deeryjennifer
Marketing professional by day. I love words and finding new ways to reach out and connect with people. Very fond of penguins.
Homepage: http://deeryjennifer.com
Words….yes I have a favorite
Posted in Uncategorized on March 30, 2023
Everyone uses words every day to do many things. We talk, sing, yell, question, answer, and just plain babble on using words. At their core, words let us not just communicate but also really connect with each other. It is amazing on a visceral level that I can read thoughts written down hundreds or even thousands of years ago! I will never forget the chills up and down my spine looking at Egyptian hieroglyphics. You could easily picture someone writing and drawing them just the other day. Words are my passion, and I enjoy ongoing editing and writing courses. Reading a book or watching a class where an expert explains how they succeed is an excellent way to improve your own skills. But, ever since I discovered this word during an art class over 20 years ago, it has remained my favorite:
Chiaroscuro
The official definition is: “Use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition in art.” I love that this word sounds beautiful, feels good when you say it, and the concept expressed is stunning. Shadows coming through leaves, the sun on the water, shadow puppets, or even contrasting emotional overtones can all be explained with this word!
For reference, my least favorite word of all time is: drawer. Just ugh…. blah one-dimensional with a cloying mouth feel. Ick.
The Dark Side of Otterbox They Don’t Want You to Know
Posted in Uncategorized on April 2, 2019
Update: I finally did upgrade my ipad Mini – and I do love the Apple Pencil even more than I thought I would! Good news was that because my device was in such good condition I got top dollar for it when I sold it! The buyer actually asked me if the iPad was ever used – and I showed them the case and threw it in for free. Buyer was thrilled.
*If Otterbox made a case for humans, I would buy it. If you have a portable electronic device that is not in an Otterbox or Lifeproof case….change this immediately!
Previous News about Otterbox:
But, there is a dark side to putting your device into such an effective case. When a new model comes out you do not have the rationale of “well, my device is kind of banged up so I really should upgrade” to justify purchasing the latest iteration. I really, really, really would like to get the newest model of iPad Mini (hello Apple Pencil!!) However, I just can’t convince myself to upgrade when my current iPad is just fine. Better than fine in fact, all thanks to the Otterbox case. Thanks Otterbox. Thanks a lot.
Off with the old case, on with the new!
Apple vs. Android
Posted in Uncategorized on January 30, 2019
My first smart cell phone was an Android. I loved it. All my information was with me all the time, and I could check basic email and even see the weather forecast. Then phones began to be more interesting. Several iterations of Palm phones and I fell in love with having an operating system that was just easy to use and also could handle documents. LG’s, HTC, Samsungs I loved them all. I never felt the need to move to iPhones when I was madly happy with my Samsung Note4.
But, about 2 years ago I needed a phone that would actually fit into a pocket instead of needing a bulky belt clip. So, I switched. To the iPhone SE 64 GB. The world kept turning, and I loved it. The way I could easily move pictures and information from my phone to my iPad was awesome. I was already doing most of my writing for work on my iPad with a Bluetooth keyboard and the Google Docs app. Now I could also access information and pics from my phone, and they were just magically there on my iPad as well.
Having regular OS updates was also great. With my Androids, the frequency of updates and even the version of Android depended on what brand of phone I was using. I was never comfortable with that. The last few iOS updates are changing my view.
I adore my iPhone XsMax – yes, I went back to the giant screen, and now I am doing a lot of work-related activities on my phone because it is just easy. I love the multi-touch function. I love the fact that I don’t have to put on my glasses to turn off my alarm. I love that with the BestBuy sale and my credits I was able to get ALL the memory. 512 GB makes me a very happy downloading fiend!! I love the large battery life. I just love the phone. Headphone jack, don’t miss it at all which surprised me. Notch, don’t really care about that either.
But, with all of the continued bugs present in each iOS update, I am not sure if I will stay with Apple for my next phone. I find it puzzling how the quality control has failed so consistently. The process is broken, and Apple needs to fix it.
The rise of cloud storage and programs like Google Docs means that moving from one platform to another is not actually all that difficult anymore. My photos, documents, and information are in several clouds so that is not a consideration anymore. I’m committed to this phone for the next 2-3 years due to the financial investment and the fact that I love it. But, when I am ready to move forward, I will again be looking at Android devices. The Google Pixel looks pretty good as well. But for now, I am holding off on updating my iPad and iPhone with the latest iOS until I can be sure that it won’t make my devices explode.
