The No Cost Solution to Grow Your Revenue
Episode 614th May 2024 • The Offstage Mic • Aubrey Bergauer
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Copywriting is one of the most important tools you can use to boost ticket sales, donations, and revenue across various platforms. And the best part is—it costs $0 to update the words you use.

In this episode, learn five actionable tips on how creating small, emotional connections through specific language creates a big and lasting impact on your revenue. Hone your copywriting skills as a no cost tool to grab your patrons’ attention, fill those seats, and bring in more donations.

Transcripts

Aubrey Bergauer:

Hey, Offstagers, hopefully if you are listening to this

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episode, you know this is a part two.

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It's a continuation of the last

episode on the topic of leveraging and

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up leveling the words we use in our

communications at arts organizations

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to make those words work harder for us.

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As I said before in the last episode.

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This is a topic that is the singular

most important thing you can do, in

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my opinion at least, if you want to

increase ticket sales, grow subscriptions,

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grow donations, if you want to

grow your audience and donor base.

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So if you haven't listened to

part one yet, I highly recommend

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you go back and start there.

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There is a lot of context and

just a ton of important tips

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and high value for you there.

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That episode is called do this one

thing to make the biggest difference

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in your sales and fundraising.

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And it's literally the

episode right before this one.

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So go there now if you haven't

listened to that one yet.

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So I don't know, maybe if you're

listening to this, you have listened

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to part one or here you are now.

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People think copywriting is not sexy.

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It is.

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It is sexy.

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Like we need a t shirt or something.

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Strong copywriting is sexy.

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Maybe that t shirt

already exists somewhere.

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It's probably next to the t

shirt that says data is sexy.

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But.

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I digress.

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It says a lot about the kind

of t shirts I want, I guess.

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But anyways, the point is, I talked

about this in the last episode, the

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part one, and that's to say that if I

had to answer the question, what's the

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one thing arts organizations can do?

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So many of you ask a

version of this to me.

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What's the one thing I can do

to increase sales and donations?

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It would be this topic of copywriting.

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The longer answer is that I think

there's more than one thing, but

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for everyone who's like, if you

had to pick just one, this is it.

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This is that topic.

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Why?

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Because we, arts managers, arts

organizations, arts administrators, use

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written word so much in everything we do.

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No matter your artistic discipline,

symphonies, operas, orchestras, chamber

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ensembles, theaters, museums, other

visitor based cultural institutions,

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you name it, dance companies, we

use the written word everywhere.

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So I listed these in part one,

but to name them again, website.

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First and foremost, more people

visit the website than we serve.

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Via any other means.

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So the copy plus writing copy for

the user, so, so important here.

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Program book.

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If you're at an exhibit based

institution or visitor based

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institution, that's the object labels.

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Social media, of course, for all

of us, multiple channels there.

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Press releases.

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So many press releases are.

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Just really, I'm pausing, but the word

is sterile, is what was coming to mind.

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Like, very clinical, there's

so much we can do to better up

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level the copywriting there.

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Email blast, no matter whether

that's for marketing or fundraising.

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Every piece of marketing and fundraising

collateral, so that's, Postcards,

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season brochures, all the donor

communications, solicitations, appeal

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letters, acknowledgment letters, so that's

another one that can be pretty sterile.

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Donor benefits, emails, brochures,

campaign case for support, website again

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on all the fundraising side, and then

of course digital, digital ads, and then

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I already mentioned the social media

feeds themselves, and on and on and on.

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It's just that we use words

more than anything that we do.

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We use words everywhere, and the

choices we make, the word choices.

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are so important.

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You know, the adage is just so true.

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The pen is mightier than the sword.

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I don't know if any of you out there are

using swords, but the pen is mightier.

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Uh, and I guess another thing I

should say is that the pen is a

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whole lot cheaper than the sword.

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Okay, I gotta get off this

analogy, but I've been there.

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The point is, when I was chief

executive at an orchestra, we had

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zero money when I first started.

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I've talked about this before, but zero.

