Traveling solo is my nature. I once won the Nomad Award at a company superlatives ceremony for how often I leave town on a whim.
Even so, my journey as a copywriter at VisionPoint has been anything but solo. It took the guidance of an award-winning creative village – mentors like Tony Poillucci, our Creative Director, Mary Webster, our Director of Copy, and the one and only Sean Krause, a former senior copywriter at VisionPoint who I consider my copywriting sensei (and still get drinks with on any given Friday at 5pm).
Inspired by their collective influence, here are six habits I’ve been practicing that you can use right now to improve your work:
1. You First
The word “you” closes the distance with your audience. Sean once said to write for your audience like they are the one and only person in the room. Saying you in your opening line will make your copy feel personal, like it’s for them alone. You’ll forge a deeper connection that can inspire action, influence perceptions, and build trust. That’s what we did for You, Marketing Mastermind – the campaign for the University of Tennessee’s new graduate marketing program that delivered benchmark-beating results.
2. Deconstruct to Create
Creativity thrives on observation. Listen to just the bassline of a song, watch a film without sound, or read just the first word of every chapter in a book. Take apart sentences and challenge structures. For example, Seattle-based credit union BECU took the negative phrase “people in power” and flipped it to tell a positive campaign story: Power in People. Only by dismantling the ordinary can you rebuild something extraordinary.
3. Context before Content
The question Tony asks me before every brainstorm is this: What are we trying to accomplish? Before you go writing headlines on paper planes to see if they fly, focus on your target. That is, understand the goal, internalize the research, immerse in the strategy, and know the audience inside and out. Putting your mind in the right context will put the right intentions behind your work.
4. Listen to How It Sounds
If copywriting was about how many benefits and proof points you can stuff into a sentence, no one will want to hear it. Write ear-first. Delete the noise. Create rhythm. Read your work as if someone else is reading it – your mother, your favorite rapper, your next-door neighbor in distracted-attention mode. Say one thing, and say it clearly. Strip out the nonessential until you’re left with the essence.
5. Control Your Creative Explosion
Creativity is a powerful force, but like any power, you have to learn how to control it. My creative teammates at VisionPoint are exemplars of knowing when to dive in as creators and when to step back as critics. When you’re in the throes of creation, let your ideas flow freely – take risks and drink champagne! as sensei Sean would say. But once you’re done, know when (and how) to step back and judge the strategic viability of your work against your goals. Finding this balance will help you create with precision and get the results you seek.
6. Know Your Best Work Can Be Better
My mantra is an old Samurai teaching: Defeat who you were yesterday. That’s the mindset we adopted for Never Still, Never Stopping – a rankings campaign for the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy that helped them earn recognition as the #1 pharmacy school in the nation.
Thrive on feedback with thick skin. Approach revisions as amendments. Don’t just improve the work – improve the framework. Question everything. And spam your team with memes like Mary does – they tell the truth.
Remember, great copy isn’t just written – it’s crafted. And it’s not something you do alone.
If you want the help and influence of a team who can take your creative work to the next level, reach out to us for a free consultation.
