Life Is Too Short To Work With Boring People

October, 2022 * Volume II, Number 10

Dear Grown-Up Reader,

Trick Or Treat! It’s the last day of the month, and this month, you know what that means: All kinds of scary stuff starts showing up, including your monthly news-free newsletter, Word PLAY!

In this edition, we talk about binge-eating sugar (how seasonal!), and about targeting your ideal customers with the kind of marketing copy you publish.

Joking aside, THANK YOU for reading, and for making Firewords Creative Copy your go-to source for the words that win and the funny that makes money. I am humbled by your support, and seriously grateful for your business.

Meanwhile, in this edition of Word PLAY...

Life Is Too Short To Work With Boring People

Word PLAY… Playful Monthly Commentary
On Persuasive Copy For YOUR Business

The other day, a client fired me.

Actually, the terminating entity was a customer of my client. I’d been writing lightly HUME-orous blog articles for this company, which was a customer of an out-of-state website company which was, and still is, my cherished client.

Things had been going swimmingly well with this project. Just the previous month, my client told me his customer LOVED the copy I wrote for them, and were practically rolling on the floor laughing out loud (yes, that’s what those text letters stand for) when they read it.

And I understand their lightly amusing copy was bringing them plenty of readership, and plenty of extra business.

So I had to wonder, when my client called me to say my services were no longer required for that account, what gives.

“What gives?” I asked my client.

“No idea,” he said. “I thought this month’s blog was funny, but the customer just didn’t see the humor in it. She doesn’t want anything else from you.”

Now, nobody likes to hear the words “swimmingly well.” (That’s an archaic expression). Even less appealing are the words “Your services are no longer required.” So you might think getting fired put me in a funk which caused me to binge-feast on carbs all weekend.

But actually, I did that for other reasons. The termination didn’t bug me a bit. And here’s why: It takes a certain kind of person to be my ideal client, and while this company had that kind of person when we started the project, my guess is that person had been replaced by someone who was NOT my ideal client.

My ideal client is a successful business person who takes their business VERY seriously, but does not take THEMSELVES too seriously.

There are plenty of those out there. So I don’t need – or even want – to cast my personal pearls before swine, so to speak, by trying to convince someone who DOES take themselves too seriously that publishing funny stuff is a good idea (though it is).

(Studies show that readership of entertaining copy, even if it does mention your company’s key selling points, is about 50% higher than readership of boring, run-of-the-mill copy… so no matter how seriously you take yourself, you’d be seriously smart to publish stuff that makes your readers smile.)

As it turns out, and as usual, the problem with this project wasn’t the copy I wrote, but the nature of the person who’d taken over the account. She simply was NOT my ideal client.

I get it. Young, new executives are often morbidly afraid of being considered “unprofessional,” “unserious,” or “unbathed.” So they bathe, and they stay as far away as possible from anything they think might make them seem like they aren’t a grown-up.

My ideal customers, though, ARE grown-ups, and they know it. They’re much more comfortable in their own skin than are their young upstart competitors, and as such, they tend to be MUCH more fun to work with.

And the marketing copy they publish kinda proves it.

So since I, too, am old enough to be considered a grown-up… and since I’ve been writing for money for more than forty years… I’m in the comfortable position of not needing to work for non-ideal clients. That’s why being fired by this young lady didn’t harsh my sugar-fueled buzz at all.

You might consider that when you look around at your own clients. Are they fun to work with? Are they comfortable in their own skin? Do they happily cut you loose to do your thing for them, and value what you do?

If you’re publishing boring, standard marketing copy, it’s possible that you’re only attracting boring, standard customers who are LESS fun to work with, LESS comfortable with trusting you to do your thing, and LESS willing to pay you what you’re worth.

Food for thought.

Now: Did you save room for dessert?

Key Take-Aways From This Edition

What wonderful Key Take-Aways! But wait, there’s MORE! You’ll get Key Take-Aways this key, or even keyer, in next month’s edition of Word PLAY.

***

Discussion Questions

Send your answers to michael@michaelhume.net... The most creative, inspirational response will be eligible to win a PRIZE! *

(* Prize is at the sole discretion of Michael Hume, his heirs and assigns, and a select committee of sugar-fueled grown-ups. Top prize this month may or may not be a ton of candy… I might end up with quite a few leftovers after Halloween. Deadline is for people who take themselves way too seriously, and therefore doesn’t apply here. Boring, lackluster, or unimaginative entries will be forced to swim with the fishes. Now THAT’s serious… so send only your most well-constructed entry. Best of luck!)

Last Month’s Grand Prize Winner: Barb M. of Aurora, Colorado had this to offer: “Love your Word PLAY!” Who could resist an entry like that? Call to claim your prize, if any, Barb. Meanwhile, gentle readers, bear in mind that next month’s Grand Prize Winner COULD be YOU!

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I write HUME-orous marketing copy for happy clients who take their professions very seriously… but whose customers like and trust them because they don’t take themselves too seriously. Want more info? Get in touch…

Call me: (303) 478-8702
Email me: michael@michaelhume.net
Investigate me: FirewordsMedia.com
Trick or Treat: 195 South Rancho Vista Drive, Pueblo West, CO 81007

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Copyright 2022 by Michael D. Hume, M.S. All rights reserved.
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FireWords Creative Copy, 195 South Rancho Vista Drive , Pueblo West, CO 81007, United States