Episode 418: Introduction To Copywriting With Todd Jones Segment

1. Hey, everybody, Rob Cairns here and today I’m pleased to introduce my new podcast segment Copywriting with Todd Jones. Hey, Todd, how are you today?

Well, it is Friday and I’ve made it to the end of the week, so there’s that.

Yeah, there there is that. And I thought we’d jump on today and talk about this new segment. You were gonna do called biweekly called copywriting with Todd Jones. So they’ll come out every second Monday, which is kind of cool. And thanks for agreeing to do it.

You bet. I appreciate you getting on.

Ohh, it’s such a pleasure. You know we have our mutual friend, Ryan Waterbury does a monthly with me and we usually run longer. I’m not planning for this to go like 20 minutes at the most where we throw out the quick tips and try and help people because I really think people are confused about copywriting in these days. Do you think?

Well.

I think a lot of people don’t know what copywriting is. You know the the running. I won’t say joke, but the kind of the running thing in the in Copyright Committee when you when people you know at the at the at the cocktail table party what do you do? I’m a copywriter and then they immediately think that you help companies file. The copyright for the company, legal. And then you have to explain. No, that’s not what I’m talking about. So there’s a lot of misunderstanding about what copywriting is, and there’s a lot of strong opinions, especially within the copywriting community. But what I want to do is try to explain it from a your the average business person’s standpoint. You know we can get it. I can get in all the debates with with my friends in those communities. But I’m here for the every person that has a business and they’re like, what does it mean to have a copywriter? So a copywriter is not a person who files a copyright license for a company. So there there’s that. And. That’s a business legal terminate or something like that. So it’s it’s a different different.

Think. Yeah. And I think a lot of people think, and we’ll dive into this in some future episodes and then we will. It’s that dreaded 2 letter word called AI. And they think AI is all the answer to everything in the world. And I don’t want to really get in depth here. But you and I both know AI’s just a tool, the same way a page. Well, there is some WordPress for Gutenberg is a WordPress and we know AI’s, not the end. All ends, isn’t that correct?

Yeah, I mean, I use AI in in various aspects of the tool setting to to streamline time, ability and not just in writing. I mean writing just one aspect. There’s so many things you can use AI for and different types of tasks. So the the problem I have is when. People. The side they’re going to write content from scratch using LM, which is what is it called the language model, the. The Machachi PT or Jim and I or something like that. But you come out with pretty generic black stuff and you don’t always hit the marks of good content.

Yeah, it’s true. And I think and then there’s of course the whole SEO issue and I’m sure we’ll get into that, whether AI and it’s good for SEO or not, I don’t even want to appeal that debate today. I was already in the middle of that debate at the time of this record this morning. So. You know, that’s another.

There there are some in in you have to different. Just like copywriting, you have to differentiate what you mean by a I mean you and I have talked about it before. We’ve had smartphones for what, 20 years now when you start adding apps that let you like like for instance we leave the House. Turn off, turn on the alarm and turn off the alarm with the app on the phone. Yeah, their refrigerators run by smart, though. That is a product of artificial intelligence. Whatever. Like. Thought and and I think I read and I don’t know how accurate it is, but Wikipedia said the first instance of a I was like the 1950, so the ability to use something like that has been around. For decades. So anyway, I think there are some things you can do to help with SEO using AI, but then you’ve got. The winds have changes or I don’t think anybody really knows what’s going to happen. So we’re all just kind of I follow some really top end SEO people in the industry who are working with lots of websites every day and trying to help them recover from. Google Penalizations and stuff like that. And you know we’re we’re all just. I mean, I feel like we’re all just kind of. You know, seeing what the next day brings so anyway.

I I would agree with you. I’m moving on from there. What are some other topics that listeners and viewers can can anticipate that we will dive into before in your segment?

Well, I think. I really haven’t like outlying things yet, but I I would think you know first step or something about what copywriting is. And and so you know, you can talk about like, what makes good quality content for like A blog post or an article. And then we can talk about things like how to write an about page or how to write and and who is telling. A friend of mine is like you don’t, really.

Umm.

Write these these these web copy pages you you really assemble them. It’s like a Lego block and you’re building a structure so, but and then you got a whole different side of writing in general. There’s a copywriter I follow. I get his emails and it’s very he’s very poetry oriented.

Yeah. Yep.

