"Yours are the only emails I actually open and read" - a regular reply in my inbox since 2009...and I'll bet in yours, too, once you subscribe and learn by pure, lazy osmosis to become the most compelling writer around. That said, no promises on improving your moral character.
Here we go again…
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Hi!!! Oh, sorry, you probably think I was there! Nope. I was watching on my iPad while simultaneously posting and commenting on Threads and re-storying all the memes. I know, right? Strenuous! And it’s been 4 evenings in a row, til after midnight. What am I, 23 years old hitting Limelight and Palladium? Those are club-kid hours! But I’ve been so obsessive and engrossed, my whole body feels like not only was I there IRL, but like I was on that stage, giving the speech of the century. (Hey, if I’m going to have delusions of having attended, might as well go big and make myself the star.) One thing I’ve noticed, fangirling over my (yes, my, I’m very territorial) candidates and watching every one of their rallies and then their speeches on stage, is that they give pretty much the same speech every time. Some other speakers in the lineup — the ones who’ve been on news networks as talking heads — repeated certain lines I’d heard them say before. Trotted out the hits. I always wonder, is she tired of saying the same thing? Is he thinking self-consciously, “Oh, I’m sure everyone’s heard this before and is so bored of it”? Because that’s what I worry about sometimes when I give one of my signature talks, “Oh no! That one person who just said she bought a ticket was there when I gave the same talk two years ago! She’ll be so bored!” I also have fleeting misgivings when I send out the same launch email I sent last time around: Will they recognize it and And yet here I am, watching the same speeches every time they give them, knowing every upcoming line and punchline. We should all be so lucky that someone has paid such rapt attention to our message that they know it well enough to recognize it and say, “Oh, I’ve heard this. I know this one.” Whether you’re running for office, running a launch, or just making an offer, this is what you have to do. Repeat yourself. Don’t assume everyone remembers what you said last time. And if they do, congratulations: it’s memorable! And, therefore, worth repeating. Which brings me to this post I’ve repeated many times. (How meta!)
Semi-related: A must-have for website copywriters 🦐 Laura’s 60-minute Makeovers Copywriting Mini-Course gives you a cheat sheet you'll refer back to again and again. As a copywriter, I've used it to guide me in providing clients with truly valuable copy critiques. And there's one question Laura uses to evoke scroll-stopping 'Omg, she's talking to me' headlines that I ask myself EVERY SINGLE TIME I write a homepage headline. It's a game-changer. - Noelle, Sheshe Copy How is this related? I have no idea what the one question is! But I’m sure I’ve repeated it to death. Rule of thumb: If even you don’t remember saying or writing it, no way your audience is sick of it yet. Grab 60-Minute Makeovers (or crack it open if you already have it) – and please tell me what it is when you find it! xoLaura PS - Have you spent years thinking you should have a podcast? Maybe this is the time. My wonderful friend Cathy Heller, whose podcast inspired me to DM her back in 2017 and insist we be besties, is running a FREE 5-day challenge called… It’s Time to Podcast. (See? Told you this was the time.)
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Thank you for reading and sharing, |
Laura Belgray (Talking Shrimp)
"Yours are the only emails I actually open and read" - a regular reply in my inbox since 2009...and I'll bet in yours, too, once you subscribe and learn by pure, lazy osmosis to become the most compelling writer around. That said, no promises on improving your moral character.
Hey — do you know what time it is right now? I don’t. For July, I’m literally off the clock. Not available for anything scheduled. No group calls, no podcast interviews, no “virtual coffee chats,” no nothing that requires me to be conscious of hours or minutes. It’s kind of like an elimination diet, except instead of cutting dairy, gluten, or sugar — all of which I’ve cranked up because I’m in my morning croissant era — I’ve removed time. You could call it allergy testing. I already know I...
Hey Reader, Those Atomicon attendees are action takers. They’re already sharing results from the tips I gave in my (ahem) opening keynote. How cool is that? They’re grateful, and I’m grateful. Grateful that I made it there at all. There was a moment a few days before, in the back of an Uber, when I thought I might not. See, I don't like travel stress. When I'm traveling, especially for work, I will pay what it takes to make things easy. That means shelling out for an Uber when any sensible...
It’s official, Reader: I’m now big in the UK. Hello from a city called Newcastle, where I was the opening keynote speaker at Atomicon yesterday. I’m pleasantly foggy, recovering from a mix of jetlag, missed meals, hardcore peopling, pre-speaking stress, post-speaking euphoria, and a desperate Uber Eats dinner after midnight (when everything was closed) from a place called “Pizza Daddy.” Before a Shrimper named Jeanet came to see me at a book event and said she’d be recommending me to speak at...