Viewing History
I reviewed my viewing history the other day for my streaming TV services. Before, I would have said that most of what I watch is divided Sci-Fi, Action, and Drama – with some documentaries thrown in.
But, the reality is that about 75% of my history is Documentaries. I thought about it and realized that makes sense. I love nature docs, history docs, series that explain how and why things have happened, or speculate on what will happen in the future – these all interest me.
I also looked over my reading history on my Kindle, iBooks account, and stack of physical books I have read and noticed that those are focused on Sci-Fi, Action, and Drama with about half being different HIstory books, or “How-To” books. Information is very nifty.
Have you reviewed your viewing history? Does it match your reading history?
What Are You Holding?
Posted in Big Questions, penguins, Work on March 24, 2018
This has been a year of seemingly unrelenting change. Moving from one state to another, beginning to work remotely, and figuring out how to regain a sense of security. While much of the change has been positive – even good things can be stressful.
After settling into my new home, I realized that this was an opportunity to develop new habits. So, I began to try to consciously enjoy something fantastic every single day. Today I marveled at the way it rained while the sun was also shining. Tomorrow I may wonder at the trees or the mountains in the distance, but taking that time each day to just enjoy the beauty around me makes every day better.
Employment change was empowering but also shocking in ways I had not anticipated. It was an honor to know that I was trusted enough to be allowed to continue doing work I loved from my home. However, it was a shock to go from working in a busy in-house creative agency where the team worked directly above the sales floor, to my dining room. I love that there are fewer noise distractions around me and I can play whatever music I want while working. Thankfully, with internet and video conferences, personal interaction is still possible. Without technology, remaining in day-to-day contact with the rest of the remote and in-house team would be much more difficult. Imagine having to conduct business via regular mail only! Really brings home how much of an advancement the telegraph must have been.
Moving and making adjustments to a new way of working were easy compared to the challenge of regaining a sense of security. Just about 2 years after my carjacking I am finally able to get gas for my car without being nervous and scared every time. (I’m only nervous and scared about half the time I get gas now!) So, things are getting better. I am learning to be patient with myself and that it is OK to feel afraid or nervous. We are all pressured to be self-sufficient and able to take care of things by ourselves. But I have seen how glad others are to be given a chance to help. From gas station attendants that have helped me when I couldn’t pump gas without shaking in fear to friends who have stayed on the phone with me “just in case another crazy man with a gun runs up to me again” I have been helped in so many ways by friends and strangers.
Most of all, I have learned that you only have to let go of things that you hold onto. Good and bad experiences both can weigh us down if we hold onto them too tightly. What you allow to be dominant in your thoughts – what you hold onto – is what you will be most aware of. It is amazing how when you focus and dwell on negative things; you suddenly see negative experiences everywhere. I have become much more aware of my day to day thoughts both positive and negative. I don’t think that it is possible to be positive all the time, but I know that I CAN decide what sort of thoughts and feelings I will choose to focus on. Moving forward is difficult when mired in the swamp of the past. Rather than focusing on letting go, I choose to be more selective about what I hold onto. Beautiful sunsets, laughing with my family, the taste of root beer floats – these things I will hold onto. Oh, and of course – Penguins! Always Penguins!
Fire Rats!
True fact: I do not like rats (or mice) at all. Even the thought of watching the film Willard makes my skin crawl. Ugh. Which is a shame since I think the lead actor looks really nifty-creepy in the trailer. Since even watching the trailer made me feel all oogy – the film will have to remain unseen by me.
My dislike of rats is important because it almost explains the re-occurring daydream I have about “Fire Rats”. Almost. OK, so not really. I may be a bit obsessed with cheesy movies with plot devices like zombie sharks, flying sharks, huge bugs that take over the world, and other very realistic scenarios.
Imagine that there is an abandoned warehouse. Because there is always an abandoned warehouse. This warehouse was used by a chemical company to store high-grade pesticides and fire-retardant chemicals until they were closed following an investigation by the EPA. Or maybe the Forest Service? I’ve often thought about an Alternate Universe where the Forest Service is the most kick-ass branch of the government because ….. reasons. Very important reasons that I haven’t worked out yet.
