things there, but I do recall a big stink with the gig workers law. From what I understand, it's caused a fair bit of grief. If that's been rectified then I have no current knowledge of it. But the concern was how it would affect things in a negative way nationwide. While it may not have been the intention of the bill, it certainly had some problems to be addressed at the time it was proposed back in January of this year. I don't live there, though, so there's still much I don't know and have yet to learn. But I think it'd be something for freelancers to check out and be aware of. Sometimes we have to remind our representatives how to best represent us. Their proposals could often use suggestions for improvement from the people they serve. Some links if you're interested: th-cam.com/video/UPVJYJGHFJs/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=paidcopywriter thehill.com/opinion/white-house/4473229-watch-out-californias-damaging-gig-workers-law-is-going-nationwide/ www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-administration-issues-rule-that-could-curb-gig-work-contracting-2024-01-09/ Great video, Robyn! Thanks for sharing your wisdom with us <3

This topic is relatable... 😅

Very helpful information from an experience copywriter. Thanks, Robyn!

Trully i have watched dozens of video on copywriting and marketing but no one literally no one give this type of effective blueprint. I have less time to spend but still I am starting this. Trully appreciate you 🤩❤️

I wanna gatekeep this but she deserves more appreciation🫶

Super helpful as always, Robyn <3!

EOB and EOW

I took me forever to understand how to handle B2B copy

Wait... B2B doesn't stand for "boring to boring"? 😁

TOFU, MOFU and BOFU sound like dwarfs names from fairy tales, don´t they? Well, the only one I wasn´t aware of is SERP, so I´m not so lost after all. Thanks, Robyn, cool content as always. See you around, Copy Bitch!

Bravo, Robyn. New sub! Just the kind of b*tch I like! haha As for grammar and punctuation... my rule is: everything posted publicly should be double-checked. That keeps it simple for me in life, and in business.

@bostoncopywriter With your medical residency/specialist copywriter analogy, l think you've done some health care writing. 😁 Good comparison.

“Copy bitch” is the most cringe thing I’ve ever heard 🫠

Thank you so much for doing this .🙏🏾 This is a great framework to follow. I'll start tomorrow ❤🏃🏾‍♀️

Robyn props to you for always giving valuable content. YOU ROCKS! <3

Thank you so much

Hi Are you looking for a processional TH-cam thumbnail designer and video SEO expert?

2% recall on numbers/statistics. 85% recall on stories!

Hi Robyn, love how you managed to teach us about what not to do in the cold emails but you weren't disrespectful in any way to this person (absolutely love to watch your videos, also because of the puppy:). Which way of getting clients do you recommend for a copywriter from a third-world country?

Writing ad copy for the financial and "health" industries is, in my opinion, the absolute pits. It's like being a particularly shady used car salesman.

It's all unethical. 'Entrepreneurs' are just exploiters, capitalist 'projects' are just exploitation. It's all value extraction and accumulation of capital.

This is a super helpful video, Robyn! Thanks for sharing your process. :D

I think while copywriters are building their own brand, it's important to keep in mind the sort of clients you're attracting. If you work in an industry you don't like, then that's the work you're going to have in your portfolio and it'll continue to attract people in that industry you're not about. Sometimes we have to take jobs we don't "love", but I think putting it in the context of "do I want my other clients/ future clients to know I've done this? if this client recommended me to someone in their industry would I want to take that job?" then it becomes clearer if that's the right client/work for you. It may not be your "passion" but as long as you can feel comfortable putting your name on it and you want to actually do the work, then it's probably, at the very least, a decent fit. Ethics vs values is an interesting discussion. For me, I see ethical copywriting as universal whereas values are individual. So for example, my idea of "ethics" is being honest. I wouldn't advertise a product does something if it isn't proven that it actually can. That's not only illegal, but even if it wasn't it'd be lying and manipulative. It's something *no one* should be doing as a copywriter. Whereas my values align with my own personal moral compass and preferences. I may be willing to budge on some of my values, depending on the situation. But ethics I would never negotiate. There are gray areas to both, but moreso in values than ethics I'd say. For new copywriters, it might be a good idea to write down core values to not just your brand but yourself *outside* the brand. This can act as a lighthouse of sorts when you're trying to navigate more turbulent waters. It gives you something solid to refer back to and help quiet those stormy moments.

