189: Conversational Copywriting, Psychology, and Lessons Learned from 40+ Years as a Pro Copywriter with Nick Usborne
Copy That Pops: Writing Tips and Psychology Hacks for Business
A Serendipitous Journey into Copywriting
This chapter explores the guest's unexpected transition into copywriting, reminiscing about their early days in a British ad agency and the vibrant industry atmosphere. They reflect on their diverse background and pivotal moments that shaped their 40-year passion for the craft, highlighting the serendipitous nature of their career path.
Unlearn 'bad writing' you from academia and get back to conversational copywriting! Write like you are sitting across the table from someone and talk to them like yourself, like someone they can connect with emotionally.
That's the core of what we dive into this episode with a pro copywriter with over 40 years experience, tons of incredible stories, and lots of tangible advice for entrepreneurs and marketers of all levels to improve their copywriting and get more clients.
Nick Usborne is in the Copy That Pops house...
Free Guide to conversational copywriting below too!
A Few Highlights from This Podcast:
- Nick grew up in England (now lives in Canada)- Went on a travel adventure at age 20 and stayed for about a year in a 7th century Byzantine chapel cave in Turkey for $50
- How Nick got a job writing copy for an ad agency without education or experience.
- How do we write for mobile?
- What can we learn from print ad copy, direct response marketing, and writing for the web tips?
- Does the visual presentation of copy matter? (Yes! How to craft copy that works visually too)
- Nick's best advice for being more 'conversational' in your copy and why that's so important.
- How can we find what our audience is actually saying so that we can write better copy?
- What is mirroring in writing? Can you give an example of how we can do it?
- Book: Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It Chris Voss
- Example about waiters...1 group praised guests for order, the other group mirrored back the order...2nd group got 70% higher tips
- FREE Guide to Conversational Copywriting, PLUS 3 Instructional Videos
- The FREE Guide shows you 5 simple ways to make your marketing copy more conversational, work harder and deliver better results.
- The 3 Videos explain why conversational copywriting works so well, and how to find and develop your conversational voice.
- Go here: https://conversationalcopywriting.com/pops
Nick's Books:- Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy - Popcorn Content: The craft of writing short-form content for social media - NEW PATH TO RICHES: How Your Neighbors are Making a Big Second Income by Writing and Publishing Their Own Money-Making Websites
Our GuestNick Usborne (pronounced "UZ-born") is an expert in copywriting and web writing. He has written copy for some of the world's biggest brands, including Citibank, Apple, Chrysler, MSN.com, New York Times, WebEx, the U.S. Navy, and others.
He attributes his success to "conversational copywriting," and he's here today to share his approach to help you write persuasive and effective copy for clients.
Learn More Here: https://conversationalcopywriting.com/nick-usborne-copywriter
Great Quotes- "I use words to design a page." - Nick Usborne
- "I write the first few sentences really, really short." - Nick Usborne
- "It's not just the writing thing, it's the visual signal you give with how you write your words." - Nick Usborne
- "Don't hit me with a 5-line paragraph." - Nick Usborne
- "Writing for the web is different." - Nick Usborne
- "These days, we shouldn't be writing at an audience, we should be trying to engage with an audience." - Nick Usborne
- "Use the mindset, the language, and the kind of respect you would bring into a conversation -- write like that." - Nick Usborne
- "The web is the ultimate direct response medium." - Nick Usborne
- "Conversational copywriting is the opposite of the 'tips and tricks' approach." - Nick Usborne
- "Kids -- all of us as children -- are ultimate copywriters. We know exactly how to do it. And we have that ability educated out of us." - Nick Usborne
- "Everything important in our life depends on conversation." - Nick Usborne
- "It's not my job to write clever headlines, it's my job to listen and then to mirror the language back to the reader." - Nick Usborne
- "If I'm not leaving money on the table, I'm burning trust." - Nick Usborne
- "If you can get this to me in 5 lines or less, I'd love to read this email." - Nick Usborne
- "The best way to improve your writing is to cut stuff." - Nick Usborne
- "All the big names on my resume, that all came from the book." - Nick Usborne
- "In terms of a credibility builder, [a book] is amazing." - Nick Usborne
Podcast full shownotes for this episode on Conversational Copywriting
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