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Exploding Your Copy (and life) From Sissy to SEISMIC.

December 4, 2009

I love the color gray.
I also hate the color gray.

Grey is a great color for some things... like a nice grey suit, socks, or even my hair! But it's a really bad color for life, copywriting, marketing, first dates, race cars, etc.

Passion is anything but gray
Political Correctness is so gray
Specifics are not gray at all
Generalization is gray, and when you generalize you loose people.

Want to make a difference in this world? Want to stand out? Want your message to be heard? Then you want to be vibrant. You want to be dynamic. You do not want to be a gray person or have a gray personality.

Why do you think celebrities do such strange and stupid things? Because it get's them attention and media coverage. One way or another that usually translates into more money in their pockets. Then again, I think that some celebrities become so addicted to it that they can't stop doing strange and stupid things!

Like the flamboyant mating dances and displays of some birds, the biggest showoff and most colorful bird gets to mate and pass on those colorful genes to a new generation! I think it's built into the deep recesses of our cerebral cortex too. The end result: more people care about utterly stupid and worthless reality shows than real suffering and real issues. More people read about Tiger Woods than the laws and programs our Congress and Senate leaders are voting on.

What does this mean when it comes to making money, selling something, writing copy, marketing, or living life? Be the colorful bird!

Make your copy interesting and vivid. Make your presentation colorful. Take a stand. Don't play it safe. Too many people are obsessed with being politically correct: pc this and pc that... it MAKES ME SICK!

If you think playing it safe and trying to please everyone and not insult or offend anyone will get you ahead, think again. It doesn't work in most cases. Lukewarm gets lukewarm results. If you want to sizzle then you need some HEAT!

What if you just have a grey personality and just can't seem to muster any color whatsoever? You can try roll playing. Sometimes I go into my TV Evangelist alter ego! Screaming and hollering and making wild motions with my hands! Maybe when it's time for you to write your blog posts, or write some copy, or go on a date, you put on a particular jacket, shirt, or hat. And BAM! You're now seven shades of hi-gloss purple passion instead of flat, dull gray!

It takes courage to stand out! Inside even the most subdued person there's a star bursting to get out. Fear keeps their starlight locked inside, just like a black hole stops even light from escaping from it's core.

So GET FIRED UP!
Get some PERSONALITY!
Go from wuss to WONDER!
from plain to PASSIONATE!
from dull to DAZZLING!
from empty to EMPHATIC!
from so-so to SO WHAT!
from sissy to SEISMIC!
Be the colorful bird!

Until next time,
Fred

About the Author

Fred Black is an experienced online business operator, programmer, web site developer, father, husband, musician, and songwriter. Visit his Internet Business Blog at: http://www.pqInternet.com.

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Posted by Fred on December 4, 2009 | Printer-Friendly

TrackBack: http://www.pqInternet.com/Blog/mt-tb.cgi/219

Assigned Categories: Copywriting | Truth and Freedom

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Comments:

From: Gregory E. Nemer

Excellent Post Fred,

It's either black or white.

No strattling the fence because it's really painful, especially for men.

No lukewarmness, I like my coffee hot and my beverages cold. I prefer someone who is real- I don't like hypocrites either.

And on the colors,..I have a parrot who makes a lot of noise... but a least he's passionate, dazzling, full of personality and COLORFUL
Posted by Gregory E. Nemer on December 4, 2009 10:00 AM
From: Joe H

Good post. It takes some guts to be different and most people want to follow the herd. We get acceptance by being part of the group and in turn become grey. Thanks I will try and keep it mind!
Posted by Joe H on December 12, 2009 5:49 AM
From: Låna

I agree very much with you on this one. Gray is so bland. I don't even wear it except for some gray hair. But only because I don't want to dye my hair. That would be too fake. I don't like to fake around. I say what I think. No in-betweens. I take a side. Don't use something because everyone uses it. Look at Windows for example. It's there because it comes pre-installed. Now that's gray. Get a Mac instead! Use Linux!! :)
Posted by Låna on December 12, 2009 12:54 PM
From: Cindi

Great post and awesome analogy. So maybe now I won't be so hard on celebs when they say or do goofy things.

Being bold earns respect and usually a following. Even if people dislike you for what you do or say, they will most definitely still talk about what you've said to others. And then they will still listen to what you have to say.

Red is a dynamic color...passionate too.

Posted by Cindi on December 16, 2009 6:59 PM
From: Sandy

It's certainly true. My most read articles have been the ones that go against the grain. If you write the same old stuff as everyone else it gets lost in the crowd.
Posted by Sandy on December 18, 2009 5:26 PM
From: Jose O. Paclibare

Your post is so timely for me personally because my internet business mentor has been teaching me the same thing lately. "Get some PERSONALITY", he teaches.

I've been trained for many years in biological sciences and it's really a paradigm shift for me.

You said "Lukewarm gets lukewarm results". Even the Bible warns against being lukewarm.

Thanks Fred for this great post.

Jose
Posted by Jose O. Paclibare on December 21, 2009 8:10 PM
From: Ryan Healy | Business Growth

"...paint myself blue and red and black and gray, all of the beautiful colors are very, very meaningful. Yeah, well you know gray is my favorite color. I felt so symbolic yesterday. If I knew Picasso, I'd buy myself a gray guitar and play, Mr. Jones..." -Counting Crows, "Mr. Jones"

:-)

Ryan
Posted by Ryan Healy | Business Growth on December 29, 2009 1:59 PM
From: Mike

Heh, I thought of that Counting Crows song too. It used to be one of my favorites back in the day. Anyway, I really do agree with what you wrote in this post. Good copy comes alive with detail and passion. You could tell when you're reading something if the person writing it really believes in what he's writing or if it's just words to fill up space. And the same applies to life - some people seize it and make of it what they desire while others just coast along and fill up space.
Posted by Mike on December 30, 2009 12:27 PM