SSWT Internet Marketing Forum

I thought it might be fun to talk about who inspires you to write copy... besides other copywriters.

I'll start with my #1 influence:

Yanni.

Not because of his music (although I think he's a friggin' genius).

But because it was after reading his biography a few years ago when I really understood that success is not an accident.

Yanni is NOT "Yanni" by mere chance or luck.

This dude was an out of work immigrant living in his friend's basement.

He had no job, no income, no nothing.

So he decided to get off the couch and work at his passion (music) -- 12+ hours per day... 7 days per week.

The sheer amount of sweat, blood and hard work he put into his passion makes even the most fanatical work horses I know look flat out lazy.

And his story has stuck with me ever since.

Now, whenever I feel like being lazy or cutting a corner... I just think of Yanni's story and how he got where he is today.

What about you?

Who's your #1 (non-copywriter) influence when writing your copy?

Ben

I wrote a blog post about this question. I will tell you who my inspiration is. My deceased grandparents are the ones that inspire me. You can find out why by going here:

What a great topic!

Mine is Andy Griffith. From the late 60s to current,
Andy always had new ideas and developed solutions for
the community.

However you look at it, a little Mayberry is in us all!

Great topic. Because copywriting is ultimately storytelling, and about connecting with your reader, there is inspiration almost everywhere. I'll try to narrow it down to three:

Bono of U2. His lyrics read like poetry and his images and metaphors can describe human problems and struggles with very few words.

Flannery O'Connor's short stories. Her characters are so vivid and memorable and she never fails to surprise readers. Like copywriters, she had limited space to work with (short stories were her main medium). I often jot down her metaphors and find myself using similar phrases in my copy from time to time. Also, she was brilliant with dialogue. And when writing email copy, you have to write conversationally.

Erma Bombeck's humor columns. Email copy is my main focus as a copywriter, so I make it a point to read humor columns and other columns. I grew up on Erma Bombeck's columns and they had an enormous influence on me as a young writer. To, in 450 words, tell a story and make someone laugh so hard it makes their day is a wonderful thing to do as a columnist, and as a copywriter -especially if it leads to the sale . Bombeck also excelled at writing conversationally.

I hope others will chime in with more influences. I'd enjoy reading them.

I think I'd also have to throw in Stephen King -- his book "On Writing" had a huge impact on my copywriting.

The way he would use stories to make his points and the "tool box" section can teach one more about the art of writing than any college or university -- and in a way that's fun and interesting.

Ben