And he’s a copywriter by trade. He also does poetry. So I really enjoy his emails because it’s something fresh and totally different. He’s coming. He’s writing very poetically and he’s passing along poems he wrote. And which I really enjoyed that aspect of writing as it is, you know, because I as a kid kind of. Felt like I was a songwriter. You know, that was one thing I like to do as a kid. As a teenager, I would go buy those music magazines where sometimes lyrics were in there, couldn’t always get the lyrics like we you. Know we there was no go. Google. There was no genius lyrics or whatever. That’s where wherever you go online now to get the lyrics of your favorite song, you hoped that it was in on an album cover. If you had an LP, if that. If it’s during that time you hoped it was in a cassette cover. If you got the cassette or a CD cover, and if it wasn’t, then you hoped it was in the magazine, the music. Magazine you got. So I really enjoyed playing around as a kid with right, trying to write songs and that kind of thing really feel like I should do more of that. That so there’s different aspects of copywriting that you would use in a normal business. So I guess we’ll just, you know, talk about each one of them and maybe some practical stuff as well.

Oh.

Yeah. And if anybody has anything they want, what a night address, please either add us on X Now, as it’s officially even more so-called as it today. I know they’ve they’ve changed the Twitter domain today at the time of this record again. Or you can send either. Todd and I and in an e-mail podcast at stunning digitalmarketing.com and just say. You’d like us to cover this or, you know, find Todd or eye on LinkedIn. We’re both pretty active, and we’d be glad to jump in and help you out with your copy of needs.

Yeah, I mean, absolutely go ahead and tell us what you want us to talk about. We’ll do our. I’ll do my best to address it and give resources along because you know, if I’m talking about something that you’re not interested in, it’s not really going to help anybody. So there are other, more practical aspects of copywriting that we don’t even think about, like public relation. Anyway, yeah.

Let. And and Todd, if they want to find out more about you or what you do, what’s the best website to go?

Acopyflight.com.

Yep, and. And you have a couple of really good offerings. We’ll get into an about page. You talked about you have your copywriting framework and you talk a lot about how to build an about page which we’ll get into in a future segment and you do some private coaching if somebody wants.

Yeah, man.

A1 On one with you. Am I missing anything or?

Origin story. People may not think about that until they need publicity where they’re trying to build their brand. Then you’re like, oh, no, how did we get started? Or you’re trying to write an about page. And so yeah, Origin story founder story. We’re going called we talked about storytelling in general, which is a really. Of of an area I like, and the copywriting scene. And I think it’s underused and businesses so.

And if you want to learn more, you can sign up at poppyfight.com for Todd’s weekly newsletter that comes out, and please do join join Todd. And he story tells in his newsletter. Typically every Wednesday morning. Right, Tom?

Pretty close. Yeah. Story Arc is the brand for it. I kind of rebranded it, if you will, and tried to really kind of a North star for me to remember that I’m talking about. Telling talking about storytelling and using storytelling like talked about a scene in the second hand lines in the last e-mail. If you remember watching that movie with Robert Duvall. OK, very good movie. And so yeah, and usually come up with a story and make a point with it.

So so be got. Be sure you join Todd and I every. Monday morning and we’ll put another episode out. We’ll try and help you out with your copy. Writing needs. Todd, thanks for agreeing to do this segment and put yourself out there. I mean, as I always say to people, you just have to do it. The old Nike phrase to steal one. From an iconic brand and the more we do it, the more the more people will get it.

Just to. Slogans. That’s another copier, I think. How much did they pay for that?

Yeah, yeah. So you. Ohh not a lot if you read the.

Not a lot, and it made billions of dollars.

And if you want to learn more about Nike, just before we sign off here, look up the book Chew Dog, written by Nike founder Bill not Bill, Phil Knight, Phil Knight, and it’s one of the most compelling branding stories.

You’re not building.

Ever people don’t realize he actually started a company before called Blue Ribbon shoes, and then when he had his shoes with the Chinese, he transformed it in the Nike Corp and I don’t know anybody more successful in the Athletic world world than Nike, to be honest with you and and please join Todd and I we really want to help you in your journey. And we’ll talk to y’all soon. Thanks, Todd.

So long.

That’s how.

I really want to say from. The great Peach state of Georgia. So long only I’m not from the. Peach State of Georgia so.