Fast X’s Michelle Rodriguez once blurted out in an interview, “Hollywood is running out of originality!”
She’s right.
It’s one reason why fresh stories like Barbie and Oppenheimer outperformed tried-and-tested movies such as Mission Impossible 7 and The Indiana Jones (already in the fifth one).
Sure, it’s safe to stick to a proven formula.
But as the saying goes in business, you gotta be ruthless.
I didn’t understand what that meant until I started looking for clients myself.
Being ruthless means:
- You don’t care what others think of you when you send DMs and cold emails.
- You say no to opportunities that distract you from your goals.
- You’re never needy, and you position yourself as an expert and a professional.
And guess what, when you apply these attitudes to online writing, you create original content, even if you’re not trying.
Here’s what I mean -
When I first started copywriting, my copy sounded flat and boring.
But then I started reading works by copywriting greats like John Carlton, Gary Bencivenga, and Ben Settle.
Their copy is full of energy and rhythm.
When you listen to their videos or audio content, they don’t sound anything like what you’d imagine from their lively ads.
This is precisely what Ben Settle meant when he said dramatizing yourself is one thing you can do to boost your online presence.
I think he’s onto something- Try writing in a style that’s very different from your offline persona.
And it goes back to being ruthless in your writing.
Don’t worry too much about what others think about your writing.
Your goal is to entertain and sell.
So go ahead and be a drama king or queen.
Say what you truly think.
USE CAPS TO MAKE A POINT.
You can exaggerate (while staying truthful), crack more jokes than you usually do, or even pretend to be someone else in your writing just for fun.
Use dialogue, storytelling, bold, italics…whatever it takes to bring out energy from your words.
In fact, the more you be yourself, the easier it is to write with more energy, persuasiveness and excitement.
To wake up our readers, we need to wake ourselves up.
So, the next time you write anything, don’t hold back and be wildly creative.
When you do that, you’ll notice immediately how much more entertaining and fun your writing can be.
If you enjoyed reading this, head over to AlexKopy.com/Newsletter to get more email marketing tips I don’t often share in public.
