Stress-Free Marketing Messages

By Lorrie Baumann

There’s research to say that if you start by making a few simple rules for yourself, you’re likely to end up with something that’s more creative than if you simply start by facing the blank page. Writers already know this. If I tell you to take 10 minutes and write a short story that includes a shoe, a key, and a character who tells a lie, you’re likely to be able to do that and you’ll have much more fun doing it than if I tell you simply to take 10 minutes and write something. Try it for yourself and see.
So start writing your next marketing message this way: Take 10 minutes and write a message that includes these three things: one main point you hope that trade show buyers will go home with after they visit your exhibit booth, one story about why your new product is better than your competitors’ and your contact information. That’s all you really have to do. Don’t struggle over it, just scribble something down in 10 minutes.
The story is easy -- Peter Guber tells us how to do that in Tell to Win. You need a hero dealing with a challenge. That’s all. So cast your end-user as the hero and tell us how she’ll use your product to solve a problem in her daily life. Or tell us how your product is going to help the noble retailer do better business.
At the end of 10 minutes, take what you have and set it aside for a while. Overnight, for preference, which is why you don’t want to wait until you’re on top of your deadline before you do this.
Then the next day, read over what you have and then THROW IT AWAY. That’s right, wad it up into a ball and toss it into a trash can. Then do a fast rewrite from scratch. You will ALWAYS find that this second version is better and comes more easily than that first version.
At the end of another 10 minutes, you’ll usually have a product that’s good enough to share around with your colleagues. Do that and see what suggestions they can offer you. Incorporate the best suggestions into your draft, and then you’re done! And you never even had to break a sweat!