I was on a call with some of the current Heart-Centered Copywriting Intensive participants the other day and I mentioned that it’s a great idea to copy a good business model when you find it, if it fits.
Someone replied, “Oh no, I don’t want to copy anyone.” Which unfortunately got me started on a ten minute rant.
In the interest of fairness, let me say that no, I don’t want you blindly copying someone else. You don’t want to do anything unconsciously or without heart.
But there is a HUGE downside to thoughtless creative innovation. Take your skeleton for example. It’s going to be nearly identical to my skeleton and the skeletons of the other 7 billion human beings on the planet.
If you are trying to be human, I wouldn’t want you to get too innovative with your skeleton.
Same with language and grammar. Millions of ways to express yourself in English, and yet in the interest of mutual comprehensibility, we all (more or less) pay attention to English grammar. If you get too innovative with language, no one can understand you.
This is also a huge challenge in spiritual learning and development. As a student and teacher of Sufism, I have to see between the foundation of what is taught (service, compassion, sincerity, politeness, love) and the cultural add-ons (certain kinds of clothing, certain kinds of food). It can seem obvious in retrospect, but when it’s all jumbled together it can take some real discernment to see what’s what.
This is a good time to make a distinction between copying and copying.
What I don’t want you copying mindlessly:
Someone else’s voice, opinions, creative expressions, style. Exception: it is a legitimate writing exercise to try to copy a well-known writer’s voice and style as a writing exercise only.
What I do want you copying thoughtfully:
Structures. Models. Strategies. Formats. Warning: Make sure you know as much as possible about what’s behind the scenes before you copy someone else’s business model.
For instance, you might see one of your favorite bloggers offering products at a certain price and hardly anything else. If you copy her model, you may not be clued into the fact that 1) she has financial backing from selling a previous business; 2) she has 1000x as many readers as you have; and 3) a good portion of her income is coming in through offers for speaking gigs, consulting, or sponsorships that aren’t visible to the every day reader.
Result: you struggle to sell a few copies of your own product and you wonder what you’re doing wrong.
While there is a risk of becoming too sheeplike, what I see far more of in those who are self-employed is that the desire for authentic expression, and a distaste of the herd mentality leads to the out-of-hand rejection of extremely useful ways to make one’s business work.
One of the reasons our approach to copywriting, article writing, and website content is so successful with so many people is that we outlined the underlying structure, the grammar and syntax if you will, of how to put a successful piece of content together. Then I invite you to fill that structure with your authentic expression.
Today’s heart-centered reflection: is your business and heart suffering because of an overly strong attachment to authentic expression? Where in your business can you bring in a structure, strategy or format that you’ve seen elsewhere, so that you can save your creative expression for where it counts, in connecting to the people you are serving?
With love and appreciation,
Mark
p.s. Wish you could turn compelling content out on a schedule?
Writing articles, newsletters, blog posts, even creating videos or audio podcasts, all require two things: creativity, structure, and heart. Hold it, that’s three things.
Creativity, structure, heart and drama. Okay, maybe I can’t count, but I can write. And so can you. You can. And you can do it consistently and beautifully.
Why don’t you join me for Heart-Centered Article Writing? It starts September 11.
Take a look: Heart-Centered Article Writing
5 Responses
Hi Mark
I completely agree with what you have said in your article – I just said the same thing in my group coaching program today! It’s OK to model someone else’s newsletter, for example, if it calls to you and you love the style. That’s structure – and then the content is your own style, your own voice, your own point of view, your own life sharings.
Authenticity is super important, there is only one of you and no one has your life experience, your skills, your point of view, your way of being in all the same quantities as you! This is where we connect, this is the juice of our marketing — people buy from people, period.
But, that by no means rules out modelling what works for other people and seeing if it works for you. Following our inner wisdom is the secret, it’s what trumps everything imho. We are being guided constantly, if we turn down the volume on the screaming thinking, it’s all there for us – and maybe it says model this and not that – just taking the time to quieten down and listen is the key. That’s being true to who we really are.
Love your style Mark and have modelled it too! Thank you.
Sheela- thank you! Wonderful to hear that we were on the same wavelength as well. Copying is where it’s at. 🙂
I’ve taken advantage of Pay What You Can nights at a local theater for years. One year I wanted to offer my regular clients a gift for supporting me through a chaotic transition in my massage practice. I offered them Pay What You Can for 5 months.
Before I did that, I asked myself: (1) What will I do if someone pays me $1? (2) Do I think most of my clients will pay me $1? (3) Does this cheapen my practice or my value as a professional? (4) Am I doing this as a mis-guided marketing ploy?
When I answered all those questions to my satisfaction, I made the offer. A few people took me up on it and were very grateful that it was available.
I was so pleased with the results (and they way it made me feel, including the flexibility I now felt like I had) that I’ve made it a permanent part of my practice.
Kelly- way to go being so thoughtful about it! Whether it worked out or not, it’s a wonderful approach to copying- and a big plus that it did work out.
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