Mary: I’m content creator Mary Barnett also known as “MobileMary” I’m the founder of another building idea and I’m dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs grow their business and digital marketing and communication tools tips and resources that Empower them to be bold and stand in their Brilliance on my globally-recognized do brilliant marketing with Mary.
Mary: Everybody Welcome to the Brian McCann with Mary show I’m so excited that you’re here today and I’m so excited about the topic we’re going to talk to you today about I have a dear friend and Bender because I’m so proud to go to work with her and we’re going to talking about how.
Mary: How to use copywriting like a human is that the title we came up with.
Mary: Because I think a lot of times we’re all talking about AI right now. Gptt Jasper all those things and I think that it’s easy to just think oh there must be an easier way.
Mary: I think it’s really important that we stick with human I mean I love technology like everyone else but there’s sometimes it comes a time when you need someone who can just hear you.
Mary: 2.
Mary: Percolate on your information and then crack in a way that other humans will be attracted to it right and so I think it’s important as long as we keep the foundations.
Mary: And I’m just absolutely thrilled to have Lacey as my guest today I’m going to be introducing her up before we get started again if you are watching this when this show drops I would love for you to comment in the comments and ask any questions will be always Circle back and answer your questions if anything resonates with you and put it like a hashtag nugget right like you learned an interesting nugget and share with the class right put things that you’ve learned or think that you might want to remember later because it also helps people who are watching it in the future and I see that is a great idea I love that and as I would say you know what my thing is.
Mary: Brilliant idea right and so it’s important that we share that out and it’s this show and this topic is interesting to you and you know some people may be in your community that would be interesting to them as well I love for you to sprinkle it amongst your community because I think that we all Empower each other this is that a superstar woman on Frontier Network and we all about Rising tide lifts all boats so if you have something that you think someone in your community could be helped by we would love that and also share resources with us we are always looking for new guests and resources that we can share within our community so without further further Ado let me introduce my amazing guess I am again I’ve only known her a short time we have a mutual friend referred me to her and I am actually blown away at This Woman’s brilliance.
Mary: That lightly.
Mary: Absolutely brilliant and the way she sympathizes information like I used her as my copyrighted or is on our team.
Mary: Information from our client we work together with her and she just.
Mary: Nuggets even things that my clients are like oh my gosh I never even thought about that and so I just literally like no she’s in the green or she probably left and right now but it’s so true she’s so.
Mary: I’m honored that she’s on my team to let me read this a little little bit about her to you because you might not know she is getting quite world-famous so I asked you sharing her with you because you know she might not have time for me anymore.
Mary: I think she’s so amazing Arts to Lacey is a creative corporate copywriter with over 13 years experience helping seven and eight figure personal brand strategically expand their Market reached an established raving followers.
Mary: A copywriter by trade and a loner by Nature Lacey uniquely combines proven copyrighted best practices with emotionally-driven messaging on I love that cuz it’s so true and a data-driven approach to craft copy that not only compels auction but sells out I ticket offers while without further ado.
Mary: To Lacey Simmons there she is thank you for giving me you are so welcome thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule I know you’re riding the world’s copy so I’m.
Mary: Alright so let me put your name up here so nobody knows who you are and I have some kind of information as well but we were talking a little bit about the show we always share like a brilliant marketing right as we get started and so this was one that you had shared and I would love for you to expand on this just a little bit so you’re brilliant marketing tip is to check your inbox for email subject lines to grab your attention right if you’re the client.
Mary: Expand on this a little bit yeah absolutely so I think when I work with my clients one of the things that I remind them of is if we think about even the amount of emails were getting Now versus in 2019 and so their statistics that say like the number of emails that were getting marketing Wives has quadrupled almost over every 6 months is so if you do that math from 2020 to now you know everybody had to go online and for a lot of people there wasn’t that in person that phone call anymore and so we end up creating this war for the Inbox and so what ends up happening and I think it’s about that credits to write like we need to be sending emails and so what happens though is those emails and start to take a transactional feel and the things differently suffers is the subject line.
Llacey: First Energy right before you write the body of the copy or is the last thing you right after you write it but either way there’s a lot of its more felt like an afterthought and so I always encourage my clients just keep a running tally of what emails you’ve been opening because I’m staying in those evil eyes are capturing your attention that you could use when you’re writing to your clients cuz it is not something that you would click on we don’t want to assume that our clients with or you know our prospects or I do customers with click on that too so right so kind of like a swipe file keep a swipe file exactly the interesting thing I find when if I were to even ask you like what are the last five subject lines you clicked on it tells us a lot about our interests and it tells us a lot about what we’re looking for and it’s just a great exercise that I do with my class to remind them that their customers are people which sounds funny to say but at their customers are people that don’t live in a vacuum to have interest and so they really find ways to build an emotional connection in the subject line and not wait to do it into the email cuz if they don’t quit they’re not going to read the amazing copy you’ve written anyway. Exact.
