Here we go again…


Hi!!!
I. Am. Exhausted.
It’s from the DNC (Democratic National Convention). It’s been so exciting, but I’m kinda glad it’s over and I can get back to my life, maybe take a few days to relax and recover.

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 leave a hot bag of dogshit on my doorstep unsubscribe?

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:
I recently got this great testimonial from Noelle for my best-selling mini-course 60-Minute Makeovers.

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.)

Register here!


Want more help with copywriting, storytelling, writing emails that make money,
and/or generally getting paid to be you?


Great! Start here for these and other trainings:

💡60-Minute Makeovers Copywriting Mini-Course (Get it here)

💡About Page Builder (with Professional Mini-Bio Templates) (Snap it up)

💡Welcome Sequence Workshop (Grab it here)

💡Book Launch Hero (Grab it here)

💡Inbox Hero (Get it here)

💡Launch Hero (Check for availability)

💡The Copy Cure (a collaboration with Marie Forleo) (Check for availability)

💡My national bestselling book, TOUGH TITTIES! (Your new favorite read - w bonus trainings)

💡Unputdownable: Binge-Worthy Storytelling Secrets from the Pages of Tough Titties (Snap it up)

💡Story Goldmine Live - Recorded Workshop (Get it here)

💡Moolah Fuel! - Recorded Workshop (Grab it here)

Binge my YouTube Channel (Watch now)


Love Shrimp Mail? Forward this to a friend so they can get in on the action and sign up below.

Thank you for reading and sharing,
Laura

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.

Read more from Laura Belgray (Talking Shrimp)

Psst — I’m revealing a huge new bonus for Book Launch Hero that solves every storyteller’s biggest problem, so read to bottom! 👇 Reader! I went to see a friend’s one-woman show last week. She’d been working on it for years and got it into a festival at a theater on 42nd Street — a real triumph. I’m always apprehensive about theater. Especially small-production stages where you know the person and fear being the only one fake-laughing through the punchlines. The intimacy is so awkward. You’re...

A promotional graphic featuring Laura Belgray with long dark hair and bangs, smiling while seated indoors. She is wearing a colorful striped sweater with red, yellow, purple, and green. The text above her reads: "She quit law school. Started writing weird

Hey Reader, I woke to two bits of news this week. One, that the US (and world) economy was in a tailspin. OK, that’s news we’ve been getting on the hour. But anyway. Two, that I dropped out of law school. What’s that? You didn’t know I went to law school? Well, guess what — NEITHER DID I. But when I checked my IG notifications, I saw I’d been tagged in a post all about me. What a lovely burst of dopamine to kick off my day! Then I clicked and feasted my greedy eyes on the first slide. Oh my....

Hey! I’m proud of something. Haven’t talked about it, I don’t think — though I did at the retreat for my mentoring group, Shrimp Club. During a Q&A, one of the Shrimpers asked about my recent activity surge on Instagram — because I’ve been posting like a mofo. So, GOOD, YOU BETTA NOTICE! There’s a lot more to the story, which I’ll tell soon, but on January 3rd, while I was on vacation, my friend Susie posted a story inviting her audience to join her in a 90-day challenge. Hers, she said,...