Have you heard of voice actor Billy West? I hadn’t either until I read an article that said he’s considered the “new Mel Blanc.”

I sometimes call myself the Mel Blanc of Copywriting because an email copywriter has to be good at writing in many different voices. Mel Blanc was famous for being “the man of 1000 voices,” including the voices of many Looney Tunes characters, such as Bugs Bunny.

I know copywriters mostly talk about persuasion and marketing but the ability to write in someone else’s voice is also a necessary skill.

What Billy West says about voice acting also applies to email copywriting:

“You have to have some kind of power of observation, almost like a trained observer,” he explains. “You watch people and study them the way an alien would. … It’s also kind of an ear a voice performer has, where they’re able to hear things in real life, and they’re able to grab hold of it and then amplify it through another character or a direct impression.

An email copywriter needs to be able to write conversationally and should develop an ear for the cadence and words used in everyday conversation.

When writing for a client, I always try to listen to audios, watch videos of them or talk on the phone with a client so I can hear their actual voice. If that’s not possible I make a point to read their blogs, articles, tweets, etc. so I can become familiar with their voice.

Being able to master voices is the key to helping clients develop a rapport and trust with their prospects and customers.

As you know, there are many opportunities in your daily life to practice persuasion skills.

Those of us who are parents have even more opportunities to have to use persuasion.

Last week I had to take all four of my daughters in for blood draws at the clinic’s lab.

As you might imagine, they weren’t excited about this, and neither was I. The youngest two (ages 6 and 8 ) had never had a blood draw before so they were even more anxious.

At first I tried to use hype to lower their resistance.

“We’ll make it a blood draw party! Treats afterwards!”

Of course they didn’t fall for that. And you’d think I would’ve known better, being a copywriter.

Next I decided to tell them a story about how their six-year-old cousin had several vials of blood taken from him last summer and he handled it like a champ, no tears.

That didn’t lower their resistance either. I guess hearing a story secondhand about someone else’s success isn’t all that interesting. Again, you’d think I would’ve known better.

I realized I needed to dig deeper and tell a personal story and show them I know what the fear of blood draws is like.

So I told them about when I was six weeks pregnant with their 14-year-old sister. I had unexpected bleeding and went to the doctor. I marinated in anxiety in the examination room chair, afraid I was having a miscarriage.

The doctor patted me on the knee and told me he wasn’t going to do an ultrasound because he thought it would be too emotional for me if we couldn’t hear a heartbeat.  He sent me to the lab instead to get a blood draw that would determine whether or not I was still pregnant.

“How do you think I felt while I was getting a blood draw that would tell me whether or not your sister was still alive?” I asked the girls.

Their eyes got big as saucers and they hung on every word.

Then I told them how powerful blood is and how it can tell us so many things about what’s going on inside our bodies.

They literally started tugging on my arm and begged me to take them to the lab immediately for their blood draws.

They did this even though I also told them a story about how I once had a blood draw that ultimately gave me bad news. I felt it was important that they know the full score in the event this blood draw, or one in the future, gives them news they’d rather not hear.

As it turns out, they were very brave during their blood draws. The youngest cried with empathy during her 8-year-old sister’s blood draw but remained stoic during her own.

Few things are as powerful as a story. This applies to your business as well.

Many of my clients are unsure of their stories at first or think their stories are too boring. Sometimes I have to really work at pulling their stories out of them.

If you need help discovering..and telling…the selling stories in your business, drop me an email. You should also check out my post about how to uncover your story.

As you know, your story is an essential part of your sales page and other marketing materials.

When putting together a sales page, the story ranks right up there with the marketing research information in importance.

Sometimes it’s difficult to uncover your story because it’s so easy to overlook the details in your life that make for a good story. If you write copy for clients it can also be a challenge to pry a story out of your client.

This is why it’s helpful to ask questions and play story detective. I start out by scouring the client’s blog, Twitter page and other materials, looking for any details I can use for a story.

Here are 5 questions I sometimes ask clients if they don’t already have a story for me to write about:

1. Here was where I was at before I discovered my magic solution:

2. Here are all the bad things that happened to me before I found the magic solution:

3. My desperate attempt to find a solution led me down this path:

4. Here’s how I finally found the solution:

5. And here is the reason I am now going to share that solution with you:

If you still don’t get a good story even after asking questions, as a last resort you can write a fictitious one or show a story example from another website. Sometimes this will help remind the client of a story of their own. It’s worth the extra effort it takes to find the selling story beneath the product.

