The Tao of Copywriting, Chapter One

Sometimes, you just throw a crazy idea out there - something that you suspect will be roundly ignored - and it totally sticks the landing.

That's kinda what happened here.

I floated the idea of writing a weekly LinkedIn article series called, "The Tao of Copywriting." I liked the name, and thought it would be nifty to talk about Eastern mumbo-jumbo and bring some folks in on what I teach my copywriting students too.

Anyway, it turned out there was a LOT more interest than I thought. And most of you seemed to think I could pull this off. (Thank you all for encouraging me!)

So where should we start?

Well, at least a few people reading this won't be terribly familiar with the concept of "Tao," so let me muddy that pond for you:

"Tao" cannot be defined:

The Tao that can be named is not the true Tao; the Name that can be spoken is not the true Name. - Tao Te Ching, Ch 1.1

So out of the gate, we're talking about something that can't even be pinned down... and somehow we're going to parlay that into writing marketing copy?!

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE... ??

Tao is nothing less than absolutely freakin' everything.

And nothing more than the attention you're paying to these words right now.

As Mike Patton of Faith No More put it,

"What is it? It's it."

Tao is also commonly translated as "the Way," which further confuses people into thinking they have to DO something to attain it.

But it's only possible to experience by doing nothing to pursue it.

Are you ready to throw things yet?

Good. Then we're making progress!

Now, what in tarnation does all this have to do with copywriting?

Simple.

There's a LOT of really average copywriting out there.

It all looks the same. It all sounds the same. (How's THAT doing anyone any good?)

NO entrepreneur wakes up in the middle of the night thinking, "GODZ IN THONGZ I wish I could be practically INDISTINGUISHABLE from my competitors! If I could be forced to compete on PRICE ONLY, that would be AMAZE-BALLZ!"

(Mini-aside: If you ever catch anyone using ANY form of "amaze-ballz" non-sarcastically... I want to know about it.)

Anyway, I can't fault the copywriters.

Copywriting courses teach formula. Hook them with X, bludgeon them with Y, offer them salvation with Z, throw in a screamy BUY button, and take their money.

They don't teach connection. They don't teach integrity. And they damned sure don't teach respecting the very people you want as your customers and biggest fans.

So their graduates' copy makes prospects feel like nothing more than credit cards with fingers.

Oddly enough, people don't care for that. At all.

Today's buyers want to feel like an "audience of one."

They want to know that they're dealing with sincere people who genuinely care about their clients and customers.

They want to sense they're part of something special. Especially if that "something special" puts THEM at the very center.

The copywriting I provide my clients creates that feeling.

But it doesn't happen with "foolproof headline formulas" or "value escalators" or screamy "BUY NOW" buttons flanked by countdown timers and "LAST CHANCE" warnings.

It happens through something I can neither define, nor convey, or explain.

Now, I'm not saying that the "rules" of copywriting don't apply (although there's plenty of WOW to be created by bending the snot out of them).

I'm saying that to truly connect with my clients' buyers, sell to them in a way that feels right for everyone involved, and get them genuinely excited about my clients' value...

That goes far beyond the fundamentals.

That requires something undefinable.

Something you can't just plug into a formula and get an expected result.

And something that no one else on Earth can duplicate.

(Big spoiler - I'll be approximating that something as "Tao" throughout this series.)

Think of a song that brings you to tears when you hear it.

It's not the rules of music that impact you so powerfully. It's not even the notes or the words or the beat or the rhythm or the key, although those things all play a role.

It's something unexplainable that the performers bring to the song that makes it hauntingly potent.

If you hired a different group of perfectly proficient musicians to play the same song for you - word for word and note for note - it wouldn't have the same effect, would it?

I want to help you access YOUR "something unexplainable" in your own copy.

Your ideal buyers want to feel like an "audience of one" too.

And you can create that feeling for them through your marketing messages.

When you can do that, you become irreplaceable - no matter what your competitors try.

I won't do that by TELLING you how to write better copy, though.

Anybody can do that, whether they know what they're doing or not.

My role is to ask the questions that put you in touch with your own unique "Tao" - the essence that your prospective clients/customers are waiting to experience (but just don't know about yet).

So let's wrap up Chapter One with this question:

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?

What "pivot point" in your life made it clear to you what you wanted to do? What event or journey made you choose your particular business out of an almost infinite range of choices?

Get detailed and visceral with it. I've had entrepreneurs share deeply personal reasons, both in private and on the Lee After Dark podcast... and that's always where the true messaging power lies.

It might not seem terribly relevant to more engaging marketing copy right now, but this question can help you consistently connect with the exact message your buyers want and need to hear.

Feel free to share your answers in the comments (or a PM is cool too). I'll be back next Sunday at 7AM EST for Tao of Copywriting, Chapter Two.

Until then... be present and be well.