Walking the line between authority and relatability

Happy Friday!

Welcome to Edition 29?of Alex In My Inbox.

A weekly copywriting series where I share interesting, actionable, and hilarious copywriting tips from "Alex."

Alex is an anonymous copywriter who shares these tips with me so that way I can share them with you.

This edition is brought to you by?021 Zero to One.

Today, Alex talks about how you can change the way you write in order to change the way the audience looks at you. It’s pretty meta, but I think you’ll enjoy it.?

Check it out:

Dear Chase,

I read a book. For real.?

I haven’t read a book since high school, and even then, I only got through the first 3 chapters before I gave up and went to Spark Notes for the summary.?

I just finished Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey, and it taught me a lot.?

Number one, I can’t stop talking in a Texan accent. I want to be this guy.?

Number two, I learned a bit about what it sounds like to write like a REAL MAN.?

This guy has a very unique writing style that I believe is worth looking deeper into.

Compared to the way I usually write, he had this authority about him that made him so interesting. It made me respect him.?

I realized that he exists on the polar end of a spectrum between authority and relatability.?

Yes, the stories and lessons he writes about are relatable in the book, but he doesn’t write that way.?

When you’re writing to be relatable, you involve the audience a lot more.?

You speak TO them. You put them in your story. You tell them what you want them to know about you. Especially with email copy, you can use their name IN the piece that they’re reading.

You constantly have to have a finger on their pulse, checking in with how they feel and what they’re thinking at all times.?

Writers like Matthew McConaughey don’t do that. But it’s still magical to read.

He doesn’t speak to the reader. He speaks to himself.?

He uses bigger words, longer sentences, and ideas that are juuust out of reach for some of his audience.

But his voice is COMPLETELY his own. He couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else.?

I found that I respected him as a writer for being comfortable living in his own world. Most people can’t do that.?

As a copywriter, you can make up for a lack of authority by being so incredibly likable and fun in your writing that people read you just because they love you.?

As a more authoritarian writer, you can make up for a lack of relatability because you’re charming, interesting, and wise.?

Because the goal of most copy is to pull an audience out of a scrolling-induced slumber and inspire them to take action on something, it’s extremely difficult to monologue like McConaghey.?

So I don’t recommend that people write like this on an ad or a sales page to cold traffic.?

However, if you have an email list that you’re sending emails to 3-4 times a week, you have the opportunity to do both.?

Switch back and forth between the more “selfish” authority-based content, like McConaughey, and the relatable, direct, and audience-focused content that you’re used to writing and seeing.?

The former will add a level of authenticity and trust, and the latter will inspire people to buy whatever it is that you’re selling.?

Make sense?

Yours truly,

Alex

Sent from my Kindle?

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Love this email from Alex, and I’m so proud that he decided to read a book!

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Have a great weekend,

Chase