Remember the rock & roll 45?

Singles used to be a big deal back in the day. Unfortunately it’s a format that seems to have been abandoned by a lot of rock & roll artists.

According to Bono of U2, the rock & roll 45 “is the evolutionary peak of the species…it is by far the most difficult thing to pull off and it is the very life force of rock & roll: vitality, succinctness and catchiness.”

Vitality. Succinctness. Catchiness.

These are attributes email copy should have as well. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that email is the life force of marketing.

Bono again:

When rock music forgets about the 45, it tends toward progressive rock, which is like a mold that grows on old, burned out artists who’ve run out of ideas…it’s an infuriating thing for me to see indie rock & roll give up the single to R&B and hip-hop.

We see the progressive rock effect in marketing too, where marketers forget about email and their relationship with their list and have run out of ideas.

What Bono says about writing singles for other musicians reminds me of what it’s like writing copy for clients:

Writing songs for other people can be so easy. You’re out of your own head and into someone else’s. It comes quickly and you write it down.

If the mold has started to grow on your own marketing…if you still haven’t found what you’re looking for… maybe it’s time to let someone else come into your head and write some email for you.

Here’s what a recent client said about what I wrote for her:

“Anita, you’re not gifted, you’re a genius! People will really feel like it is me speaking to them personally, even fans who know me well. From a psychological perspective you hit all the right buttons. I could never have written those emails – I am just too close to the trees.”

Aristotle said “A whole is beginning, middle and end.”

This applies to stories, emails, sales pages and blog posts too.

You have to have all three elements – not just one or two.

While leaving a medical appointment at a clinic a couple of months ago, I walked alongside a janitor on my way to the elevator.

He sang the entire time while carrying his supplies and putting things in order. He’s an older guy so his songs were from a different era and far more pleasant than the usual Top 40 hits piped through speakers.

We entered the same elevator and he paused to chat with a woman who was exiting the elevator.

During our elevator ride he spent the entire time telling me what a wonderful that woman is and how he wished he could chat with her in Spanish, her native language. He was generous with his praise even though I didn’t know the woman.

As we left the elevator he immediately started singing again as he set about his cleaning tasks.

I was only with him for about 30 seconds so there was no chance to ask him how long he’s worked there or get any details about his life.

Even though he didn’t say a word about himself,  those 30 seconds in his presence told me volumes about him.

Normally when passing people in a hallway at a medical clinic you usually don’t give them more than a moment’s attention and you certainly don’t remember them two months later. The same is true of most websites.

When people drop by your website you probably have no longer than 30 seconds to make an impression before they move in.

Are you like the singing janitor and stand out from the crowd by being different and by NOT blabbing endlessly about yourself or your product?

Do you leave them with the desire to learn more about you and your story?

It’s about time Emma Peel from the Avengers makes an appearance on this blog. Sheesh, what took me so long?

If you have the misfortune of being unfamiliar with Emma Peel and John Steed, the spy duo from the 1960s TV show The Avengers, then take a quick look at the one minute intro to the show:

She shoots a cork off a champagne bottle. How cool is that?

Emma Peel was as comfortable at a fancy dinner party as she was fighting villains with her signature Kung Fu moves.

She was calm, never lost her cool, and was never, ever desperate, even when she was in hopeless situations. This is unlike many marketers who prefer to be like the constantly desperate Ralph Wolf.

At the beginning of each Avengers episode, John Steed would let Emma know she was needed for an assignment and would do this in very creative ways. Here’s a video montage of some of these scenes (and check out the yellow ankle boots at the 5:15 mark):

Steed’s message was always the same…”Mrs. Peel, we’re needed.” Yet he delivered this message in such creative ways that Emma always smiled and probably felt appreciated too.

Your message is essentially always the same too…”Buy my stuff!” But are you being as creative as Steed in how you deliver that message? Do your customers smile and enjoy the message even though they know there will be a pitch?

Finally, Emma Peel knew her services were needed, which is one reason why she wasn’t desperate.