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And so, for anybody who, you know,

feels like that right now, like, I got

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nothing, Aubrey, like, then take notes.

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And I've actually, the freebie for the

episode helps you with the cheat sheet,

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so you don't have to take notes, but

I'll share more on that in a second.

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The idea is just that.

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It's the best free solution to really

work on the skill of copywriting.

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And if you're part of a team, have

everybody on your team work on that

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too, the different people who are

responsible for writing different things.

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So I've just felt the pain where I

felt like I had no options, no money.

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And I'm telling you, here's an option.

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Best ROI, period, out there.

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So if you are either in the camp

of wanting one thing to improve

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your sales and donations this year.

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Or, in the camp of, we have no money,

these two episodes are your ticket.

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The last episode plus

this episode right here.

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Before we get going, if you know someone

or are thinking of someone in your mind

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right now and are like, this could be

helpful to them, or, you know, so and so

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should really hear this, do me a favor,

do your organization a favor, and do the

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field a favor, and share it with them.

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Bye bye.

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Because I am here to tell you that

if you get super serious about your

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copywriting, it will make a difference at

a cost to you of literally zero dollars.

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So copywriting is super sexy.

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Print the t shirts, folks, because

increasing sales and donations is sexy.

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Definitely in my book.

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There are no excuses.

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It's just plain old skill building.

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And I am here to tell you that.

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to help you do that.

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So part two on copywriting,

let's get it going.

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I'm Aubrey Bergauer and

welcome to my podcast.

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I'm known in the arts world for

being customer centric, data

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obsessed, and for growing revenue.

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The arts are my vehicle to make the

change I want to see in this world, like

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creating places of belonging, pursuing

gender and racial equality, developing

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high performing teams and leaders, and

leveraging technology to elevate our work.

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I've been called the Steve

Jobs of classical music and the

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Sheryl Sandberg of the symphony.

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I've held offstage roles managing

millions of dollars in revenue at

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major institutions and as chief

executive of an orchestra where we

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doubled the size of the audience and

nearly quadrupled the donor base.

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And now I'm here to help you

achieve that same kind of success.

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In this podcast, we are sorting

through the data inside and outside

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the arts, applying those Findings to

our work, leading out with our values

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and bringing in some expert voices

along the way, all to build the vibrant

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future we know is possible for our

institutions and for ourselves as

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offstage administrators and leaders.

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This podcast is about

optimizing the business around

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the art, not sacrificing it.

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You're listening to The Offstage Mic.

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Have you read CoreStorm's new

State of the Arts report yet?

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It's a data driven resource for all

things arts education in the past year.

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This one is for all the executive

directors of non profit arts

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organizations, teaching artists, and other

leaders in the arts and culture community.

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Imagine tapping into more than 10

years of exclusive class registration

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data to uncover invaluable

insights for your organization.

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CourseStorm has done the legwork

so you can make informed decisions.

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Things like what day and time

is best to hold your class.

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When do most people register?

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And which digital marketing

channel is most effective?

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Discover the successes and

strategies of arts education

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programs that not only weathered the

pandemic storm, but are thriving.

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Yes, you heard that right.

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Thriving.

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I love that the State of the

Arts report shares exclusive data

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from the top class registration

software company, CourseStorm.

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I got to see trends discovered

from CourseStorm's analysis of more

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than 1 million class registrations.

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And you'll want to see them too.

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So if you're ready to elevate your

education program, don't miss out

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on the state of the arts report.

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Visit Core storm.com/soar.

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That's slash SOAR, like the

acronym for State of the Arts.

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And download the free report today.

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We're back today on top Tunes

the music prediction, is it just

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me or does this sound terrible?

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Wait, I think I heard of.

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There's this company called Novo Music.

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They provide across the board audio

solutions, from recording repair,

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to audio editing, to original

music and sound design and beyond.

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Well, what are we waiting for?

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Today on Top Tunes, the

music Now that's better.

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Novo Music.

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Conducting your creative vision.

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Find out more at novomusic.

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co So, here we go.