So, the rats. Creepy ones with glowing red eyes. Because of course when the Evil Chemical Company (ECC) was closed down they forgot about this one out of the way warehouse with lots of dangerous stuff inside. So, over a few years, the rats have been living and breeding in a cesspool of pesticides and fire-retardant chemicals. Naturally, as happens, the pesticides caused them to grow a bit bigger and altered their brain chemistry. The chemicals damaged the eyes of the rats so that they are crystallized. Of course, this is bad because in the right circumstances this means that reflected sunlight is bounced off the eyes and concentrated. Which of course will set things on fire.
The rats don’t mind the fire because it makes bugs and animals run out of buildings and become food for the hungry mischief of rats. (fun fact: group of rats is a “mischief”) I can just picture the “Rat Expert” always correcting everyone else who calls the group of rats a “horde”, “pack”, or other incorrect terms. Due to constant exposure to fire-retardant chemicals, the rats are fire proof. “Oh my God! They are not just rats – they are FIRE RATS!”
Be afraid, it’s not just zombie crickets anymore!
NOTE: There is no picture of a rat because when I looked for one it freaked me out!
My Unbalanced Life
Posted in Big Questions, Work on August 2, 2016
No thank you – I’ll gladly take the wobbles!
Work Life Balance. How to achieve a healthy work/life balance. Five steps to balance your Work vs. Life dynamic. Variations on these headlines have been popping up all over the place this year. Every magazine has the latest expert with a new or revamped method to achieve a balance between your work and your life.
How to achieve a healthy work/life balance. Five steps to balance your Work vs. Life dynamic. Variations on these headlines have been popping up all over the place this year. Every magazine has the latest expert with a new or revamped method to achieve a balance between your work and your life.
I object. Scratch that. I STRONGLY object. I don’t like the phrasing because it sets up a binary win or lose scenario. Either you find balance, or you do not. If you don’t achieve the goal of work/life balance, then you have failed to achieve your goal and failure is bad, so you are now a bad, bad failure.
Yes, this is over simplifying, but the idea makes sense to me. My work and my personal life are not balanced. They could never be balanced because balance implies you have somehow managed to make both things equal. A scale is not balanced if one of the things being measured is heavier than the other. In reality, there are times when work is a priority. If you have an unexpected deadline, a horrific web-site crash, a customer service nightmare – all of these scenarios would warrant spending more time working to fix the problem. Anyone who knows an accountant is well aware that the months leading up to Tax filing are “no-gos” for spending time out to dinner, vacations, and such because accountants are holed up performing number alchemy for clients.
Also, work/life balance separates work from your life. But, isn’t your career a huge part of your life? Rather than make an endless to-do list of tasks and trying to categorize each one as either part of work or life how about just living?
Every profession has times where getting the job done requires a skewed prioritization of time. At the same time, if I’m on vacation visiting with family then I am not going to be on the phone with work or checking email 24/7. Why? Because for me, vacation is notably defined by an absence of work.
Instead of trying to do the impossible I prefer to think of how best to prioritize my life. Sometimes I give priority to my personal life. Sometimes I give work a priority. There are times when personal events may pre-empt work and vice versa, but this method works for me.
So, write books, create blog posts, and make videos about a system that will help people achieve a healthy work-life balance. I will keep my unbalanced life. If there are added wobbles here and there that is OK – the best adventures happen when you lose balance and fall off-course.
Zombie Cricket Apocalypse
Sometimes a story invades your brain and just won’t go away. This is one such saga….and it all began with a beeping surge protector.
Today at work, the surge protector & backup battery is chirping. Again.
To stop the chirping requires a hard reset that will turn off the power for a few seconds. We can’t reset it right now because everyone is actually WORKING. So, this means that there is random psychotic cricket chirping. All. Day. Long. Additionally, one of the fluorescent lights is flickering just like the lights in a zombie movie do right before the ravenous hordes attack. So my life is currently a cross between the book “A Cricket in Times Square” and the film “World War Z.”
Wow – I can just imagine the SyFy TV movie!