So there you go. Three marketing lessons from Emma Peel: Don’t be desperate. Make sure you or your product are needed. Be creative in delivering your “buy my stuff” message.

Today I get to make a reference to my favorite 1980s comic strip, Bloom County.

But first a little marketing lesson…

When I write copy for a client I often ask them what their prospect’s dominant emotion is while considering their product.

Sometimes it’s a fear of something.

I’ve learned, however, that when we use the word fear in that context we usually mean anxiety.

Fear is actually useful, because it helps save us when facing an imminent threat, such as a mugger. Fear is a rare thing.

Anxieties, however, are the “what-if” type of thoughts that can creep into our life almost every day. It prevents us from doing great things.

It’s not unusual to have a closet full of anxieties, to borrow an analogy from Bloom County.

One of my favorite running gags in Bloom County was Binkley’s closet full of anxieties.

Click here to see some of these comic strips.

Notice how each anxiety is a character. There’s Norma the Nuke and a spotted snorklewacker. Even a beautiful woman is one of his anxieties.

The best way to address at least some of your prospect’s anxieties is through email because you’re not going to be able to cover them all in a sales page.

Let’s say you think your prospect’s dominant emotion is fear of job loss.

What that really means is a closet full of anxieties about finances – anxieties that take many forms.

Help your prospects clean out their closet full of anxieties by addressing them one by one in email.

While you’re at it, might as well tackle your own as well. After all, the best marketing lessons are the ones that apply to your personal life too.

QVC, the ultimate home shopping network, succeeds in persuading people to buy products they can’t see or touch.

Even perfume.

So I think there are a few copywriting lessons here for you.

According to The Atlantic’s story about QVC this month, each QVC host receives six months of training because they must master the details of dozens of products.

Here’s quick video of how they sell perfume on television:

How do they make perfume appear so desirable on TV?

“The answer is that you tell a story—a story about the viewer, and the product’s place in her life.”

QVC hosts usually work in teams, which fosters an “over the backyard fence” atmosphere.

“The model is less a sales pitch than a coffee klatch where friends trade tips on hot new products.”

Here’s how a host describes a pair of earrings:

“It’s almost like they’re coins you’ve been collecting for years, and you had them made into jewelry.” She beamed at the camera. “There’s a very Aztec feel.”

In addition to the stories, the hosts succeed in making you feel like you’re having a conversation with them. QVC fans talk about the hosts as if they are their friends.

How can you create this “over the fence atmosphere” in your business?

Consider making videos where there are two people conversing about the product.

Also, email and social media give you opportunities to be conversational.

Granted, QVC sells products that are largely status items to an audience that is mostly female and your business may be nothing like that.

But QVC is a reminder to every marketer that storytelling and building relationships with your customers is what it’s about, regardless of your product or niche.

An email copywriter is, essentially, a storyteller.

My clients will usually ask me something like, “Write me stories like that one you wrote on your blog/list about the old lady in the grocery store.”

They almost never say, “Write me 7 killer tips about affiliate marketing” even if they have an affiliate marketing product.

Stories are memorable. The reader probably forgets whatever marketing tip was at the end of the story but they remember the actual story.

It’s through the stories that some serious relationship-building can happen too.

Obviously it all depends on your own list and your niche but I’ve had clients in niches as diverse as how to teach your child the Nigerian language, family law, internet marketing and muscle cars and stories seem to work across the board.

Even if the client wants a 7 part series on, say, SEO, I’m able to include stories. I mix it up, of course, and often use a mix of these 5 types of stories during the course of a series:

1.) First person story – a story about you, like, “While I was at the driving range the other day…”

2.) Third person story – such as telling a story about a customer’s experience with your product.

3.) Metaphor – a metaphor is a mini story that succinctly summarizes a benefit or problem in a sentence or two. Gary Bencivenga says that if you master metaphors you’ll be one of the most persuasive people on the planet. A metaphor example: “A burst of energy just hit me like a train carrying 10 tons of espresso.

4.) Analogy/Extended Metaphor – open with a description of a current news item, movie, book, etc. and transition
into the how-to tip/product promo.

5.) An “imagine story”- Tell a story of an ideal situation or fantasy and then show how your product will help make that a reality.

The less an email reads like a how-to article or a sales letter, the better.