Words Equal Action, BUT …
(Even though I’m not eligible for a prize, I decided to post an entry for my nano contest.)
Joanna Young, in her contest podcast-post, actually put her finger on a very important point illustrated in the cartoon - words lead to action.
Now, my tagline is “It’s all about action”. Why? Because well chosen words lead to action. Now, there’s a rub in this. Good ideas which are expressed well lead to positive action. But bad ideas which are expressed well lead to negative action — sometimes very negative action. And good ideas expressed poorly lead to negative action. Sigh. One thing’s for sure — good or bad ideas, poorly expressed, lead nowhere.
So, as I ponder what I just wrote and reflect on Joanna’s contribution to this contest, I realize my tagline is wrong, or at least a simplification. It’s NOT all about action. It’s all about transforming good substance into the right words into positive action. Yes, I think that’s it, though it doesn’t make for a very snappy tagline.
Mr. Gas Station Guy starts off with a good idea — offering customers extra value. But poor words lead to negative actions. When he grows tired of eating $500 of gasoline per free carwash, he might change his sign to something like this –
FREE CAN OF CHEWING TOBACCO WITH $30 PURCHASE
Now his words are good, but the substance … well, I doubt if he’s going to reel in a lot of extra business on a chewing tobacco hook.
Once he realizes his chewing tobacco incentive isn’t worth spit, he might go back to his original good idea, hire a professional copywriter, and try –
FREE CAR WASH WITH $30 PURCHASE
By jove, I think we’ve got it. Good substance, good words, good action. Mr. Gas Station Guy reels in customers all over town, makes a fortune, and lives happily ever after.
All because of six words.
And substance.
And $5.00/gallon gas.
Thank you for visiting Word Sell, Inc. My blog features lively discussion on marketing, writing, and business blogging.
Brad, I love how your contest has got us all thinking! And I’m glad you gave me the answer as to how he should have worded his sign, because that’s been troubling me
I don’ think your tagline is wrong - but there is something between words, words sell, and action that could be woven together into just the thing that captures you and your business…
If I find it I’ll let you know
Joanna
Brad, it was interesting to see how you decided to play out the cartoon yourself. I’ve encouraged friends to enter. I’ve been excited to see where so many others took this one!
Brad,
Glad you wrote a post for this one, too! It’s a great perspective! It’s been so interesting to see the different approaches that all the entrants took–and now to have yours added to the mix! Gas Station Guy should read your blog. He’d learn a lot!
Jeanne
Robyn, thanks for plugging the contest - we still need more contestants and I’m thinking of extending the deadline. Jeanne, I agree Gas Station Guy should read my blog or somebody’s — there’s a connection between reading and good writing,
Brad, what a great perspective and kudos for using “by jove” in a sentence.
Karen
Karen, thanks for noticing the “by jove.” It’s taken me 359 posts to work that into a sentence.
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