Zombie Cricket Apocalypse
Establishing shot of a long office corridor. Windows are cracked, and ceiling tiles are hanging loose – some have fallen onto the floor. There are office cubicles with half-wall dividers – made of glass. One of them has a smeared bloody handprint that is zoomed in on and the camera pans out you see the trail of blood leading to an arm that ends with a bloody hand. The tips of the fingers appear to have been gnawed on in an almost delicate fashion. The camera moves back to focus on two people. One a scared office worker (woman) in a suit with a very short skirt that is torn almost completely up the side and the shirt buttons are all popped off. However, her heels are still in good shape – just like her lip gloss. The other person is a rugged looking man in a forest ranger uniform (complete with smokey the bear hat!)
WILLIAM
Shush now. We hafta be really, really quiet, or they will find us. We just have to make it out the building and to my Expedition and we can get to safety.
SUSIE
Is wringing her hands uselessly but looking super cute and her hair is just PERFECT!
Oh my gosh oh my gosh.
WILLIAM
It’ll be OK – trust me I am a forest ranger
Close up shot of his forest ranger uniform patch
SUSIE
Grabs onto his burly bicep with a manicured hand
I trust you.
They continue tip-toeing down the corridor. Every time they pass another delicately gnawed corpse SUSIE gasps silently and WILLIAM looks stoic and competent.
Coming to the large glassed-in lobby they encounter another group of survivors. A woman MEREDITH with a young toddler BILLY, a teenage boy SAMMY with a golden retriever DUKE, a tattooed band member KARL (evident by the electric guitar slung over his shoulder and the amplifier he is carrying), and a priest FATHER JACOBS.
FATHER JACOBS
Whispers – My children, truly we are all blessed. I am Father Jacobs and we were afraid that no one else had survived.
He makes the sign of the cross over SUSIE and WILLIAM
The entire group heads out of the building’s front doors, and they all get into the Ranger’s Official Ford Expedition (close up on the company logo for product placement) The group drives away from the office building passing burned out shells of vehicles. As they pass by one mom and pop store you see a person trying to run out to them screaming
BLEEDING PERSON
Help! Oh please Stop! Help!
He falls just as he reaches the curb and is dragged back into the store screaming. The last you see of him is his bloody hands scrabbling at the ground trying to claw his way to safety as he is slowly pulled to his doom. His screams die away. The truck continues forward.
At the last intersection in town, the light turns red and, of course, WILLIAM stops. He looks at all his passengers.
WILLIAM
We’re almost away safely from this hell town of death and despair. I think we’re all going to be ok.
Everyone in the truck breaks out into smiles and hugs! The dog looks happy!
The light turns green. Just as WILLIAM is about to move forward a small, cute, almost innocent “CHIRP” is heard.
CRICKET
Chirp.
WILLIAM slams on the brakes. Everyone in the truck freezes in horror. Everyone swivels their heads to look back towards the open cargo area.
FATHER JACOBS
Turns around and peers over the back seat to see a single darling adorable cricket just there.
CRICKET
The cricket sits there and lets out another single chirp.
Chirp.
FATHER JACOBS
Oh dear God. Our Father, who art in Heaven….he continues to recite the Lord’s Prayer
Everyone in the car screams and scrambles for the door handles but just as they are about to open the doors, all the locks engage.
Cut to outside shot where you just hear screams as the Ford Expedition (with another shot of the logo from the rear) shakes and shudders. Blood spurts onto the windows and the dog howls, yelps, growls adding to the symphony of panicked and painful screams.
Suddenly there is silence, and you see a single cricket, covered in gore and blood (very tiny pieces of gore obviously) sitting on the hood of the Ford Expedition (another logo shot) with delicate cricket footprints leading to his position. A drop of blood falls from one of his antennae.
CRICKET
Chirp
MANY OTHER CRICKETS
Echoing chirps
Links just in case you are interested:
Windy Vacation! – Waltzing Patricia
Posted in Big Questions, vacation on October 29, 2015
Everyone who knows me in person (and anyone who closely follows my twitter or Facebook) so, basically my family and some really funny stand-up comedians in California – knows I went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with my designer friend Carol for a full week of relaxing vacation just the other week. The town was amazing – one of the most welcoming vacation atmospheres I have ever encountered and everyone was friendly and helpful with my very basic Spanish.
