If you want to stand out, feel fresh, appear interesting and get noticed…
…then you’ve got to use language that stands out, feels fresh, is interesting and gets noticed.
This is common sense, but of course, it’s easier said than done. It’s tempting to use the first words that come to your mind, but usually?
Those are the last words that’ll make you stand out in anyone else’s.
This is why good copywriting is so important.
The cutsey, overused, cliché phrases have gotta go.
Ditto this shitty coffee.
WHY AM I STILL DRINKING SHITTY COFFEE?
The OFFICIAL 2013 BLACKLIST: 25 TOXIC, DEADLY, CALAMITOUS WORDS THAT WILL MAKE YOU SEEM BLAND, USELESS, TRITE, MILDEWED, STALE, DIME-A-DOZEN, WASHED-UP AND OTHERWISE UNINTERESTING, UNIMPORTANT AND NOT WORTH PAYING ATTENTION TO.
1. Guru
2. Manifesto
3. Solutions
4. Empowerment
5. Juicy
6. Rock (out) (on) (your world) (etc.)
7. Fempreneur (This one’s for you, J.)
8. Thrive
9. Alchemist
10. Luminary (seriously?)
11. Epic
12. Shiny
13. Sexy
14. e-Book
15. Kick ass
16. Domination
17. Insanely ________.
18. Ridiculously ________.
19. Killer
20. Rocket science
21. Laser-focused
22. Freakin’
23. Bucket list
24. Remarkable
25. Newsletter
Please. If nothing else, ditch newsletter. This is a plea. A petition. And maybe even a prayer. Nobody is chomping at the bit to sign up for anybody’s “newsletter.” I’m not saying not to send (an incredibly well-thought out + useful one) – I’m saying that this is not the language that gets results.
(That links up to a discussion on why language is everything. Don’t let the site’s (and the speaker’s) ironically banal appearance throw you. Worth a listen.)
By the way?
Make sure you sashay by the blog on Tuesday.
Not Monday, because Mondays are annoying.
TUESDAY.
(No, it’s not another B-school promotion like you’ve been seeing all over the internet–I promise.)
I want to show you something.
(Something G-rated!)
Mostly.