Mary: On that note I’ve heard something about there’s like I don’t know if there’s a title I mean I’m sorry that’s covering your face is a good there was something somebody said there was like a magic nine word email have your.
Llacey: The magic number in terms of words in the emails 111 which is like such a very specific thing to say but yeah but I actually write it out it’s about three sentences.
Llacey: Shrunken to about 3 seconds first of all and then about 45 seconds or any technical tasks if you think about having to find your password to login if you’re anything like me imma try a couple times if I don’t remember it, move on the hundred and eleven words is amount of time it takes to read something about 35 to 45 seconds okay.
Llacey: Concise short copy is very hard it is it is and we only text software right and so 160 characters I know Twitter is like now more but I was like the size of a Twitter feed right but it’s it is it’s a challenge to make sure everything is concise so they will want to take action with 106.
Mary: Actually just a short sentence right heat up a LinkedIn and all the different things which is great but yeah that is a thing the nine word email I think was like have you heard.
Mary: The best thing.
Mary: I mean kind of revive or inspire people what’s that you don’t like getting them to.
Llacey: Definitely an art because you don’t want it to feel gimmicky because I can start to feel gimmicky or like rolled like a bait-and-switch write a short copy.
Llacey: Value-driven entry RC building which has a lot to do in a short. Of time but I find that’s really where the subject line can shine so it could be something in the subject line like have you seen what happened… We’re actually I’m finding success in in complete subject lines were now it’s thick enough to see the idea but if you want to go by what you mean what happened I’ve even done one where it said make sure to watch this on Friday at… So then I was like with the conclusion.
Llacey: You know from the shoe.
Llacey: Find closure and things and so when we have incomplete things that bill curiosity we now when I click the discreet that closure.
Mary: Cancel the… I know what to do or see the movie Mamma Mia ever that song alright cuz then people that you don’t really want to click to to get that pay off of you as a cliffhanger right.
Mary: Documenting this so people can refer to them a ride.
Mary: You said you’d want to be a jerk about it you know I got you you know opening your emails at all right exactly exactly what I find would like to think there’s two ways with that Curiosity building it can even be curiosity of like they’re missing out on something but it can also even.
Llacey: Speaking to huether human existence so I didn’t email last week that she got a 80% / 8 which was unheard of for this particular client and literally 5 is good I didn’t know there was 80% and it was sent to about 90,000 people so 80% of 90000.
Llacey: In the subject line just said you’re not alone.
Llacey: They do weight loss and so the more that I studied how their person was opening emails and what you know they were reading and where they were clicking without starting to realize that nothing for any of us have been on a weight loss Journey especially for me post-baby you do feel like either you’re.
Llacey: You’re not doing enough you’re not consistent but you getting to this face of overwhelming and so I was like I want to try this if I sat in that.
Llacey: They’re trying to attract and just that subject line alone no no personalization to it but just speaking to obviously what they were feeling you’re not alone and the preview text said I know it can feel that way.
Llacey: Email.
Llacey: Heartfelt email from their nutritionist they just was like you I know you made a decision to create this goal weight and that was a very powerful decision to make and I know that you might not feel encouraged in this process especially for so slow but we’re always here to help.
Llacey: Curiosity is great but we also do you want to speak to where they are as a human being to draw a really cool because.
Mary: With it like what would that person be feeling at the moment and how do you know how to attract.
Mary: Relatable to them I love that that is really cool and then you just mentioned something that I actually was going to ask you about personalization baby testing and things is personalizing in your.
Mary: Good or is it not so good yeah so I do a lot of email like there was a couple different apps one of them is called omnisend where you can test your subject lines and it gives you like a percentage of How likely it is to be open.
Llacey: A subject line squishy for me in 2022 was the subject line that just had the person’s first name something else so what did you said Lacey that’s it so wasn’t Lacey check this out or Lacey get 50% off and they just had my name and that subject line consistently test after test beat whatever the control was can’t really know why I think it might just be that idea of its personalization but it’s also.
Llacey: Cuz it’s like Lacey what what am I what am I missing something that she knows your Melissa click but hands down like it it always be any single test so that’s one interesting part of my personalization I tend to lean more into personalization for the preview text so let the snow.
