What chocolate cake can teach you about selling more, trailblazing women in business & copy resource of the week

Welcome to Issue #10 of The Subhead, a bi-weekly newsletter about copywriting, marketing & media, and a look at some of the women who make it great.

Here’s what’s on deck in today’s edition:

· What chocolate cake & donuts can teach you about selling more

· Trailblazing women in business: Mitch Gilbert, Founder of Oya Femtech Apparel

· Copy Resource of the Week: Swipe Files

· Just for Fun

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Hello, hello!

I don’t know if you identify as a writer, but if you do, you may be familiar with this feeling: an undercurrent of guilt and / or disappointment when you go weeks or months without writing a single line or sentence on your own creative projects.

Maybe you’re busy executing on client work, or focused on your day job, or otherwise handling pressing responsibilities. And that thing that no one is waiting for or expecting, that thing that oftentimes you won’t get paid for, that writing project that once brought you so much joy, is now languishing in a file somewhere, wondering when you’ll pay attention to it again.

With the exception of this bi-weekly newsletter, that’s where I’ve been for a few months. So, on January 6, I decided to commit to writing 500 words a day, January 6-31, for a total of 13,000 words … just to prove to myself that I can set a writing goal not tied to client work or income, and achieve it.

I’m happy to say I did it. I ended up writing 19,620 words during my 26-day writing sprint, surpassing my goal.

I don’t have any witty, wise or profound takeaways from this project to share, only that every now and then it’s good to reaffirm your identity as a writer – or whatever it is you do – outside your client work or your job.

Mission accomplished for me. 😊

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What Chocolate Cake & Donuts Can Teach You About Selling More

One of the most useful things I ever learned about writing persuasive copy, back when I worked in an ad agency (x2), and especially once I went out on my own, was the importance of tapping into the power of emotion in your copy.

If you’re a solopreneur, business owner, or otherwise have things to sell / promote / publicize / advocate for, this is a beneficial skill to learn.

And it all starts with making an emotional connection with your ideal clients or target audience.

How do you do that?

Discover the secret here! (It’s not a secret. It’s a handy little exercise called the “so what?” technique.)

Get the details:

What Can Chocolate Cake and Donuts Teach You About Selling More?

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Trailblazing Women in Business: Mitch Gilbert

I once had a long-term contract writing copy for the apparel brand, Champion, so I’m always interested in seeing standout apparel brands getting recognition, especially if they’re doing things differently, and most especially when the brand founder is an inspirational woman.

That’s the case with today’s mini-profile.

Mitchella “Mitch” Gilbert is an inclusive product designer and the founder of Oya Femtech Apparel, maker of ethically made, non-toxic, high-performance active wear that helps combat feminine health issues like yeast infections, bacterial vaginosis, and UTI’s, with its patented designs and textiles.

Gilbert is a former Nike employee, elite athlete, and fitness enthusiast, and one of the first black women to raise over $1M in venture capital. They graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy, and attended the UCLA Anderson School of Management after earning a full scholarship to build Oya Femtech Apparel, Gilbert’s fourth company.

When asked in an interview about inspiring a movement that would “bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people,” Gilbert said:

 If I could inspire a movement, it would be to honor vaginas with love, care, and respect because vaginas are more often dishonored with indifference and shame.

Honoring vaginas would lead to good because everyone is attached to a woman. And lifting up women to be healthier and happier would lead to a happier and kinder world.

Other meaningful quotes from the same interview [bolding mine]:

Society wants to put people with less power (i.e., women, people of color, disabled people, people from lower socioeconomic classes, etc.) into boxes. When people who traditionally have less power seek to break out of those boxes, they are “troublemakers.” Society then builds a lot of systems (including shame, limited access to capital, racism, sexism, etc.) to keep “troublemakers” in their boxes.

Women “disruptors,” unlike their male counterparts, must first fight our internal dialogue that we are we are supposed to stay in our boxes and that we are “troublemakers” if we break out of our boxes. Then we are supposed to fight society’s systems to keep us in our boxes. These are difficult feats, and it requires a lot of education, communal support, and capital to break women “disruptors” out of our boxes.

Some women don’t make it out because the lift is too great. Conversely, men are often rewarded for being “disruptive,” because they are considered innovative and aspirational.

Sources:

5 on Funding, a newsletter that asks venture-backed startups to share five ways they’ll use funding to scale their companies.

Authority Magazine Interview

Check out the Oya Femtech Apparel website here, and learn more about Gilbert’s background here.

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Copy Resource of the Week: Swiped.co

Do you know what a swipe file is?

If you’re not a copywriter or marketer, likely not, there’s no reason you would.

A swipe file is a collection of marketing and copywriting examples to use for inspiration, research, & brainstorming, etc. – not to copy, though, to be clear – when writing your own copy.

For example, I have a folder in Gmail and one on my desktop, called “Copy Resources,” and when I see exceptionally good copy examples, I save them.

I have examples of emails, sales pages, landing pages, website copy, ads and more, to rely on for headline, subject line, body copy and CTA inspiration.

The truth is, I don’t often consult my swipe file before writing, but I know it’s there if I get stuck and need inspo.

There are lots of swipe file resources out there, but one I’ve found to be useful in the past is called Swipe.co.

It’s great, because you can use filters to search by industry, for example, automotive, gardening, health & wellness, and lots more, then by copy type, like ads, emails, limited time offers, direct mail, CTAs (call-to-action), and so on.  

So, for example, if you want to find health & wellness ad copy, or emails in the gardening space, or maybe direct mail in the auto industry, bingo!

Not only that, if you click on each individual copy resource, you’ll get a breakdown and explanation of why it works.

This is so incredibly helpful.

Check it out here.

Reverse-Engineered Marketing & Copywriting Inspiration

Where marketers & copywriters go to get inspired & learn the secret psychology of top marketing promotions.

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Just for Fun

I cannot tell a lie, I’ve been feeling a bit low lately, for some reason. Post-holiday blues, maybe?

Anywho, when that happens, one of my favorite go-tos for getting out of a funk is watching funny videos on YouTube.

I’ve watched this bit from SNL probably 50 times since it first appeared on the show a year or so ago, and it never fails to improve my mood when I need a pick-me-up.

I present to you, The Black Lotus, 4 minutes of hilarity. 😊

[I debated long and hard about sharing this, since it could make me seem … shall we say, less than “professional.” But I’m throwing caution to the wind!]

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Okey doke, that’s all for this week, my friend.

Be well. Stay curious. See you again in two weeks, on February 25.

Warmly,

Kimberly

P.S. As always, feel free to reach out if you need copywriting support / want to chat about a copywriting project.