Carol took this as the plane came in for a landing
Look – Look – the city!
Our hotel, Playa Los Arcos was just right – not overly fussy, yet not so basic that you were afraid to sleep at night. Our room was a pool view that instantly became ocean view if you simply turned your head slightly. That’s my kind of “pool view”!
This is the “pool view” balcony view.
Great hotel room
Obligatory badly exposed immediate vacation selfie!
Arriving early Tuesday afternoon on a quick Southwest flight directly from Houston we spent the afternoon and evening just wandering around quite happily. Wednesday was a full day of exploring the outskirts of the city and more browsing (I love my new wrap skirt!) and of course lots of great local food.
View from the table during first lunch. BEACH!!
Thursday, we woke up early (so early at 6:45!!!!) to arrive at the port for our excursion. The trip out to the secluded beach was great with a stop for snorkeling where I saw real ALIVE swimming fish and also had time to just sit and look at the ocean. The trip back was even better as Pancho and his crew put on a full out Vegas-style extravaganza. These guys were good – anyone who can legitimately breakdance on a moving boat gets kudos from me.
Names of our amazing excursion crew!
We arrived back at port and were told to call in the following morning before our next scheduled excursion. I asked why and was told that the port might be closed due to a thunderstorm. I did think this was odd – since this was a major port that regularly hosted multiple ginormous cruise ships – why would a thunderstorm close the port? Maybe lighting works differently in Mexico?
Back at our hotel the front desk was quick to reassure us that it was just going to be a storm and everything would be fine. So, Carol and I went up to our room, changed and were getting ready to go out to dinner. We checked our phones before leaving to eat and both of us had ALL THE TEXTS FROM EVERYONE asking “are you leaving?” “have you left?” I looked on the weather channel and just felt my heart skip a beat. Immediately we called Southwest to change our flights (which involved the Verizon operator since even with a Mexico calling plan added you can NOT call many 800 numbers from a cell phone internationally) and they were amazing. Southwest I love you!!
New outgoing flights confirmed, we went to dinner and then back to the room to sleep since we were planning on getting up at 6am to try for standby on an earlier flight. I could not sleep and sat out on the balcony trying to find any earlier flights. At about 3:00am I checked Southwest.com and discovered our flight was canceled. This was very disturbing as by now the news about Patricia was more disturbing every hour. There may have been a bit of staring into space listening to the waves and chanting “I am in my happy place” over and over. I did find lots of flights out of Guadalajara but was not sure how we would get there. Thanks to the amazing Verizon international operators I was able to book placeholder seats out of Guadalajara (one to Houston for Carol and I would have ended up in LA) Going to LA would have been exciting and I figured maybe one of my random stand-up comic followers could recommend a good place to eat! Looking at the news about the store at that point I would have taken a flight rerouting me through Frankfurt at that point! Hey – would be great to return as an adult of legal drinking age during October!
I packed up my stuff and then repacked with visions of apocalyptic running for our lives from torrents of shark infested water – this is what happens when you watch too much SyFy channel. So, everything I HAD to keep was in my over the shoulder “handbag of holding” from thinkgeek.com (ON-SALE NOW – you should buy one!) and the rest of my stuff that could be left if necessary was in my rolling carry on. Side note: my handbag of holding contained my passport and documents, 2 changes of clothes, anti-bac wipes, granola snacks, 2 bottles of water, 3 books, and other sundries. Yes, books are essential.
Action shot of bag of holding and important necessities
*I read (re-read) all three books during the trip home.
At 4am I woke Carol up and she packed up (she is a very fast and efficient packer) I ended up being glad that one of us was running on more than 20 minutes of sleep! She was great at keeping me from running into walls at the airports.
We checked out and got a cab to the Puerto Vallarta airport, but there was only one flight confirmed going out and zillions of people sitting in the terminal waiting for news. This is where the indomitable hospitality of the locals really impressed me. Our driver agreed to drive us the 6 hours to Guadalajara if necessary but first drove us to the bus station where there were NO BUSES available. He shuffled us back into his cab and took off like a bat outta hades to the next terminal. He ran up to the counter and then frantically waved us inside and made sure we got tickets for the next bus leaving in just a few minutes. (I later found out he also helped out other travelers who ended up on the bus with us get to the correct counter – awesome, awesome man!)
