FF #009: The Copywriting Rule I Break Everyday (And Why You Should Too)

I've never been one for following rules.

Growing up I'd always find creative new ways to get grounded.

Not because I was a bad kid.

But because I was a curious kid who'd always want to try and see for myself.

I'd learn the rules just so I could break them lol.

And so it was with copywriting too.

There's all types of rules and boxes people try to put you in.

Then when everyone starts following them they all start sounding the same.

And the worst thing you can do when writing is to sound like everyone else.

So today I'm gonna share one of the big copywriting rules worth breaking...

The Copywriting Rule I Break Everyday (And Why You Should Too)

I don't know who originally came up with this rule...

But about a couple years ago I said screw it. Let's break it and see what happens.

The result?

Less haters. More engagement. More sales. More consumption of my content and offers... meaning better client results.

I've been breaking it everyday ever since.

My man Jacob Caris... who runs a 7-figure info publishing bizness... started breaking this rule and saw a huge uptick in views, engagement, and sales too.

So what's the rule?

Don't use the word "I" or "my". Always address the reader by saying "you" and "your".

Let's discuss...

Why break it?

Think about WHY you follow or listen to the people you do.

Is it because they use "you/your" all the time?

Or is it because they did something noteworthy that you want to do too?

When I thought about every person I follow and am influenced by... I noticed they're not saying you/your much at all.

They share stories. Experiences. Wins. Losses. Insights. Lessons. Opinions. Predictions. All from a personal perspective.

They treat their content almost like a public journal.

The problem with using "you/your".

When someone tells you to do something... or says "here's how you should do X"...

What's your first thought?

I can tell you mine.

"Why should I listen to you?"

If you don't have a compelling reason for that?

You'll end up with haters instead of followers and sales.

I have a friend... let's call him Billy... who's always trying to tell me what to invest in.

What stocks to buy.

What cryptos to buy.

What teams to bet on.

When/where to buy real estate.

The problem is he's broke as a Billy goat lol.

Broke Billy lives paycheck to paycheck yet is always trying to tell me what to do with my money.

All I can think is, "why should I listen to you man? You're broke!"

I see this with a lot of content creators too.

They try to create "how to" and "you should do THIS" style content and wonder why it's not hitting.

It's because they're not passing the "why should I listen to you" test.

What I do instead.

Simple.

I use "I" and "me" more in my content/writing... just like I did above ;-)

This does a couple things:

1) Forces you to ONLY share what you've done... not just recycle info/theory you saw somewhere else. This will reduce the amount of critics and haters you have.

2) Builds a stronger bond with your audience. They'll start following you and buying because they want to do what you did.

A bonus benefit is it forces you to go out and do more.

Cuz If you don't do anything you'll have nothing to share.

Let's take a look at a few examples...

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Example #1:

This post could've just said "if you want to learn something fast you need to take action and stop spending so much time reading."

Instead...

I made a statement and backed it up with a short personal story of me applying it to real estate...

Example #2:

This post could've just said "if you want to sell more of your stuff, turn flaws and objections into features and benefits."

Instead...

I shared a personal experience of how a company like Apple does this. And also how I apply this in my own bizness...

Example #3:

This post could've just said "how you can become financially unbreakable."

Instead...

I shared how I became financially unbreakable. I lost count of how many times I said the word "I" in this one...

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It'll feel strange when you first start breaking the "you/your" rule.

Almost as if you're being arrogant.

But I can tell you from personal experience it's been one of the BEST changes I've made to my content and copy.

I'm not saying NOT to use "you/your".

I'm saying it's OK to break the rule and say "I/my".

You still want your content/copy to be useful to the reader.

But you can do this by sharing things from a personal view too.

So people follow you for what you did.

Anyway...

That's gonna wrap up today's action section.

Hope that helps 🤙

Oh P.S. - if you're interested in building and monetizing audiences?

I just opened my Audience Rainmaker FB group last week.

It's free to join right now and we have 373 Rainmakers on the inside.

You can request to join the group here.

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When you're ready, here are 5 ways I can help you...

1. Build and monetize audiences in my Audience Rainmaker community here.

2. Learn my multi-million dollar formula to write emails that sell here.

3. Launch a tiny digital product to Get Paid Everyday here.

4. Get paid to write simple 5th grade emails that sell here.

5. Join the waitlist for the next Leveraged Offer Launch workshop here.