Hello, hello my friends. If you are a speaker, a writer, or maybe you're an online entrepreneur, I'm going to share something that you may not have thought of, but something that I have observed in my own journey as I've been a writer and a speaker and an entrepreneur. I'm going to share why copywriting is your best friend. Sometimes we don't connect all the dots, but today I'm going to break it down for you here on the Resilient Faith Online Show. Welcome. I'm Marissa Shatterg, host of the Resilient Faith Online Show. I'm an online marketing coach and certified copywriter. In this podcast, you'll find a different perspective on the external and internal challenges we face as online creators. Join me for some inspiration and practical tips to create positive influence in the world. To continue the conversation, learn about my private resilient creator community. Go to MarissaShatter.com forward slash community. Hello, hello, hello. For some of you, you don't notice a change, but there's something different that I'm doing. My podcast is now going to be on video. Yes. As you know, many podcasts are on video now. And so I'm I'm feeling the pressure, right, to have podcasts on video. I resisted it for a long time because one of the nice things about having a podcast is that it's just audio. And you can just do it at any time. You could do it early in the morning. You can do one in the weekend when you're still in your jammies. And obviously, I'm not in my jammies today, but you got to put your makeup on and everything. So I was resisting having to go video, but I'm seeing that all the recommendations are saying that podcasts are non-video. So I'm going to try it out. Plus, I'm going to be having some guests that will be joining me. And I want to feature them on YouTube as well. I want to give them as much exposure as possible. So we'll see how long this lasts. Maybe um, maybe if it works out, I'll continue to do my monologues on video. If not, I'll just do the guests on video. So hey, I put my makeup on. What can I say? So today we're going to talk a little bit about copywriting. And something that I've realized as I look back, as I reminisce some of the um key things that I noticed and I continue to notice about copywriting. Most people think copywriting is just something that you do to get people to buy stuff. But oh my friends, it is so much more than that. When I first heard about copywriting was way back when I started writing, and I was trying to learn how to write more succinctly. I really wanted to write inspiring articles. I wanted the articles to make a difference in somebody's life, right? It wasn't just to write just for the sake of writing. So I ended up joining a writer's group, and this writer's group was fabulous. I loved the little group. We had about 10 or 12 people in it, and I'd drive about 20 minutes, and I couldn't wait to go to this writer's group every week. Every week we met. And sometimes they would offer some opportunities. The leader, the person that was facilitating it, would find opportunities where you could submit maybe a pitch for an article idea that you had. They would share some of their wins, some publications that they were published in. It was really a great group. And within this group, there was a gal that uh shared that her specialty was copywriting. And I was thinking, copyright? What is that? You know, I wasn't quite sure. And nobody was really quite sure. This was years ago. And so everybody had their specialty. Some people were writing their memoir, some people were writing uh short stories, some people were writing their first uh fiction novel. Um, I just wanted to write articles, and this gal was a copywriter, and so I was really interested in it, and she just said, Yeah, I just write stuff for businesses. And that was all she said. And I thought, she writes stuff for businesses. So I started, of course, researching it, figuring it out. What is a copywriter? And I realized that the words that businesses use, it's very important how they craft them. And I thought that's where it started and end. I thought that was it. Copywriting was specifically for businesses that want to sell stuff, but it's so much more. Even during the time, and it wasn't until I looked back at some of my notes, all of my notes that I had early on about writing were really elements of copy, but I didn't realize it yet. And so I started noticing way back when I was trying to get published in magazines, I was still in full-time ministry. So that was still my main gig was full-time ministry. And in ministry, you realize that you have to communicate in a way that inspires and encourages people. First of all, you have the people that are volunteers, they're not all on staff. And the majority of people that lead some of the ministries and organizations are volunteers. And so the way you communicate with them is a little different because they are taking uh time out of their lives from their families and they are volunteering. And then we also had needs of donations for various ministries that we had. We needed donations, and sometimes we needed donations for local events that we were doing, like the food drive. We needed donations of food, not just monetary. And so, depending on what was going on, you know, we needed um people's support in various ways. And then we also had an academy that I was very much a part of. That was one of my main roles was onboarding new students in this academy where they could actually get college credits and transfer those credits into a college later on. And those were for students that were going into theology or leadership. And I instinctively I knew I can't talk to volunteers the way I would talk to students. They were all different. Volunteers were often young parents, they had little kids, and the kids were either part of the school or they were part of some of the programs that they had for kids. And so the parents volunteered some time while their kids were in the programs. The donations oftentimes came from people that were already seasoned, you know, older couples that were already established in their businesses were pretty much well off and or they were retired and had um had wealth to share. And so a lot of times older couples donated generously. And then we also had the academy, which