content marketing

3 Ways writing with a high level of Emotional Intelligence can enrich your life.

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emotional intelligence with pen and coffee cup

There is something flat and unsatisfying about writing in a formulaic way.

Academic writing. Business writing. Marketing writing.

You do the work. You put the words together. You wait for pay day.

As a copywriter, the least satisfying type of writing for me is when I follow some kind of template or framework. That kind of structure may reflect a “winning and proven” approach to writing an ad, landing page or sales page.

But… I don’t get much pleasure from writing like that. I’m following the rules, but I don’t feel that I’m putting any of myself into the work.

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5 Reasons why Emotionally Intelligent writing sells more.

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showing empathy

AI is the big thing right now.

And while tools like ChatGPT are incredible in many ways, there’s one thing they’re really, really bad at.

Emotion.

Bots don’t do emotion.

They definitely don’t write with emotional intelligence.

For a start, they have no first-hand experience of emotions. Lines of code can’t fall in love, or laugh.

And they can’t feel empathy for others. Lines of code don’t care about people, and how they feel.

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Are you building an audience of real prospects, or an audience of passive readers?

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freelancer connecting with a real prospect and shaking hands

As freelancers we have to get out there and build an audience.

Many of us do this through creating our own websites, publishing newsletters, writing articles and networking on social media sites.

Over time we might build up a subscriber base of a thousand, five thousand or even twenty thousand or more people.

These are people who read our articles, our blog posts or even our Tweets.

But who are these people? What kind of audience are you building?

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Should you be selling the product, or the story?

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Sheaffer pen cap

Imagine walking into someone’s home, looking around and seeing a family photo on the wall.

Not a posed family portrait. More of a goofy shot. Not terribly well composed. Maybe even a little bit out of focus.

Seeing you study the picture, your host comes over and says, “Oh my goodness, let me tell you the story behind that photo!”

It isn’t the photo that has the true power… it’s the story behind the photo.

It’s the story that carries the true emotional punch.

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Write to people as individuals, not as part of a group.

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I’m writing this post for YOU.

We’ve probably never met. But I try to picture you in my mind as I sit at my computer, pecking away at the keyboard.

I might even imagine you here in my home, sitting across from me at the kitchen table.

I’m writing to you as if you’re the only person in the world on my mind right now.

This means I’ll always talk about you in the singular.

One-on-one. You and me.

I think you notice and appreciate it… the fact that I’m writing this just for you.

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Short copy rocks.

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Choose between long form copywriting and short-form copywriting

When I sing the praises of short-form copy, I often get pushback.

Particularly from some of my fellow copywriters.

I’m told that short copy isn’t up to the job.

For the tough jobs… the heavy lifting… only long copy works.

I’m not so sure.

I think short copy can also get the job done.

In fact, I think some of the most powerful copy is really, really, short.

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