CopyDiva

This evening I went to my mailbox and received yet another in a long line of junk mail pleas for cash, this time the World Wildlife Fund. I have to say that this particular package really irritated me. First, it was big, an 8.5 x 11 size envelope, containing my free gift of wrapping paper, as an effort to get me to give money.

Disclosure: I am not a tight wad. I do give money to causes I deem worthwhile, including environmental groups, among others.

Ok, someone correct me, but if the stated purpose of the organization is, among other things (and I quote), “…the preservation and restoration of their (animals) natural habitat,” why is the WWF chopping down trees, using electricity and burning fossil fuels to deliver their message to me?

This monolithic package I received was classic direct mail — several enclosures, a business reply envelope, even the pervasive “attach the sticker here” gimmick that gets endless people to follow an insane set of complicated directions for the incredibly small chance to win Publisher’s Clearinghouse sweepstakes.

I am a marketer and I am supposed to love direct mail. I do for some things. But, with our limited resources — trees, energy, etc — why isn’t the World Wildlife Fund thinking up new, less energy-intensive methods to convince people to hand over their bucks? I have a hard time trusting an organization that is environmental in nature, yet does not appear to be a good steward of those very animals it is trying to save — with, according to this letter, “strong measures.” (What exactly IS a strong measure?)

Here are my other questions to the WWF membership dept:

• Why are they buying some crap direct mail list to send me something that will immediately go into my recycling bin, using even more resources to recycle it?
• How great is their return that this package could actually meet some kind of cost-benefit analysis?
• Why are they using bleached white paper, instead of recycled (and if it is recycled, why aren’t they telling me)?
• Why is the wrapping paper a glossy, coated paper that could be difficult to recycle?

Copywriting, like other creative arts, can sometimes be a difficult task to accomplish. For most people — those who don’t like writing, or those who just don’t have to write for more than basic business needs — copywriting, or any kind of marketing or sales support writing — is an exercise in self-torture. They would rather clean toilets all day to avoid working on the task.

Well, I feel for ya, but that isn’t the trouble I have. My biggest issue is allowing myself the concentrated thinking time to do the writing. Sure, sometimes I need to bang something out quickly, and I can do that because I have that ability to “just get it done.” Or, what I am working on — an article, press release — doesn’t really take too much of that thinking time to put together.

But, when I need to really think about a message, and how a potential customer might read it, it takes time. I need to get out of that place where I’ve got meetings, I’m answering emails, calling people. All those interruptions make that focus place hard to maintain.

The good thing is, once I discipline myself to take that time, the actual writing comes rather quickly. It’s the unplugging that’s harder to do.

Recently, I went to lunch with my office mate, Dave Taylor, who is probably the most disciplined blogger I know — posts regularly, sticks to his topics, all the things you know are really important about blogging. He chided me a bit about my lack of posts. My answer? Well, honestly, I’ve been very focused on some work for a client that is taking me out of the realm (mostly) of copywriting. Fun, but isn’t giving me the inspiration to write about writing. More like open data and wisdom of the crowds type of stuff.

BUT, that isn’t what I set out to do. I set out to be a good little disciplined blogger. The result is now I haven’t posted in over a month. Dave suggested I do what basically most other bloggers do — just write about what’s in my head, what’s going on in my work/life.

So, I am going to try it, and see what happens. Hopefully my blog won’t end up being completely about my dog, what’s for dinner and the weather. But, who knows…