were students, primarily those that just recently graduated from high school. So I knew there's no way I can talk to someone that just graduated high school the same way I would talk to someone that would donate generously for some program or some type of uh outreach that we were doing. You'd have to talk differently. And definitely with those that were volunteers, you spoke to them differently as well. And so early on, I realized that communication needs to be tailored very, very well. Otherwise, it just falls flat. These are all copywriting principles. And at the time, I didn't know it was a copywriting principle, but I did know enough that there was always some things that I had to keep in mind, and that was that there's always one audience that I was trying to communicate to, not multiple audiences. And what was that that primary outcome that I was looking for? And what was the the offer or the request I was asking? And what did I want them to do? So, very much in all the scenarios, even though these audiences were so different, you had to approach it differently. And so I say that only to say that copywriting is baked into so many things that we do and then we don't realize it. But I needed to figure out why some promotions worked and why some of them didn't, because it didn't always work out like you had planned, right? Sometimes we didn't reach our revenue goals. Sometimes we didn't reach the enrollment that we wanted. And so we had to see what why did it work the first time and why didn't it work the second time? So we would begin to look at the data to see what did we do differently and what can we change so we can have better results the next time. And so when I continued writing, I was in this writer's group and I was writing articles. So much of the advice that I got is to really understand the audience that I was writing to. I was hearing the same things, but I never connected the dots, right? And even back then, I was looking at some of the notes I had way back when I was publishing articles. And um this the notes were really telling. I had this one sheet that I created how to tighten my writing, and I had a checklist. This was before I even knew there were checklists out there that you can download. I created my own little checklist. And one of the first things I had in the top of the page was first draft, because I knew that the magic was in the edits. And the first draft, I had hook, and I had below it thesis. And then below that I had reader takeaway. Interesting, right? And then I had transitions, and then I had scene descriptions and some other things. But the first draft, the very first thing was hook. And we hear that so much in copywriting. What is the hook, right? And so early on, and this document is old. This was something that I was using when I was first trying to break in and get articles published. And it went on at some of the things that I needed to have in the first draft, and then some of the things I needed to check in the first revision, and then in the final revision. I knew there would be many revisions to get it tight, to get it succinct, to make it clear, and to be able to be at least considered for publication. And then when I started blogging, I had another document. Now remember, I stopped blogging this inspirational content some years back. And then I started blogging on marketing, and it was kind of a combination of live streams and some show notes with it. I'm gonna start up my blogging in a different way, articles that are more about marketing, strategy, copywriting in the future. But it's interesting to see at the top of the page, these are my own personal notes. These aren't things that I downloaded somewhere, right? This is a template that I created for myself when I was blogging for five years and I wrote about overcoming fear, right? There was a lot to say, I suppose. I was a very fearful person, as you recall. I've shared that story before. I was afraid of everything. I didn't even want people to read my writing. But in any event, at the very top, I had keywords, and then I had have a photo, and then I had what is the premise? And so already under premise, I had underneath, I had external problem, internal problem, philosophical problem. Now, reading this, I probably stumbled across Donald Miller because that's something that he shares a lot about. And then I had below that the opening. And then stop. There was a point where I had brackets that maybe I would add a tweet there, but that was the first section, is to figure out that premise and that opening and to figure out, you know, the headline. And this was before I was even involved in copywriting. So you can see how when I started writing, that was happening already. I was being very aware of the fact that it needed to be audience driven. Let me um switch over now. My writing, I want to write this book. And I've been talking about this, and I've been really trying to stay focused on writing a short read because I can't see myself writing a 60,000 word book. It just seems overwhelming with all the other things I'm doing. But in any event, I got this book and I love it. I just started reading it. I had to put it down because I was doing some other things, but it's write a must read. Okay, you if you're watching this on video, it's backwards. But in any event, if you're listening to the audio, you're good to go. It's by AJ Harper and it's write a must read. Craft a book that changes lives, including your own. Ooh, really catchy, right? When you open the book, there's a section in there. It's just so amazing because we go back to the same fundamental things. So let me find um the section that I want to read to you. Sorry, I should have had this queued up a little better, but let me grab this and find this. Um, hang on just a second here. The key point you need to understand is that the book is not about something, the book is for someone. That is really powerful. So I'm gonna read it again. I have the book in front of my face. Sorry, I'm getting used to this video podcasting. I haven't been doing this. This is the first one, so there's gonna be oopses along the way. But any event, it says here, and this is very much in the beginning part of the book. It's on page 15, and it says, the key point you need to understand is the book is