Dear Diary…
On the first day of high school, my best friend and I tumbled out of a bus in front of a squatty 1970’s brick building that looked not unlike prison. I was sweating bullets.
We were fresh meat: shiny new members of the school’s performing arts program. The building and class sizes were three and half times larger than my local high school. We knew no one.
But artistic identity can be a confidence booster. Once we stepped over the threshold and onto that greenish indoor/outdoor carpeting, we knew that we belonged.
During my first creative writing class, the teacher went on and on about the importance of keeping a journal. I had no idea that 15+ years later, I’d still be a devotee.
This shelf holds every single journal I’ve filled in the last 15 years.
Journaling has so many benefits they’re (almost) too numerous to count. My current favorites include:
- Blowing off steam. You can spit fire and sling curses at the page, the object of your (temporary) rage will never be the wiser…unless you’ve had some time to think about it and decide to lay it out there.
- Indulging in self-love. You can practice making lists of all the things you’re grateful for. (I have a specific journal just for this, though I’m not as diligent as I should be about using it.) You can also write out mantras or just log your brilliant breakthroughs and remind yourself why that you’re a special, lucky person.
- Giving the voice in your head an outlet to talk back to itself. Um, nuff said.
When I was a 14-year-old who had never been kissed, writing for other people was miles away from my consciousness. I just saw my journal as a place to vent the swirl of my teenage emotions.
So when our teacher told us we had 10 minutes, stuff poured out of me: the exact thoughts, feelings, and sensations I’d been living since I woke up at 5:30am that morning.
If you keep a journal the same way my 14-year-old self did—by cataloguing the vast stream of emotions and experiences you live—this is a goldmine for writing great copy.
Why?
Because great copywriting is all about evoking emotion.
You use concrete examples and feeling words to immerse the reader in a context they recognize. So they read your words and say, “Ah ha! I know that feeling. This person totally gets me.”
Readers crave the shared human experience. When you give them a hint that you know exactly what they’re going through, it’s an invitation for them to know, like, and trust you.
Like attracts like. The easiest way to connect with others is to describe a time when you felt the same way they do.
That requires you to get in touch with your feelings. To relive (through words) the difficult or dreamy past experiences your ideal customers are currently living through.
Guess what? That’s EXACTLY what you do when you keep a journal.
With just a touch of strategic planning, your journal can become your go-to resource to magically pull new prospects and customers to your side.
Here’s how:
- Choose a journal dedicated to this practice.
I am a huge fan of college-ruled, ring-bound journals they sell in the discount section of Barnes & Noble. You can pick one up for $7 or $8. I care about my covers, too, so if I can’t find a cover design I like, I’ll simply decorate over the cover with collage materials. #bonuscrafting
- Practice writing for 5 minutes a day.
Getting into the habit of journaling is just like anything else. If you can remember to do it 21 days in a row, it will become a habit.
If daily writing feels totally unrealistic, I get it. Just make sure that you DO whip out your journal when you’re feeling a surge of emotion (good OR bad).
- Write about your highs, lows, and breakthroughs.
Unload your thoughts and feelings onto a beautiful, blank, non judgmental page. Write about the best part of your day AND your worst, and make sure you include where you were and what you were doing when they happened.
When you hit a road bump in an otherwise beautiful day or wake up feeling panicked for absolutely no reason, journal about it. Write about the latest fear, frustration, or irritating issue that got under your skin about your business, your health, your relationship, and your sense of self in all that mess.
When you have a monumental breakthrough, write that ish down. Did an ah ha moment help you solve a problem that’s been gnawing at you? For heaven’s sake, take note!
The main point here is to let your emotions flow. Let it all pour out of you.
Don’t think about how you’ll use this in the future; you might never look t it again. Right now, you’re just venting, or celebrating, or reminding yourself what a crack job you did solving that problem.
And while the emotions are flowing, make sure you include specific details like:
- where you were when it happened
- what you were doing
- what you saw, smelled, tasted, or touched around you
- how it made you feel
Then set your journal aside and move on with your day with a smile on your face. 🙂
- Sometime in the future (3-6 months from now), flip through old entries and stroll down memory lane.
You’ll be surprised to see how many feelings you’ve straight up forgotten. Some will feel fresh as a shaving nick on your ankle (I hate those), but the majority can be released when you journal them out.
Chances are high that after this much time passes, you’ll be in a different place emotionally, psychologically or financially that you were just a few months ago. Mostly, it’s enough time to give you perspective of the event.
As you read, consider your ideal customers and their struggles of the moment. As you re-read old memories, let the question bubble up now and again: Does this describe my ideal customers?
(Remember: Your ideal client is probably a few steps behind you on the emotional learning curve. That’s why your OLD memories will feel fresh and NEW to them.)
When you find a passage that might describe your customers, make a note or stick a Post-it flag into your journal.
Here’s an example from my own journal (written on 11/1/2014):
“It’s the first day of December (Cyber Monday!) and the online offers are coming fast and furious. I’m feeling–well–like a newborn baby, I guess. Fearful. Wondering if I can hack this whole online business thing (which is bullshit, of course I can). I’m feeling fear around the quality of my product, the experience, my site, blah!”
And yeah, I’m willing to bet that this feeling is one my ideal customers deal with, too.
- When you need to create a social media post, newsletter, or site copy that starts with an emotional hook, lift the language straight from your journal.
When you post to social media, write a newsletter, or describe a new product, you share the insights you’ve gained through real-life experience with an audience that wants to know your secrets and tricks.
By introducing this content with an emotional hook they recognize, you will captivate your dream clients.
Here’s a formula you can use to craft magnetic social media posts:
You know that feeling when + [insert your pain or irritation with specific details from your journal]?
I’ve totally been there. And here’s what you need to know:
[insert your breakthrough]
If I did it, you can too. [introduce your product or pitch]
Easy peasy lemon squeezey. (Feel free to edit, of course.)
But warning! Don’t share stories or incidents that feel tender and raw in a sales or marketing context. If you need to vent on Facebook instead of your journal, DO IT. But if you haven’t had a chance to process a subject from your own life, do NOT parade it around in the hope people will take pity on your and buy your products. (Unless you’re a non-profit or running a Kickstarter campaign, I guess.)
So as long as you chosen an incident from your journal mirrors the current experiences of your ideal customers, AND you’ve processed the event enough that you feel comfortable sharing it, you’ll be able to hook readers with your own emotional truth.
Then when you share your tip, outcome, or promise, they’ll be engaged and along for the ride.
Does this work?
In a word, yes.
Just a few weeks ago, I used the formula above to create a Facebook post that got 40+ likes, loads of comments, and helped me book 5 clarity calls with potential customers.
That is straight up resonance. 🙂
So tell me, do you keep a journal? And will you be trying this straight-from-the-hip technique to inject some REALNESS into your marketing outreach?