Blurry pic of the glorious countryside during the bus ride to Guadalajara.
By about 5:30am we were on the bus and had an exciting journey to Guadalajara. Our driver was a cross between a demolition derby participant and Mario Andretti! His ability to pass other vehicles on a narrow winding mountainous road in a manual transmission bus is surely unparalleled. During the bus trip I got to watch two different action movies dubbed in Spanish. Yes, Liam Neeson kicks butt in any language!
Thanks to Expedia (and Carol having a very quick finger on the “refresh” button), we got two actual, real airfares back home to Houston via Mexico City with only about a 4-hour layover in Mexico City. Mexico City was fine – at least the airport seemed nice. Arriving back in Houston I was exhausted – totally unable to sleep at all during the journey home – Carol again helped steer me in the right directions!
This is me running away from a Hurricane on negative sleep.
After getting home, I found out through the news that the Mexican authorities did eventually evacuate everyone to a safe shelter which was great to know. I was worried since no one in the city seemed aware of just how bad Patricia could have been. Katrina was only a 3!! When asked what I would have done if there had been no buses I detailed my full plans:
1. Fly out – nope
2. Get a bus – yes
3. Rent a car – possible buy unlikely and woah crazy driving in Mexico!!
4. Take a cab
5. Bum a ride with anyone going out of town (there were lots of people at the gas stations)
6. Final choice would have been to shelter in place (this would have meant buying a few cases of water, paper towels for hygiene, and granola)
So, instead of a full seven days in paradise I had 3 amazing days with an added bonus adventure at the end! I do plan on returning to Puerto Vallarta again (direct flights make it super quick). Oh, and Matt (I know you[‘re reading this) I’m just a bit ticked off that you planned your vacation the week after mine! Say hi to the amazing city and people for me – let me know if the pancakes at Freddy’s are really as amazing as we were told.
Lessons Learned:
- INTERNATIONAL CALLING PLANS!! Verizon your reps were amazing – they didn’t just help me connect calls, they ALL stayed on the line with me and offered great advice with a sense of humor.
- Southwest was great! Truly the airline of love.
- Again, get the appropriate calling plan added to your cell phone in case the land line in your hotel doesn’t really work.
- Never underestimate the power of a smile and positive attitude.
- 6 foot charging cables are amazing!
- Wheels on your carry luggage. WHEELS!
- Puerta Vallarta is amazing – definitely will go again.
- If there is an emergency have a backup plan and a backup plan for the backup plan.
- Keep smiling – keep perspective. I was blessed to have the ability to leave – if the worst had happened many were not.
- Carol is an amazing travel friend!
- Be nice to people – they are freaked out just like you!
- Ask for advice from people who have been there and done that – Thanks Dad for the email of “things to do if you absolutely MUST shelter in place during a massive Hurricane”
- EVERYONE MUST BUY AND DRINK THIS STUFF!!
You must buy this – DRINK IT!!
Copywriting – Calculated Process or Art?
Copywriting is a strange profession that is at once extremely calculated and planned out yet still relies upon artistic inspiration. As the senior copywriter for a successful furniture retailer, everything I write is geared towards making a sale. Whether I’m describing a sofa, composing a Facebook post, or writing about home design the ultimate goal is to turn a casual browser into a customer.
There are more copywriting books than any one employed person could ever have time to read. However, one of the most useful pieces of advice I ever ran across was the explanation that the goal of copywriting is to sell. I highly recommend Robert Bly’s book The Copywriter’s Handbook . Practically speaking this statement is incredibly freeing for writer. Grammatical errors and correct spelling are perfectly fine if they result in sales. However, for someone who grew up with a self-proclaimed “grammar policeman” as a father, this is sometimes a difficult fact to accept. With my writers, I always try to explain the reasons I make an edit or why one sentence is preferred over another.
