Enthusiasm Wins

A post on Copyblogger today inspired me. It opens,

Whether you’re promoting a product, a program or just an idea, exuberance sells. One of the reason blogs can be so effective is that their writers tend to show more enthusiasm than polish. And that’s not a bad thing—if you have to pick one over the other, enthusiasm wins.

As Sonia Simone says, enthusiasm can't be faked.  Likewise, I've always found it MUCH easier to write compelling copy for people who are excited about their products or services. When I have to struggle to find new ways of selling something through words that aren't founded on some degree of passion, I've already lost the battle.

For example, several years ago, I was asked to write some copy. When I questioned, "What am I trying to convey?," my source responded, "That we're better."

As Christopher Walken says, "Wowwy Wow Wow wow!" I couldn't wait to get started writing engaging copy for a service that has no unique goals!

Seriously, it was among the greatest challenges I've faced from a writing perspective.  I felt forced throughout the exercise, and when I finally delivered the product (taking longer than originally expected, since I didn't have the personal energy to drive a quick flow of ideas), I wasn't proud of it. Amazingly, the stakeholders thought it was great, and they found mild returns once they implemented it in their collateral.

But I wonder how my writing would have changed -- and how many more conversions we could have encouraged -- had the initial sell been wrought with admirable enthusiasm to energize the team and its writer.