not about something. Right? A book is for someone, so we're always thinking about the audience all the time, and then it continues on some additional pages. Sorry, you're hearing all the pages turning. Um, it says on the next page on page 16, it goes back to the same thing. Who is my reader? Right? You've heard this before. I mean, if you've if you follow me along or you get my Monday marketing memo, the quick read that I send out, and I share copy tips. We're always considering who is the reader and what do they want, fear, struggle with, and wonder about. This is a book not on copywriting. This is a book on writing a book, right? And we're back to the very fundamental things. That's why copywriting can become your best friend. If you're a speaker, if you're a writer, if you're an author, if you're a blogger, if you're a coach, or if you're an entrepreneur, you gotta get back to the fundamental things. It's not about us, it's not even about the product, it's about the person. So I'm looking at this and I'm going, it's been here all along. Connect with the readers where they are. I mean, this is incredible. It respects the reader's journey. This could be a copywriting book. That's why every program that I see, they always have, I don't care how much it is, if it's, you know, $5,000, $10,000 program or a $500 program, they always have an element of copywriting in it because you need to understand these fundamental things. So as I was looking at that, I'm thinking, okay, so my book is getting back to the copywriting principles. I need to figure out what my premise is for the book and and uh figure that out about my audience. People are gonna read that. And so I decided that since I'm going to be writing the book, I need to sharpen up my speaking skills. Now, writing was what helped me craft a winning speech when I was in Toastmasters and I went through that international speech competition. Six months, over 30,000, almost 35,000 contestants from all over the world talk about different audiences, right? Backgrounds, cultures, gender. I had to figure out with that speech to be able to figure out what I can talk about that they would all understand and we'd all be on the same page and it would bring some kind of inspiration. So we were back to audience. All this stuff I did kind of instinctively, knowing that I had to do it, but I didn't really connect it with copywriting. And so that speech, and it was only seven minutes, was what helped me win and continue to win in this six-month competition and end up in the semifinals speaking at Caesar's Palace and becoming one of the top hundred speakers in the world. I really didn't know a lot about public speaking. I just took put one foot in front of the other because people were telling me, you should do this, you should do this. And I said, I was trying to get them off my back, right? And so I did it, and instinctively I knew I had to have a story that everyone could resonate with it and understand. And it had to go deeper than surface level. And so even then, it helped me with my speaking. And now I want to improve my speaking, and I actually want to do a TED talk and eventually craft out my keynote from that. So, what did I do? I hired an expert. I have a coach that is helping me craft my TED talk and my keynote. And what are we talking about? Who's the audience? You know, what is the problem you solve? The basic copywriting principles. It's so fundamental and so important to learn about copy because it translates in so many different areas, especially if you're a speaker and you want to get more speaking opportunities, and you maybe even you have an event planner, you have to know how to tweak the headline and tweak at least the, as my coach was telling me, the application part of your key talk of what you're going to share to that audience. And it's no different with your book, it's no different if you're blogging, it's it's no different if you're writing copy, direct response copy to have someone buy something. You always have to think of the audience of that person. And it's easier when we think of one and when we think of one and we write and we communicate to one, we can then communicate to many. So I I shared a lot there. Let me just say this one of the things that I've realized here that you can, if you're a speaker, or if you're a writer, or if you're an entrepreneur, we're always thinking of these things to be able to connect at a deeper level with our audience. One is, first of all, who should read this or who should listen to this, or who should watch this, whatever the case may be. So who are they, right? What internal or external struggles are they having? We go deeper than the superficial level. So often when people write, it's all superficial stuff. We got to get deep into it and figure out what is the internal struggle? What is it that they're struggling with? How are they feeling because of this problem? Right. And if they don't do anything, what could possibly happen? But if they do, what aspirational benefit could they have, right? What could happen if they don't make the change? And so we have to think of all those things when we're trying, and I'm just gonna say communicate. I'm not even gonna say write copy because people sometimes think I'm not a good writer. But if you want to communicate, you've got to do this, right? If you're a parent, you know you got to put yourself in your child's position. And it doesn't matter if they're adults either, you have to put yourself in their place, right? No different with marriage. You put yourself in their place to understand and come to an agreement of some sort and have empathy, right? Empathetic marketing. Another thing here that I noted for you is what could my reader request if they had a wish? What if they found that that lamp that they could rub and a genie came out and granted them a wish? Connected to that struggle or that thing that they're really struggling with, the thing that's really causing, you know, grief and pain for them. If they had a lamp and they could rub it and a genie came out, what would they wish for? What would that be? Right? And so we need to think of those things. How can I help them obtain that wish? How can I help them obtain that wish? And how has my solution or the answer that I have helped other