Having helped with two complete website redesigns and written (and rewritten) the company’s style guide I now realize the following five things:
1. A good writer is not automatically a good copywriter.
The style of writing learned in school is academic in nature. Teachers reward you with good grades for a paper that sounds amazing and gets the point across. Using fancy terminology and multisyllabic words is a valued skill for most academic writing. Creative writing often values expansive storytelling and the ability to paint a picture in the mind of your reader. In many ways, copywriting is a second cousin twice removed to other types of writing. While ordinarily a good sounding sentence is preferred in copywriting often, a more concise statement is more effective. Nike’s famous catchphrase “Just do it” could also be expressed as “You really should stop procrastinating and just begin the task.” This is an excellent example of how less is often more in copywriting.
When interviewing for a new copywriter I don’t just look for someone who can write well. Writing well is necessary but you must also be able to adapt your style and change it to fit the audience, the product, and most importantly the boss. When writing for a varied audience, the goal is not to put yourself in the customer shoes. The goal is to take yourself out of the equation entirely. Rather than thinking, “What would I want to read if I was the customer?” I tell my copywriters to instead ask, “What will encourage my customer to purchase?” or “What does my ideal customer want to read?”
2. Style guides are not cheat sheets and are not immutable.
One of the main rules in our store’s style guide is that first-person pronouns are never used. This is a direct result of the fact that the owner feels using first-person pronouns takes the emphasis off the customer. Some situations, such as when we send out an email letter on behalf of the owner, do call for these first-person pronouns to be used. So, part of copywriting is knowing when not to follow the rules.
Being asked to use a style guide and adhere to company-wide standards of grammar, word usage, and even font size is not a punishment and does not mean you have subpar writing skills. Style guides are frames that helps ensure you don’t go off track. Style guides allow the work of one person to be easily blended with the work of another. When a customer is browsing your website, reading your brochure, or even looking at an advertisement the last thing you want is for there to be a feeling of disconnect or confusion. Having different tones of voice or varied terminology can be jarring for a consumer who just wants to know about your product.
3. Balance beauty and practicality.
If every sentence you write is an elaborate work of art, then your reader can become overwhelmed and leave. When each sentence is filled with flourishes, they all blend together. Conversely, if every sentence you write is dry and boring your reader is just as likely to leave and go somewhere else. You want to have a mix between the two.
For some of my writers it helps to compare copywriting to folding origami swans. (The swans are the sentences!) If you have 10 swans all made of stunning patterned and foiled origami paper then no single one of them will stand out. So many crazy swans can also be tiring to look at – anyone looking at your swans will be visually stunned and turned off. If instead all of your swans are made of plain white paper then none will stand out or be memorable. The ratio I usually look for is about 80/20 of plain sentences to elaborate sentences. About 80% of our sentences are simpler in nature, more direct and to the point. The remaining 20% are compound sentences that are more complex or simply contain language that is more elaborate. This helps keep your writing from becoming repetitious and from a practical standpoint is faster to write. For more on the 80/20 rule, read Islands of Profit in a Sea of Red Ink by Jonathan Byrnes – a very smart man.
4. Know why you are writing.
As I am a writer, I am biased towards words. If you tell me to sell a sofa, I naturally think about the best language to use. Think about the reason you are writing forces you to develop a plan of action. Have a goal in mind. Sports teams compete with a goal of scoring the most points. This is what wins the game. In writing – you have to choose the style that will let you win. Sometimes a short bullet pointed list is better than a 3-page essay.
5.Copywriting does not belong to the writer.
Your words belong to the person who paid for them. If the person writing the checks wants you to use “crimson” instead of “red” then that is what you will do. Word people are hoarders of words and language. We love our physical books. We love our Kindles (I own three – all used for different types of reading environments). We love the words we write. You must be able to step back and push your words out of the nest. This ability can be very emotionally difficult. When your work is edited and changed, realize that your copy may be great – but simply not the best fit in the current format. Remember that while your words are the starting point, the sale is the goal. Any changes or edits are simply detours to make the journey smoother for your potential customers.
I believe that good copywriting is selling and communicating and explaining and convincing and beautiful all at the same time. Set up boundaries, be creative, and remember to have fun. Do not become fixated on analyzing sentence structure and following the rules – ultimately you are writing for a very specific purpose. If you do not know what your purpose is, then you cannot determine if your copywriting is effective. Copywriting is a calculated, planned art form.
-Disclosure: I enjoy making origami swans and think diagramming sentences is fun.
DeeryJennifer 
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