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In total, last episode plus this

episode, all together, I am sharing

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nine copywriting tips for you.

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This is not an exhaustive list of all

you can do, but there is a lot of good

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value here, so we're sticking to nine,

nine tips to get you going and to start

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driving more emotional connections

and ultimately that desired behavior.

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And the desired behavior is ticket

sales, subscriptions, donations.

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Or, in the case of PR, press releases

that desired behavior is coverage,

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is a story being told about you,

inspiring that desired behavior.

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For social media, building emotional

connections that drive the desired

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behavior, that's likes, shares, comments,

engagement, stopping the scroll, right?

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For program book, the desired behavior

would be, we want our audience to

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have a feeling of understanding.

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We want to demystify the art, and we

want to be the guide for attendees

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to help them on their journey.

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We could do a whole other episode on

the idea of people reading the program

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book should feel like it's their trusted

guide, as opposed to a distant scholarly

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publication of some sort, right?

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Okay, whole other episode someday.

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The point is, our copy and the words we

used are to elicit an emotional response.

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that drives a desired behavior.

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That's why we're here.

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That's why we're covering this.

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That's why I think it's so important.

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So, okay, quick review on part one,

just to really quickly list it down.

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The first four tips I gave in the

last episode were, number one,

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talk like your customers talk.

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Number two, start with the juiciest,

most interesting line first.

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The purpose of that first line is

to get people to just keep reading.

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We just talked about the desired

behavior, but the first line

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is not about that behavior.

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The first line is about

get them to keep reading.

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Okay, point three.

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Write answers to what your customer

needs, wants, or has questions about.

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Do that in your copy.

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And four, add urgency.

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So again, if this is all new to you,

go back, listen to the last episode.

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It's all spelled out with tons of

examples, details, and explanations

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of what to do and not to do.

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So now, on to tips

number five through nine.

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I mentioned before you don't

actually have to take notes.

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I mean, you can if you want, of

course, but I've got it all for you

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in a free download for this episode.

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It's called The Do's and

Don'ts of Copywriting, 9

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Tips to Level Up Immediately.

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So it's the rundown of everything

we've covered in the last

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episode as well as this episode.

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Go to my website to get yours.

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It's aubreybergauer.

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com slash 27.

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That's number 27 for episode 27.

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And as we're hitting the

rest of these tips, I.

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I first want to talk about the role of AI,

because we haven't talked about that yet.

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So here's my take on AI.

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I am a big fan of efficiency, for sure.

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We are in a world where literally

every arts organization says they

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don't have enough time, people, right?

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So if we can get a boost or we

can get some help or something to

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improve efficiency, I am all for it.

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To dig a little deeper, my experience

with AI, I would say, is twofold.

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I think AI is good for drafting.

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So all these things we're talking

about, all the places we have copy,

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every single one of those channels

I've mentioned, it can really help.

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Again, as the draft, not the final thing.

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I've not, I don't think I've

used Chad GPT or any of the

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others I've played around with.

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Like once have I seen what they generated

and then was like, yep, that's the winner.

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So just no draft starting point.

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That's the main thing.

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But that's enough.

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Like sometimes we just need our

brains to kind of get the little

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jumpstart or have a little start.

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Spark.

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Or sometimes it's easier if you

have the list of tips in front of

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you if you go get the download.

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You can see what the AI tool

generates and then be like, uh uh,

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but I can see how to make it better.

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So again, just sometimes having

that draft is just a big body of

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work that really helps, like I

said, kind of jumpstart our brains.

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So yeah.

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Good, good, good for

the first pass, usually.

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My other, I said it was twofold, so my

other piece of the experience with AI

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tools is that I, we, you, all of us, have

to learn to get better with our prompts.

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So I've learned.

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Chat GPT, for example, but I'm

sure the others too, can take

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a lot of direction, actually.

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For example, give it my prompt, draft

something, I don't know, whether it's

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social media caption or whatever.

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And then you can say, now write that

in a more approachable way with plain

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English that's easy to understand.

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Like, you can literally say that

in the prompts for chat GPT.

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And so you're training it to

do exactly what I told you.

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Like, wasn't that tip number one,

talk like your customers talk in plain

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English that's easy to understand.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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I just wanted to share those

additional thoughts, tips on kind

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of the role of AI in all of this.

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So it's a starting place, but we

can get better with our prompts and

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helping refine the voice of the AI too.

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Alright.

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If you are wanting to explore AI and how

it can help you, by all means, go for it.

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I think is the moral of the story here.

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And I would say if we can use.

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Not just AI, but any tool available.

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There are so many now of all kinds

of different tools to save you time,

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brain space, create efficiency.

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I am probably always going to say,

explore that, do it, go for it.

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We need all the help we can get, right?

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Like, we need all the help we

can get on our super lean staffs.

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Plus, I guess probably every business

in any sector wants to be more

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efficient, wants to get a leg up.

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So in that sense, all of this

is not particularly unique to

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nonprofits or arts managers or arts

organizations, for that matter.

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Okay, and I just want to share, I

was just recently reading before

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recording this episode, HubSpot's

:

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And this is all about the

different marketing trends.

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And they just recently released this,

if you're listening to this episode.

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kind of around the time it comes out.

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And this is what they said on efficiency.

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They said, quote, efficiency leads

to innovative, more human marketing.

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I think that's really,

in some ways, profound.

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I don't mean to be too dramatic

about it, but efficiency leads to

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innovative, more human marketing.

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I mean, that's exactly

what we're going for here.

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The report goes on to say, quote,

Today, marketers have a new assessment

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Assistant to help with everyday tasks,

brainstorming, research, content creation,

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data analysis, reporting and automation.

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Your friendly neighborhood AI tool.

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And so, you know, I was talking about the

prompts and getting better at the prompts.

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You could even say, here's the

concert program, insert all the info,

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performers, all that kind of stuff.

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And you can say as your prompt,

brainstorm 20 different potential

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titles for this concert.

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I think that's so cool.

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And then even if it doesn't nail it.

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You are reading that list, and

you have just, I keep coming back

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to this word jumpstarted, you've

just jumpstarted your own brain.

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It puts you in the critical and creative,

that combination of critical and

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creative thinking space, so that your

brain is working in the background.

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And by the time you read that list

and get to idea number 20, you

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will have others coming to mind.

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If you don't believe me, try it.

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It just is going to spur

new and more ideas for you.

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Honestly, I am working on this myself.

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I have to confess, the default in

me is often the old way that relies

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a hundred percent on myself or

somebody else on my team or their

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own creativity or my own creativity.

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And, um, That is actually

holding me back, holding us back.

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When I think about jumpstarting

my own creativity, that's an

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advantage plus a time saver.

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So I am playing around with AI myself

a little bit, trying to get better

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at it, trying to push myself in this

area because I see the benefits.

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And then lastly, the tech is

only going to get better, right?

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This technology is not

going away for sure.

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So I would say.

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Not only am I encouraging this, but

encouraging at least dabbling, playing

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around, getting familiar with the

technology and the tools because it is

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only going to serve you going forward.

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Okay, let's call all of

this free bonus tip 4.

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5.

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We left off with tip number four

in the last episode, and now

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let's move on to tip number five.

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Be specific.

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Any time you are writing a

list of benefits or features.

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Take away and more.

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Like, we see this all the time.

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Like, somebody says, I don't

know, the upcoming opera has great

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sets, awesome costumes, and more.

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Don't say and more.

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Instead, you have to say

exactly what you're selling.

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This is important to the shift

in consumer behavior today.

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And more is kind of a lazy catch

all, and we have to stop doing

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it because it's not effective.

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Not because I'm criticizing lazy

copywriting, just because it doesn't work.

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And that's the part I'm trying

to help you get away from.

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So instead, you have to

find something else to say.

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instead of the vague and more.

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What is it?

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Great sets, awesome costumes,

and special choreography.

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I don't know.

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I'm making this up.

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But similarly, avoid rhetorical questions.

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So many times we waste that first line

of copy with a rhetorical question.

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Sometimes it's okay.

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Sometimes it's okay.

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When you're defaulting to that, a

fair amount, flex that copywriting

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muscle, and try to do better.

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Occasionally, like I said, like, like

an example of when it might work is when

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it's an actual question your customer

is asking, like we noted before.

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But a lot of times it just weakens

the copy, kind of wastes words, so

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find a way to reword it when you can.

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Just jump to the answer, usually, is the

solution to this copywriting challenge.

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So here's a great one when

we're talking about be specific.

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You can also Use a number to

convey specificity and credibility

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and Specific numbers are more

believable than round numbers.

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Don't just say, you know, when

we've got up to 90 people on

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stage, say we have 72 members in

the orchestra or whatever it is.

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Or literally the way I set up the title of

this episode, nine tips for copywriting.

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Be specific and don't give a round number.

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That is intentional even in

the title of this episode.

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Tip number six, drop the superlatives.

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Think.

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Just the facts.

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This is really a blast from the

past, but did anybody watch Dragnet?

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Dragnet, when did it come on?

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The 50s or 60s, I want to say.

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I could be wrong on that, but I think it

was black and white originally, so that

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gives some semblance of a time period.

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But the detective would

say, just the facts, ma'am.

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That's where that came from.

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It came from Dragnet.

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And that's the other way to

say, drop the superlatives.

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And this is definitely research

based and definitely applies

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to so many arts organizations.

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So hear me out.

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There is a study that found, they actually

measured this, like how many superlatives,

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these like flowery adjectives,

performed better in copywriting.

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And in their copywriting, they

found that zero or one superlatives

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performed best in all of their tests.

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And the more superlatives than that, two,

three, four, however many adjectives,

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flowery words people put in there.

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The worse the click

throughs, opens, reads, etc.

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So zero or one superlatives.

386

:

That is what you need to know.

387

:

Drop the superlatives.

388

:

I literally went to, here's more

examples for you, literally went to a

389

:

major orchestra's website and clicked

on the first concert on the homepage.

390

:

And this is what that landing page

said, clicked on the whatever they were

391

:

promoting on the homepage, took me to

this landing page for the concert, the

392

:

program overview page, and it said,

quote, two orchestral innovators tackle

393

:

the complexities of the human condition.

394

:

Ricard Strauss passionate and provocative

symphony poems plumb the psychological

395

:

depths of his literary sources.

396

:

Maurice Ravel wrote Wrote his dark

and intense piano concerto for

397

:

the left hand because the Austrian

pianist who commissioned it lost

398

:

his right arm in World War I.

399

:

The warped and tender waltzes of La Valse

are the Frenchman's response to the dream

400

:

of Viennese refinement in a murderous age.

401

:

Okay, first of all, that's a lot of words.

402

:

Second of all, that is

a lot of superlatives.

403

:

So, I will say, to give credit, the

second sentence is actually really good.

404

:

Maurice Ravel wrote his dark and intense

piano concerto for the left hand because

405

:

the Austrian pianist who commissioned

it lost his right arm in World War I.

406

:

I would say there's probably

more in there than needs to be.

407

:

You could probably quell that a bit, drop

some of these words, but Why it's good

408

:

is because that's an interesting fact.

409

:

The work is cool.

410

:

It uses words that are

more understandable.

411

:

Oh, it's for the left hand.

412

:

Oh, because the person who

commissioned it had lost his right

413

:

arm, so he needed only his left hand.

414

:

So that's pretty good, but it's buried in

the middle of this big, long paragraph.

415

:

So Drop the superlatives.

416

:

Also just to be crystal clear, words

like world class and beloved are

417

:

definitely superlatives and you should

definitely stop using those words.

418

:

It goes back to point one

on using language like how

419

:

your customers actually talk.

420

:

What do people actually say?

421

:

They say words like

awesome or crazy or best.

422

:

Like just talk like people

talk and use interesting facts.

423

:

That's definitely better and

easier to understand than.

424

:

Viennese refinement in a murderous age.