people, or maybe even yourself if you're first starting out, and maybe it's just for yourself? How has it helped other people or yourself? What kind of results can they expect? That's where you need the promise, right? Whether it's a talk, whether it's a book, whether it's a product you want to sell, what's that promise? Why should I read it or why should I you know waste time watching this webinar if I don't know what the promise is? What do I get out of it? It if I watch this, or what could I potentially get out of it if I watch this, right? What is the promise? What extra surprise could I offer? Now, in copywriting, we know this is bonuses, but we can do this when we're speaking to people, we can give them a little element of surprise. And sometimes people do this with props when they're speaking. In writing, what kind of surprise can we give them when they're reading the book? Maybe there's something that you offer on the back end of the book or inside the book that they never expected they would receive, right? What kind of surprise could I offer? And then how can they get started? And why should they start now? Right? So even in a talk, you can give them steps for implementation today. Something that would allow them to feel like they can accomplish this big goal that they have, but they can accomplish it by making a small incremental movement towards it today, if that makes sense. So I just wanted to share the fact that copywriting is not just for direct response and for writing sales pages. And it's certainly not embellishing or being pushy or salesy or you know, saying things that maybe aren't true, you know, in there. If if if you only want to have 10 spots because you can serve the coaching program with 10 spots, then yes, there's only 10 spots. But if it's a digital product that is something that they can self-pace and they can learn and access whenever they need to, and they can, it's on demand, there's no limited spots. You know, you could sell as many as you want on those. So copywriting is the art of persuasion. But you see, as speakers, we are trying to persuade people as well. We're trying to help them, and this is what we have to think about. What is it that we want them to consider? What is it that we want them to believe? What is it that we want them to feel? What is it that we want them to do that's going to benefit them, not us? So sometimes we want to isolate copywriting for just direct response. What I'm suggesting is that the fundamental elements of copy about premise, audience, struggles, pain points are across the board. You will be a better writer, you will be a better speaker, you will be a better author, and you'll be better at selling your products and services when you learn some of the fundamental things about copywriting, because it's all about emotional triggers and how to communicate better. That's all it is. It's how to communicate a message. So one of the things that um I love and has been mentioned as well, is the fact that I love storytelling, and storytelling is something that I love to incorporate in copy simply because of the emotional connection. But when we think of communication and we consider the Bible, oh my gosh, what a communicator, right? Jesus was an incredible communicator, he used parables, he understood where his disciples were, at least in their headspace. He understood the people. Even when he had that miracle and he fed all those people, he knew they're tired, they've got a long journey. We've got to do something, we've got to feed them. Jesus was always thinking of the person, the other person. And so in many of his teachings, you know, he made it clear and simple so that anyone could understand. Anyone could understand. And one of my favorite things is when he shares how we need to have childlike faith, you know, and he talks about the children, how they have this childlike faith. And I love the simplicity and the purity of that. And sometimes when we get in business, we have to go back to the simple and the pure and remember that what we're trying to do is help a person or two people or a group to be able to achieve the goals or some of the ambitions, the dreams that they have. It's very personal. It's very personal. And I think if we have that attitude and we remember to get back to the basics that what we're really trying to do is help another human being, I think we will be able to find that empathy we need and understand how important it is and treasure the opportunity that we have to speak into their lives. So, in any event, that's what I have for you on this particular podcast where we're adding video. Oh my goodness. Uh, we'll see how I like it. I don't know. I really didn't want to do podcasting video. But if it's a way to get the message out, if it's a way to help those of you that prefer video, that's great. Let me know what you think. And I do have on the note of copywriting, I am going to very soon open up the doors to copy connection. And there is a link where you can go and add, be added to the wait list. And I'll tell you why I'm doing that. I don't want to blast people with a bunch of promotion stuff if they're not interested. So I'm sending out communications and letting people know if you're interested and you want to join some of the free trainings I'm going to have and some bonuses and things like that. Great. Get on the wait list and then they'll receive an email and be able to go from there. I just don't want to push it out there to everybody if it's not something they're ready for right now. But it's very comprehensive. Copy connection is something that I put a lot of thought and time into creating. It's one of the programs that I love sharing with people. And I show up a couple of times a month and I do critiques and I do QA calls and I help people understand some of the principles behind the copy that they're writing and help them write it stronger. It's meant for busy people where they can spend, you know, maybe an hour, hour and a half a week to improve their existing copy. So if that's of interest to you in the show notes, there'll be a link that you can join the wait list, and then I'll be sure to add you to the communication so that if you want to check it out, you can check it out. And I will talk to you soon. So until next time, take care.