Copywriter Theo Seeds writes in with a cheeky two questions (as opposed to the usual one-per-family). Let me take Theo’s questions in reverse order:
> 2. Are there any non-marketing books you’ve picked up weird marketing lessons from?
Yes, dozens?
Books, including non-marketing books, are one of the main sources of ideas I draw on for this newsletter.
I estimate I’ve drawn marketing ideas from dozens of non-marketing books in hundreds of these emails over the 7+ years of this newsletter. The most recent one I can remember came last month, from the autobiography of MLB club owner Bill Veeck.
> 1. Do you have any tips on writing copy in a client’s brand voice? Is this something you ever took on, and if so, how did you approach it?
I’ve actually written an email about this topic before, and it was all about how I hated the experience of having to write in a client’s brand voice.
Sure, it’s fine if you’re writing a sales letter, where “good enough” is good enough.
But if you want to write dailyish emails, where it really has to sound like that person, and has to have their stories, and verbal ticks, and unique phrasing, I really don’t have any smart advice to give, because it’s not something I ever mastered myself.
Fortunately, I know somebody who specializes in exactly this.
The guy’s name is Justin Blackman, and he is known as the “Brand Voice Guy.”
Not only does Justin have a very clear and recognizable brand voice for his own daily emails (which I read), but he has a course on exactly what Theo is asking about above, how copywriters can write in a client’s brand voice, in a perfectly chamelon-like fashion.
The course is called Write Like Anyone. The core promise is that it will turn you into someone who is able to echo any client’s voice so well they will hire you again and again.
I haven’t been through Justin’s course. I don’t write for clients any more, and I’m pretty good at echoing my own voice.
But Justin’s course has gotten endorsements from people like Chris Orzechowski and Rob Marsh of the Copywriter Club, plus it features folks like Daniel Throssell and Abbey Woodcock as guest instructors.
Oh, and students seem to love it too. They credit it, like Justin promises, with making them look good in front of clients and winning them more projects.
In case you wanna find out more about Write Like Anyone: