"Probably one of the most profound discoveries of my life. How a
little known music book by India's mystics changed my thoughts
on web copywriting and business communication forever.
Here’s what happened..."
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Hi everyone,
Been ruminating on this one for a little while now but it’s
probably one of the most profound discoveries of my life. It all
began with a little book about music and it’s had such a deep
influence on my copywriting and small business, indeed my whole
outlook on life, I'd like to share it with you all now.
Here’s what happened...
About 8 years ago I bought the book “Man and Music In India” by
Roshmi Goswami and was introduced to a staggering thought from
within it’s pages... that every note sounded by a musician is
actually a container for the spirit of the musician.
Now breaking that open further I began to see that (I’m a
musician myself; drummer, guitar player) as the notes of a
musician could be filled by the very soul or spirit of the
musician himself or even God or demons (if you believe in them)
so the notes were almost like little boats that each musician
filled with their persona unique to them and by plucking,
singing, striking the note they in essence ‘launched’ it out
into the waves of the sea of sound where it eventually reaches
the ‘port’ of it’s destination - the audiences hearing ear, who
gladly receive and enjoy it (or otherwise if a bad musician).
In my mind’s eye I saw each musical piece therefore (stick with
me here - it’s worth it I promise) as composed of thousands of
little boats (the notes) sent out to sail across the sea of
sound by vibration (the waves) to the audiences listening
intently on the other side of that ’sound sea’.
For many years I thought about this and then realised (sorry
I’m a bit slow on the uptake sometimes!) that this didn’t just
apply to notes in music but more deeply and profoundly it
actually applied to the very stuff of life itself - WORDS.
As such every single every single word you say or write is a
container, a ‘little boat’ as it were... that actually contains
YOU! The question is what fills your ‘little boat’ before you
launch it out to sea?
If the light bulb has not gone on yet it will, just keep
pondering the bigger picture above - perhaps of a lone master
violinist or a sitar and tabla player deeply intwined in an
intricate Indian raga and before long you’ll understand exactly
what I’m driving at... and it’s deep, very profound.
When you apply the above metaphor to words you see the little
boats not as notes just being “containers for the music and
spirit of the musician” but rather words as little ships
themselves that contain YOUR very essence, spirit, soul and
persona.
Every time you speak or write a single line you release a little
‘Armada’ of these little boats out onto the sea of existence
itself - if speaking, then out onto the splashing waves of the
’sea of sound’ - if writing, then even more deeply into the sea
of ‘heart to heart direct communication’ itself... without a
sound, directly to the target.
What’ s so profound about the written word is it’s ability
(when the writing is good) to bypass all the defences humans
erect against other human’s intrusion and drop directly into
the emotional and decision making part of the heart to evoke
powerful responses. That’s also good if you want to sell
something to someone.
Quick example...
My wife didn’t even know I really had feelings for her in the
first months of us knowing each other and she’d moved to another
town 65 miles away - I wrote her a letter; it was pretty powerful
(I was terrible at controlling my emotions then and splurged the
clumsy letter full of poetry and undying declarations of love
etc!) and she phoned me saying she was surprised at my feelings
for her; within 8 weeks we were married and that was 17 years
ago.
Prior to the letter I’d just been a fleeting aquaintance and
if I’d tried face to face I’d probably have blown it being so
nervous and all but; the words carrying my spirit, passion,
persona bypassed all her natural resistance and... melted her
heart!
So what’s this all got to do with copywriting? Well a massive
amount really; the point I’m trying to uncover here is that
you reveal your very personality through every single word you
write... even if there are some aspects you’d rather not show to
others, especially prospects or clients. Each little copywriting
‘word boat’ is saturated with an invisible (to you but not your
readers), almost DNA like substance which betrays who you really
are to everyone who reads what you write.
Eek! Kinda scarey...
So putting your best food forward for business doesn’t mean
covering up the nasty bits and hoping folks won’t find them.
Their ’sixth sense’ tells them to avoid you or do business with
you because the ’substance’ leaks out from the little boats to
alert them to who the real you is, whether you like it or not.
Rather, you fix what’s wrong in your business, align who and
what you are with an honest decent direction and let that
saturate all your future messages as you roll out your campaigns
to win the world. Then your transparency will win you friends
and business... you become attractive.
Never forget when your words drop through someones letter box,
email box or arrive through the ether on a telephone wire folks
instantly know deep in their gut whether you’re the ‘real deal’
or not.
You can’t hide it - when you wrote your copy or launched into
your sales pitch you filled your ‘little boat’ with who you
really are, your own unique DNA ... probably without even
knowing it.
Think about your copywriting this way; yes you’ve got to grab
attention, give the other person what they want, see things
from their perspective, give them the benefits up front etc but
when it comes to your USP and what makes YOU special, make sure
your entire message is drenched in your unique, niche tailored,
custom fitted, perfectly targeted USP... but it must be done
with absolute honesty or they will know, they just will.
I remember years ago working for a photocopying company - I
was the best in the whole company at getting appointments yet
useless at selling them if I went on an appointment; why?
Because although I’d admitted it to no one including myself
at the time - I hated photocopiers (they are so boring) and
the people could instantly tell that when I spoke about them.
On the other hand I loved getting appointments for the company
(I secretly hoped the boss would send the other ‘good reps’ on
the calls) and that’s why I did so well at setting them, people
were instantly turned on by my words down the phone to them
because I was passionate about lead generation.
My boats were full to to the top with unique ‘Dave Alston-ness!’
and people loved it so they set appointments with me.
You also need to be special, unique, different for someone to
do business with you these days because folks can so easily go
somewhere else at the click of a mouse - align your business
with who you really should be.
Ensure every word you say, or write is filled to the brim with
the right spirit and true integrity and allow the ’sea’ to carry
each ‘little boat’ directly into every single heart you target.
You’ll be amazed at what happens.
Make no mistake, in these increasingly impersonal and troubled
times people value enriching business ‘partnerships’ they can
rely on and will give them their business. But you’ll only get
them by targeting the heart... and they’ll only let you in if
they can instantly sense they can trust you.
People want to know you care - they’ll sense it instantly; good
or bad, when your ‘word ship’ arrives whether you want them to
or not. So why not examine all your words verbal and written
from how your small business answers the phone, your voice
mails, your sales letters, autoresponder messages, right through
to your web site content? Replace defective words with heart to
heart communication instead.
Check if your communications really are brimming with the good
stuff you want others to see in your business when they get word
from you. Don’t send them containers full of refuse with your
good companies name on it without even realising it. The world’s
got too much of it already... spam. Send out a little fleet of
‘word ships’ filled with gold to make peoples lives better
instead.
That’s just one tiny copywriting secret I’ve gleaned so far from
the Indian Mystics. Keep your eyes peeled for the next article
it’s ‘The Indian Rope Trick’.
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