425

:

Like I said, this was literally

the first orchestra website I

426

:

went to, literally clicked on the

first thing on the first page.

427

:

This stuff is just pervasive, so I

really am not trying to throw shade

428

:

or throw anybody under the bus.

429

:

It's just not effective copywriting.

430

:

So here are these examples to

try to help understand what's

431

:

happening and what we can do to be

more effective, to drive results.

432

:

That's what the copywriting is all

about, driving the results we need.

433

:

Tip number 7 of 9.

434

:

Use the active voice,

not the passive voice.

435

:

So, for example, a social media post

that says something like, The orchestra

436

:

shines under the baton of conductor name.

437

:

That's passive.

438

:

Versus, they make it look effortless.

439

:

That's more active, it's also a

little juicier, it's a better hook.

440

:

Or, they did this on just two rehearsals.

441

:

That one line brings together

a lot of these other points.

442

:

It's active.

443

:

It's a specific number, two rehearsals.

444

:

Plus it's a fact matching

the point on being specific.

445

:

Plus there's no false enthusiasm.

446

:

It's talking like your customers

talk, like that one line, they

447

:

did this on just two rehearsals.

448

:

That is a much more powerful.

449

:

line of copy.

450

:

And you know, it's so funny because

we internally in the arts, especially

451

:

in the orchestra world, we're almost

never impressed by an orchestra

452

:

doing a performance after just

two or three rehearsals because we

453

:

know they do it all the time, like

literally week after week, right?

454

:

But customers don't know that.

455

:

And it just makes me think about, this is

about using the active voice, but the sub

456

:

tip would be, you know, don't be afraid

to say the things that feel obvious to us,

457

:

but they're not obvious to our customers.

458

:

I've been thinking so much about

Caitlin Clarke lately, like for anybody

459

:

who's been following the Caitlin

Clarke phenomenon, nobody is saying.

460

:

Yeah, but she scores over 40 points

every game, so it's old hat now.

461

:

Right?

462

:

Like, nobody is saying, like, she's old

news because she excels every single

463

:

time and she does it every single time.

464

:

That's not, that's not the

topic of conversation with her.

465

:

The topic of conversation with her

is like, holy cow, she's exceptional.

466

:

So the things that Really

do make our artists so

467

:

exceptional, like, talk about it.

468

:

Nobody is saying Simone Biles

landed the most difficult vault

469

:

ever done in women's gymnastics.

470

:

Again, snooze fest, right?

471

:

Like both of those examples

are of greatness because

472

:

they do it again and again.

473

:

And it is the same with our artists.

474

:

They just did that on two rehearsals.

475

:

Active voice.

476

:

One more I just thought of.

477

:

Somebody was telling me, this was

a few years ago, but somebody was

478

:

telling me about their friend.

479

:

watching Long Long Play Piano

on YouTube for the first time.

480

:

They did not know him, they

didn't know who he was, and my

481

:

friend had shown this video.

482

:

To their friend.

483

:

Okay.

484

:

I don't know what the copy on that.

485

:

I'm going to tell you

what the friend said.

486

:

Talk about talking like your

patrons talk or your customers talk.

487

:

I'm going to tell you what they said

in a moment, but instead what I did

488

:

as I was, this was coming to mind in

preparation for this episode, I go

489

:

back to Instagram, open it up and I

thought, okay, let's just see what

490

:

posts are talking about a piano player.

491

:

All right, here's what I got.

492

:

First two posts I came across

talking about a piano player.

493

:

Quote, experience the striking stage

presence and jaw dropping bravura

494

:

of Yefim Bronfman in a solo recital.

495

:

On the program, and

then list of composers.

496

:

Next one.

497

:

I keep scrolling a couple

more later, another pianist.

498

:

Beatrice Rana and conductor name on

stage with insert big orchestra name

499

:

performing insert piece of music name

at insert venue name this past weekend.

500

:

Like, do you think the friend said

that when this person watched Long

501

:

Long Play for the first time, which,

by the way, is what we want happening

502

:

on our social channels, whether that's

YouTube or Instagram or wherever,

503

:

do you think the friend said that?

