The Essence Of “Crisp” Copywriting

One of the things you want to keep in mind when you’re writing, is clarity. I don’t mean grammatical clarity, that’s another issue, but what I mean is, visual and sensual clarity. And not sensual as in “horizontal bop” sensual, “sensual” as in appealing or being tangible by as many of your five senses (smell, touch, hearing, vision, taste) as possible.

Making things so crystal-clear, that your prospect can not only “feel” how you want them to feel, but you also want them to have a vivid image of what you’re talking about, right there in front of them, smack dab in the center of their mind.

Kind of like those old cartoons you probably watched when you were a kid, when Elmer Fudd was chasing Bugs Bunny… and all Elmer could think about was rabbit stew. Remember those?

Inside his mind, not only was chubby little Elmer picturing a nice healthy meal, he was actually envisioning the smell of the roasted rabbit, surrounded by carrots and other vegetables, sitting there on a big round silver platter, with piping hot steam rising up from the little bunny. This was so “real” to Fudd, his mouth would actually be watering.

Right?

(If you don’t it means you’re either under age 35… you’re a woman… or else you aren’t from America, so you’re just gonna have to trust me on this, O.K.?)

Now back to work: So the very best way you can be crystal-clear in your communication, is by being detailed and specific. In fact, this is what separates the really good writers of anything (fiction, science-fiction, whatever), from the rest of the pack.

But, there’s a fine line you need to walk here, when you do this. Too much or too little detail isn’t really the issue — relevancy is the issue.

Kind of like when you’re writing a sales letter. You know, the age-old question of “How much is enough?”… “How long is too long?”

The answer really isn’t any “number” of pages or words… it’s “when you’ve said everything you need to say,” it’s enough. And of course, as long as you’re being relevant and not boring, you can pretty much say as much as you want.

So with respect to being ‘crisp’ and being able to create imagery, the best way to do this is to be detailed and descriptive, like I said. And here are three things to remember about this:

• To create vivid imagery, stimulate experiences: See how, a few minutes ago, I was talking about the Bugs Bunny thing? I tapped into your own prior experiences and your own sense of nostalgia. That’s a good thing to do.

• Use emotional triggers. So for instance, the other day I was in the gym and I saw a guy around my age, working out with his son, who was around 12 or 13 years old. It made me a little sad because my sons are now old enough that we don’t work out together as often as we used to. It’s amazing how fast the time flies by. I used to hear that all the time, but it doesn’t mean anything to you until you live it.

You need to figure out what you’re prospects are thinking about, then… don’t make them sad, but make then feel “something.” This is the biggest way to strike up an affinity with your prospect — yet everyone seems to focus on the hype, and on the sizzle. Yet, the sizzle doesn’t matter if they don’t trust you. Keep that in mind.

• And lastly, use story-telling action words. For instance, don’t say you put “a border around your yard so all the bugs and beetles can’t get in.” Instead, say that you put an “unassailable wall around your yard.” See, when you do that, your prospect can’t HELP but create all sorts of sensual experiences and visual imagery that locks them into your message — and into you.

This… is the essence of “crisp” copywriting. That’s all f-f-f-olks!

Now go sell something, Craig Garber

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