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Why he yelled at my ugly duckling

01/12/22Posted in Copywriting, Trade show marketing

An image of a duckling. As it turned out, my ugly duckling was one of the best performers that year in response and sales. You wouldn't have thought so at the start

Photo by Jorge Alcala on Unsplash

Back in the early days of my copywriting life, my boss’s voice boomed down the hall; 

“O’Beirne, get in here now!” 

Bear in mind this was the 1980’s and bosses were allowed to yell friendly greetings like that to their staff. 

“What is this piece of crap you’ve written?’ he enquired in a not-so-passive and more aggressive sort of manner.

As I wrote a lot of crap back then, I couldn’t be entirely sure. 

I took a look at the sheet of paper that was fluttering madly in his hand. 

From where I was standing, I could see that the text bled red ink and was full of exclamation marks. His, not mine. 

I told him it looked like my latest sales letter.

I could see a state of apoplexy was fast approaching. 

Back then, our sales letters were direct mailing pieces sent in the thousands. 

Big bucks were, therefore, at stake. 

I had the temerity to ask what he didn’t like about it. 

Everything!!! 

But, more to the point, he said the copy and layout were the ugliest he had ever seen.

I had used blunt, direct text and lots of highlighting.  

He didn’t quite go as far as to say a five-year-old could have written something better, but the implication was less than subtle. 

Before he could say another word, I explained the mailer was sent and out there. 

I watched his temples bulge and for a split second he fought hard to resist the urge to throw something at me. 

To defuse things, I told him about the contracts the crap item had already delivered. 

The mood changed in an instant. 

As it turned out, my ugly duckling was one of the best performers that year in response and sales. 

I left his office on far better terms than when I entered, with “well done dear boy” ringing in my ears. 

The moral of the story?

1. Always keep a safe distance from an excitable boss when explaining things, especially if they have a strong bowling arm. 

2. When it comes to writing copy that sells, there’s usually more than one way to approach things. 

Apart from my work in trade shows, I also write copy for emails, sales letters and a host of other writing-related things.

If this is an area you’d like to improve in your business, email david@theexhibtionagency.com and we can arrange a call to discuss what you need. 

Very best, 

David O’Beirne

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