504

:

Like, wow, look at that

jaw dropping bravura.

505

:

No.

506

:

The friend said, wow,

his hands are blurry.

507

:

Like he is playing so

fast, his hands are blurry.

508

:

That's active voice.

509

:

That's actually what the

customer is thinking or saying.

510

:

It's such a better line of copy

that could've gone for any of these

511

:

pianists I just used the examples of.

512

:

Wow, their hands are blurry.

513

:

So much stronger than these other words.

514

:

These are actual examples in my feed

two seconds after I opened the app.

515

:

Okay.

516

:

Use active voice, not passive voice.

517

:

Number eight.

518

:

Tip number eight of nine.

519

:

Use white space.

520

:

Okay, this is now more

important off of social media.

521

:

There's definitely, it's definitely

important on social media.

522

:

You need line breaks and things

like that, but this is all kinds

523

:

of other copy we write as well.

524

:

So we need to help our copy look

clean, look uncluttered, and create

525

:

visual balance and breathing room.

526

:

This is important because We need

people to understand and take action.

527

:

We're using, we're trying to

drive an emotional reaction

528

:

to drive the desired behavior.

529

:

Right?

530

:

So we need our white space to help

us do that, to help somebody's brain

531

:

process what we're writing in this As

little time as possible, you know, we're

532

:

talking milliseconds or seconds, right?

533

:

So the whitespace helps us do that.

534

:

That means add in space between

sections of the email or website,

535

:

lots of paragraph breaks.

536

:

Sometimes even in my own

copy, it's treating a sentence

537

:

like a paragraph, right?

538

:

You write a sentence.

539

:

Basically, a paragraph break after that.

540

:

This is by design.

541

:

It's so people can process

what they're reading.

542

:

And another way to say

this is that people skim.

543

:

They don't read, they skim.

544

:

So help them skim.

545

:

If you want to increase conversions,

you have to help them read less.

546

:

Like maybe this sounds counterintuitive.

547

:

But it's not.

548

:

People are going to do what

they're going to do, right?

549

:

So help them get what they need or want

in the shortest amount of time possible.

550

:

Whitespace helps with that.

551

:

I see so many postcards and

brochures that come in the mail.

552

:

It's kind of season brochure time

right now as I'm recording this.

553

:

and it is a C of black type.

554

:

This is bad copywriting.

555

:

I know you have a lot to say.

556

:

We're going to talk about some of that in

the next and final tip, but you do this in

557

:

your own life too as a consumer yourself.

558

:

You don't read every word.

559

:

You skim to see if that email

or post or letter or postcard

560

:

or brochure is worth your time.

561

:

So help the reader take in what they

need in that like very short millisecond,

562

:

couple seconds chance we're given.

563

:

And then, like I said, this segues into

our next and final point, point nine

564

:

of nine, tip nine of nine, cut the copy

in half and then cut it in half again.

565

:

Sometimes longer form copy is effective.

566

:

Sometimes it is.

567

:

That is true.

568

:

But, generally speaking, for the

website, email, direct mail, and even

569

:

fundraising appeals, try to say what

you need to say in half the words.

570

:

I know that's hard.

571

:

Even in the fundraising appeal,

oh man, I've been there.

572

:

It's hard.

573

:

But again, most people

aren't really reading.

574

:

So it is a skill to be able to cut

it in half and cut it in half again.

575

:

Anybody who's worked for me has definitely

heard me say this, cut it in half.

576

:

So I'm just a longtime

broken record on this.

577

:

There is so much more

to say on this topic.

578

:

Just recently in one of my academy

office hours, a participant brought

579

:

their appeal letter to the office hours

and said, can we look at this together?

580

:

Can we talk about what to cut?

581

:

And there's a lot more to say.

582

:

Also, we also looked at like what the

research says about storytelling and

583

:

how to do that well across channels.

584

:

There is so much more to say on this

topic of copywriting, but before

585

:

we call it, I've got one more.

