All t*ts & ?s

Alternative title - Sorted in 60?: Tits in a Minute.

You might be forced to read on for some context, here, as this blog takes you down a bunny-hole of how I name offers and services in my business (because I'm sure many of you simply cannot sleep at night without this knowledge).

When I came up with my 'one-to-one' copywriting offer at agoodwriteup during the pandemic, the hardest part wasn't figuring out what I was specifically and uniquely brilliant at doing, or pinpointing the pains and problems suffered by my potential clients in return for their cash. The hardest part was naming the damn offer in the first place.

Actually that's not true, because as a believer in being clear over being clever in your copy (I know, strike me from the Copywriting Magic Circle with immediate effect for not 'waving a wand with words' or whatever), I knew that giving people a name with a strong reassurance of results - plus a timeframe in which we could achieve it - would serve a great purpose in my branding, and so the general naming premise quickly sprang to mind and felt pretty damn solid as an option.

For reference, this now pretty much famous one-to-one copywriting offer is called Sorted in 60?, but there's a little bit more of an origin to this name...

Although the 'Sorted' element could admittedly be seen as vague, the whole point of the offering on the table was that if a client came to me with a specific problem, if I then felt I could sort it, I would agree to the session and we'd go ahead and work together (hence why you have to get in touch with me first, rather than book a slot straight from a calendar). If I couldn't see a way to help someone with their copy or content problems, or I didn't feel confident that things were in my zone of genius, or I just felt like we weren't a good fit to work together, I just wouldn't work with them. Therefore, neither of us would waste our time, the client wouldn't risk their cash, and I wouldn't risk my reputation.

Similarly, the '60' was simple. An hour of someone's time is bloody nothing when you consider how long we spend in our businesses, careers, and passion projects in the first place. In fact, wouldn't you rather that someone could do something efficiently and effectively with you to the max in line with exactly what you asked of them, than having them go away and fuck about for months with it? The alliteration of using the 60 rather than 'an hour' was music to my ears, too. Love a bit of the 'literation, I do.

The first drafting of this name came with a problem, though.

Two, in fact.

The first problem was that I initially went with 'Sort it in 60', which when said aloud (quickly, especially), or written as a hashtag (because I'm cool), unfortunately sounded and looked a lot like the promise of tits. Great for initial engagement, but not so great for the professionalism and credibility I was going for in the promotion of my new business offering. Not that I don't love a promise of tits, of course. Who doesn't?

The issue was easily sorted by changing to, well... 'sorted'. Simple.

Oh and from tits to ?s... Sorted in 60? is a Registered Trademark, don't you know!?That’s right, apparently?Sorted in 60? is so damn good it’s become very much worth trying to steal! Copywriters, copying. The fucking irony.

Anyway, the second problem with my naming strategy is more ongoing, and sporadic though it is, there's the issue that the name of the offer - Sorted in 60? - lends itself a little too well for some people to speed away with 'Sorted... in 60 Seconds'. I blame Nicolas Cage for a lot of things in life, and having to explain to people that I can't actually sort their copy and content problems in the time it takes for Memphis Raines to steal a Ford Focus (or something) is now one of them.

No, your hard-earned cash isn't going to see us effectively create or set fire to anything of note in just 60 seconds. I'm not THAT good (yet). But having said that, there are hints at the progress...

• My very dear and long-standing client Gary King has gone on record more than once to re-brand the sessions as "Sorted in 30" (he was also one of the first people to ever sign up, which I am forever grateful for).
• One of my business besties?Lesley Walsh often tells me we're "all done" less than a third of the way through any of our booked hours together (hopefully she means this is in a good way).
• My lovely client and much-adored TeamGDI micro-community member Sarah Burgess just a few weeks ago publicly claimed that she'd got everything she needed "In just 14 minutes" on our call.

If we do indeed get 'sorted' with your copy and content early doors, bugger off and enjoy your free time, stick around and have a giggle with me to avoid doing boring business stuff, or push me on every single remaining minute of that paid-for hour to get even more than you anticipated from my content-based support, ideas and creativity. But the likelihood that you'll have 59 minutes to spare... it's not going to be something I'm going to pre-emptively boast as a given, I'm afraid.

So what's the detail with this?Sorted in 60? thing, anyway?

I'm not going to tell you.

Why?

Because when you signed up to Jo Blogs (you're still marvelling at that name, I know), I promised you no selling. Just sharing. Or over-sharing, given the 'tits in a minute' thing.

All I'll say is this.

With Sorted in 60?, you'll either never need me again, or you'll want to work with me forever.

(Damn, I'm a bit good at this writing lark).