14 Sep Business Tip: Begin With Something Personal
One of my very first jobs as a copywriter in NYC was at the largest direct response ad agency in the world. Back then, “direct response” meant I wrote a lot of letters that went out to 1000s of people — by mail. My first few tries were awful. I sounded like a teller at the Department of Motor Vehicles. All business. No heart.
Then one day, my Supervisor pulled me aside and said, “Carolyn, when you sit down to compose a letter, write it like you are talking to someone you know. Someone you care about.”
Hmmm…
On my next assignment, I gave it a try. It was a direct mail piece for a bank. I started my letter with “Dear Kellyanne” (she was my best friend). I used the word “I” more than the word “you”. And wrote it from my own personal experience of waiting and waiting and waiting on long bank lines, which ate up my very short lunch break. It worked.
The more you start with something personal, the more you will connect to your customer. And if the business letter is just to one person, do it all the more.
When I wrote Ben Cohen (the “Ben” in Ben & Jerry’s) to invite him to Santa Fe for a conference, I gushed on my first experience of eating a Ben & Jerry’s “Heath Bar Crunch” ice cream cone. I still remember that hot summer day with my friend Jennifer at the Sarasota Springs Summer Festival in New York. You never forget for your first Ben & Jerry’s!
Ben came to Santa Fe – and brought some Health Bar Crunch with him.
Begin your letters, emails, introductions, speeches, etc., with something personal. It connects your mind to your heart – and people feel it.
And sometimes they bring ice cream.
Need help with your Email Sales or Nurturing Campaign? Schedule a Conversation with me and we’ll get the right mix of personal and professional — and bring out the best of you and your company.