586

:

Let's call it the bonus 10th tip.

587

:

And that is that practice makes perfect.

588

:

Doing all of this is not easy, definitely

not easy at the beginning, and that

589

:

is why great copywriting is a skill.

590

:

It takes work to do all these things.

591

:

It takes mental work, mental

capacity, some mental gymnastics.

592

:

It takes brainstorming.

593

:

It definitely takes iteration.

594

:

You have to write, you have to rewrite,

you have to cut, you have to try it again.

595

:

Brainstorm a bunch of different

versions of the headline or the hook.

596

:

Like, that's, that's work.

597

:

It takes being able to cut

things that are good, not great.

598

:

That's hard too.

599

:

I, cutting in half is hard

because, you know, you get really

600

:

attached to what you're saying.

601

:

And I definitely do this myself.

602

:

So for sure, constantly working on this.

603

:

It means you can't always

bang it out in two seconds.

604

:

And I think so often in the arts, you

We're having to bang it out in two

605

:

seconds because we don't have time.

606

:

It's due tomorrow.

607

:

It's due yesterday, basically.

608

:

So it makes it hard to just

take the time to really try to

609

:

build the muscles to do this.

610

:

But keep practicing.

611

:

Keep building those chops.

612

:

It will pay off.

613

:

I can promise you.

614

:

That, and that is why big brands

and ad agencies, they have people

615

:

solely dedicated to copywriting.

616

:

Like it's their full title,

full job, copywriter.

617

:

They know the words we use are so

critically important to motivate action.

618

:

We at arts organizations

use words in so many places.

619

:

And being strategic about the

words you use makes the biggest

620

:

difference to your bottom line.

621

:

All right, folks, I hope you found

these last two episodes really packed

622

:

with actionable tips to immediately

increase your sales and donations via

623

:

the words you use in your copywriting.

624

:

I want you to have all the tips from

this episode and the last episode,

625

:

parts one and two, on this topic

of copywriting at your fingertips.

626

:

That way, next time you are writing

something, whether that's for a

627

:

website, collateral, brochure, social

media, fundraising appeal, a letter,

628

:

email, whatever, you can refer to

these pointers and level up what

629

:

you're putting out into the world to

get the results you want and need.

630

:

Go to my website and

get your free download.

631

:

It's called Do's and Don'ts

of Copywriting, 9 Tips

632

:

to Level Up Immediately.

633

:

Head to www.

634

:

aubreybergauer.

635

:

com slash 27.

636

:

That's number 27 for episode 27.

637

:

And to best use this download, I would

say next time you're writing something

638

:

for your organization, My recommendation

is either to first look at the list,

639

:

scan the tips, and then instantly that

puts your brain in the right brain space

640

:

to write great copy, and of course you

can refer to the tips and guide as you

641

:

go, or if you have something already

written, like webpages, for example,

642

:

the other recommendation or option is

to use the tips and compare against

643

:

what's already there so you can make

Smart, better choices about what to keep,

644

:

what to cut, and what to modify so that

that copy is working harder for you.

645

:

Again, it's aubreybergauer.

646

:

com slash 27, number 27, for episode 27.

647

:

That's all for today, folks.

648

:

Thanks so much for listening, and if you

like what you heard here, Hit that button

649

:

to follow or subscribe to this podcast.

650

:

If you're new, welcome.

651

:

I am so glad you made it.

652

:

And if you've been listening for

a while, I love so much that you

653

:

were getting value from this.

654

:

So if that's you, please take just two

seconds to leave a quick one tap rating.

655

:

Full on review isn't even

required if you're short on time.

656

:

To all of you once more, thanks again.

657

:

I'll see you next time right here.

658

:

On the Offstage Mic.

659

:

The Offstage Mic was produced by me,

Aubrey Bergauer, and edited by Novo

660

:

Music, an audio production company of

all women audio engineers and musicians.

661

:

Additional podcast support comes

from the Changing the Narrative

662

:

team and social media brand

management by Classical Content.

663

:

This is a production of

Changing the Narrative.

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