Llacey: I do its thing in the preview text always say is like the whisper in your ear like how you do when I open this and so using the personalization in the previous acts and then sprinkling personalization throughout the body of the email the lot of times will it will just leave with it in the greeting but where I really find that.
Llacey: Is finding ways to organically weave it into the body so that it feels more like a conversation I love that.
Mary: I whisper in your ear like.
My buddy so into that you mix me watch Terminator something pretty good I have to admit yeah my daughter is a tart.
Mary: She didn’t mean to do this but she started getting requests so she has like a paint palette and know when we get Philippines it would dry whatever you have to clean them out so she for some reason was videotaping herself like locking them out of the.
Mary: Circle B.
Mary: Sing with some kind of read them just because one after another and I guess you got all these messages saying can you make more ASMR videos like that it on the most random his things and that’s a good that’s a good kind of lesson to do with copywriting of like. How do you tap into.
Llacey: Time to inspect those random curiosity that our customers have that I think sometimes we Overlook right now we.
Mary: Right just email you have helped me with our clients with landing pages and with a website copy and other things are tell me what do you enjoy copyrighting the Ghost Rider drive for people’s books and I think for me the process that I love the most is like geeking out on the research be so I really do enjoy working with a new client or even a client that wants to give it to a different kind of segments and just studying that person so I’ll go and I will look at articles and when I look at articles I’m not really looking at the content of the Articles I’m looking at the comments or I’m reading comments on YouTube video.
Llacey: See what is that person thinking how are they sharing their perspective with the world and for me that’s actually what drew me into copywriting is I came from a research background and I just always found it fascinating I’m just trying to how how meticulously can I.
Llacey: Fun and then try to figure out how to connect with them through words when they don’t even know who I am. Wow that’s cool.
Mary: Yes I have a new program for you.
Llacey: Email address in college DSi 39-43.
Llacey: I wanted to be a friend’s I wanted to be a medical examiner Believe It or Not wow oh my gosh.
Mary: We’re on the same way like I love that.
Mary: Okay so this kind of brings me but you didn’t really say what kind of things do you like the best like you like as you also have done that like a script or something I think you should go and part of that process was like what the hell oh so so every year Sesame Sesame Street production company on board pet I actually ate fellow so out of thousands of applications to get submitted they select 8 people and they mentioned you through the process of creating like a script for an animated children’s show in so.
Llacey: I applied in 2018 made it to the finals but didn’t get selected I apply to get in 20.
Llacey: I got to the semi-finals in 2020 I finally got selected another thing about the story that I have to but I do have to kind of.
Llacey: In 2018 I had never written a screenplay before and the screenplay..
Llacey: And it got me to the finalists.
Llacey: Set me as a fellow I remember kept like you talked about empaths.
Llacey: And I’m like these people have degrees in theater they done like they’ve live breathe entertainment and acting and I’m just a copywriter but you know it’s it was an interesting process it was 73 wins mentorship.
Llacey: The ins-and-outs of writing a 12-minute animated screenplay and then they select one person out of the.
Llacey: Then actually produce your screenplay but in the midst of that they did share my scripts with other people in the neck.
Llacey: Industry and I do actually have two upcoming episodes coming out on TBS probably next year. Oh my God.
Llacey: I do great yeah I’ll be super excited to see it’s for a animated kids show about science so. Oh my gosh that is so.
Mary: As I grew up with Sesame Street and of course I can pick up a Sesame Street and then we ought to all these different shows and you can pour so much into the future I have the kids.
Mary: Are anchored into their I guess they could smell that now core memory like lessons I learned from you know Mister Rogers and Street and all those shows like them with my kids I think it’s interesting how they now have to make the shows interesting for adults as well as gay because they know if it’s mind-numbing Lee stupid the parents will not put it on cuz they don’t want their kid like no I’m in the same room with you and I will blow my brains out. Don’t ask me very intelligently written as what.
Mary: We got you know to be to be gotten this on a word to have them get you.
Mary: I like yeah you got to find that means that are.
Llacey: That are deep enough that can be scaffolding like you said they can really talk to the adult and even sometimes too nostalgic Ali talk to the adult cuz it’s going back like a childhood tradition of Double Dutch and it’s but then bringing it kind of the new age of how does that look for a 7 year old child.
Llacey: Well there you go.
Mary: Riker you can play double dutch in the house right now to go outside and put right I mean.
Mary: Exactly how you could save America.
Mary: So Heavenly is going to is going to reduce obesity in our children and make the world a better place so we will see the 90 that’s right that’s when I grew up okay I asked you for a.