I like to say people don't have relationships with business, they have relationships with other people. It's not to say things like "brand loyalty" don't exist. They absolutely do else copywriting itself wouldn't have the same teeth that it does. But what makes things like a "brand" work is that personable, relatable vibe it has. Not to say it's always "casual", but the brand voice should feel authentic to the client it attracts. For those doing their own copywriting business, it's great for us to take our own advice. Ensuring we feel like "real people" to our clients forges a relationship between us. Experiences become stories and stories create connections. And that's how the world goes 'round. I think if people started framing their mindsets like that, it'd make building a business feel less daunting. It's kinda like a "choose your own adventure" game. When you work with clients you really like, the quest may be done but you don't have to say goodbye. You can always offer your service and "re-add them to your adventure party" at a later date. You might be a great match for certain projects, so there's no need for you to hunt for new clients or for them to hunt for new freelancers if you both enjoy working together. Same idea goes for having clients you *don't* like or having a client where the work you do just isn't what you want to do anymore. You can keep doing work with them until you find a "new party member" to add to your pool of clients and go on new adventures with them. Some people end up feeling stuck or even that they can't work with the same client for whatever reason. But it's your business. These are your legos. You get to put them together however you want as long as you feel it's keeping the structural integrity.

For those who wanna learn more about doing cold pitching, I'd check out @/ paidcopywriter and @/ LocationRebel because they have great videos and the former, Christine, has built most of her brand around this method of getting clients. If may or may not be for you, but if you're interested then I'd give it a go! That email looks like one of those scams where bots look for related keywords and cook up something in chatGPT then send it to what it thinks are relevant places. Prolly why you didn't get a reply back- I have doubts there's a real person on the other side of that screen. If it's not just fishing for personal info, chock full of dangerous and sketchy links, then I'd be incredibly surprised... That being said, I think copywriters (both new and experienced) definitely make mistakes like these, so they're great to talk about for educating the copywriting community. I *hate* headliners like that! The way I see it, I'm not Tom Hiddleston. No one is paying me to be Loki, so I shouldn't be tricking anyone period. @/ AlexCattoni talks about "de-douche-ifying" the internet and this is a great example of manipulative copywriting that is so 1920's false advertising. 💁🏻‍♀Everyone is looking for an excuse to stop reading your email and tricking me is a great way to end up smacked with the block hammer. In creative writing, we say "show don't tell", so "make sure to read to the end" isn't the best way to keep the reader's attention imo. Instead, incentivize me. Drawing people in with promises you make good on or sales tactics such as "read to the end to get a discount code on X" is more likely to retain audience attention than a tone that's making demands of what I should do with *my* time. Especially after the initial deceptive tactic? Trust me, I'm not in a forgiving mood after that one! If the person who sent you that is real and not a scammer and happens to read this, then don't get discouraged. Everyone starts somewhere on their journey and it's okay to make mistakes if you learn from them. :) If you keep getting up after you fall down, eventually you will learn how to run. 💪🏻 If your brand is to be playful, then I say go for it. Your voice may not be for everyone, but anyone can appeal to it. That being said, there's a balancing act of personality to attract sales and unethical techniques that I think more copywriters should be aware of, especially in this day and age where, with so many options, clients are already looking for an excuse to count you out. Great video, Robyn! You handled this with compassion and presented a great learning opportunity for everyone. :D

Someone at the church I attend (only for a few weeks, bear in mind) suggested I write copy for them and I politely told them that I'm not in a space to do work for free but if that changes then I'd approach them and volunteer my services. I don't plan on doing work for free unless I'm just passionate about the project and consider it like "volunteer work" in my own mental framework (not necessarily something to write off XD). I always hate being asked to do something and then my work be taken for granted. But I'm also the type of person who thanks the automatic soap dispensers at restaurants. Hey! With the rise of AI, we gotta be polite to our future robot overlords, amirite? ;P In all seriousness, for those who want a personal friend or family member to do work for you, if you're asking someone for a gift or favor just bear in mind that a little humbleness and appreciation go a long way. It's hard to work with clients who treat freelancers like garbage when we *do* get paid let alone putting up with Aunt Shirly's usual can of BS and barely getting bragging rights for that killer web copy at the next family reunion to show for it. If you acknowledge and appreciate the time I'm spending because I care about you and want to help, then I'm not only going to do my best but I might even do more in the future. I'm doing this because I love *you* or the project and working for you without any pay is a *pleasure* not a burden. But if you treat me like a workhorse and I don't even get a carrot, don't expect me to saddle up the next time you want a ride. Despite the name, freelance is *not* working for free! XD