Mary: Share and so this share actually brings up another question for me but you said copywriting is one of the few ironing industries that does not require a degree license or specific training and that’s a very good and very true statement.
Mary: But I seem to remember that you have.
Mary: More than one degree can you.
Mary: And what you would do different maybe or maybe what you would do going forward yeah actually if I did it.
Llacey: And I wouldn’t have gone to college but my I have no life.
Mary: My girl.
Llacey: It’s interesting cuz like I do look back on the educational Journey that I’ve taken and I can see where bits and pieces of it having formed one the way that I look at the world into how I approach copy that you said CSI so when I was in high school that would the show at just come out for the first time and I was upset with you at that so I have a my undergrad degree is actually in forensic science and chemistry sidewall hopes of becoming a medical examiner and then and then it all what I remember like going through the whole Medical School process in applying for that and I realize that as a pathologist you actually go to school longer than the average doctor cuz you have to be able to diagnose why someone died oh yeah I would have been even at 21 graduate college I still had like 12 more years of school left and I remember just saying like if I don’t.
Llacey: Years it would have been a waste I guess I get to 10 years and decide that I want.
Llacey: I don’t have anything to show for it so I decided actually not to pursue the forensic science peace but then I had to really get deep on why did I even want to do that to begin with and it was to give the voice to voice of the voiceless was really what I was looking to do by doing that sounds like a course there is any ways to do that so I ended up tutoring for the missing that I decided to go and get a master’s degree in business I have an MBA and in the midst of doing that I was like oh I really enjoyed.
Llacey: In court.
Llacey: Print for kids for adults and so I decided to go back to school again I have a master’s in the structural design and then in the midst of life I’m going to I really do kind of like this.
Llacey: I see so many things that I want to change with the educational system so I started a doctorate in educational leadership and technically the only thing that I have left is the app.
Mary: Okay.
Mary: Dr. Simmons it would be just for like all of your future book.
Mary: I hear you can cut through lines saying excuse me doctor or like when you’re on the phone so I can friend of mine is a doctor of what she’s like a professor in college..
Mary: She’ll say hi this is dr. Cary Perry in back of a muddy and she’ll like my husband is need this or whatever like oh doctor if I may try to write in like her husband was sick and she got what kind of doctor.
Mary: This girl is smart.
Mary: Want a copywriter that will be able to assimilate research and I’m go dive deep so you can like a seriously the client they were working on together is so grateful to you because I have that mean I’ve ask her more questions I think than anyone in her life is at.
Mary: I’ve got this Natural Curiosity.
Mary: Happened to a psych how are you and I literally the person next to me will tell me their entire life because I’m actually interested.
Mary: And so I gave you like I dumped all this information.
Mary: Literally you know absorbed at all.
Mary: Amazing.
Mary: And ideas and copyrighted part oh my gosh.
Mary: But I’m just thanking you publicly sorry that you thought I was going to ask you did you ever see he was only on maybe one or two seasons but you can find it but it’s called lie to me I’ve ever seen that show. It says.
Llacey: Is that what.
Mary: Yes so I think I just might be one season.
Mary: Such a good show and its really ready to like 10 would like a nominee of that was so good one season and there’s another one called Better Off Ted it was about corporate and it was a comedy is so funny onesies it’s gone but lie to me is all about studying the face in how just like a smirk or a frown or a no.
Mary: And they would they would interview people like in this big glass room and they have cameras wherever so they can zoom up on there.
Mary: And they would like talk about like you like this.
Llacey: I have to look it up look it up it’s so good oh my god when we are watching it I remember like.
Mary: Like you know we’re watching Yellowstone so crazy because you look so I will let you go I know you’re a busy.
Mary: Mama too and I know you’re very busy with all your clients as well so I will let you go but thank you so much for joining me today and sharing why you need a human to write your copy and oh I forgot to put this up does anyone is looking to get a hold of Lacey again.
Mary: No I want you to be blessed with so much Prosperity cuz you’re so deserving I’m if you need to get ahold of her Lacy Simmons at gmail.com is so way to send an email and you can just you know see if she has time for you to think. All right all right so we’re at the end of the show again.
Mary: Brilliant marketing with Mary every Thursday at 2:30 at 12:30 Pacific look forward to this show dropping.
Mary: People will definitely be blessed by it and until then thank you again for joining us today and I look forward to more gas and I’m sharing this with the world when likes it so thank you again I’m going to put you off and then we’re ending the show and thanks again for being my guess for sure and here we.