Copywriting Propaganda Part 1: Copywriting Advice to Ignore
In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a lot of copywriting advice floating around on the internet.
Some of it is super helpful. Some of it is relatively harmless. And some of it is making writing your own words for your business so much harder than it needs to be.
Even though it’s – admittedly – a little inflammatory, I like to call all the bad copywriting advice out there “copy propaganda.” And while I could write an entire blog series on copy propaganda (maybe I will?), I want to get out in front of a few pieces of copy prop that I find totally and completely harmful to your own writing process.
Why? So you can bypass them and actually write words that get results instead of wasting your time doing what the world tells you to.
So, let’s make this short, sweet, and to the point. Without further ado, I give you my top 3 pieces of must-ignore copywriting advice!
(P.S., there’s a part 2 blog on more copywriting propaganda to ignore you should also read).
LIL KEY TAKEAWAYS: THIS BLOG AT A GLANCE
Fast copy isn’t always good copy. AI can get words on the page quickly, but that doesn’t mean those words sound like you, connect with your people, or actually do their job.
You don’t always have to hire a copywriter to write good copy. A copywriter can make the process easier and more strategic, but with the right messaging and your sticky brand voice foundations, you can absolutely write strong words yourself.
Professional does not have to mean boring, buttoned-up, or personality-less. Your sticky brand voice is one of the biggest things helping your people notice, remember, and trust you.
The best antidote to bad copywriting advice is a solid starting point. Get clear on your messaging, your brand voice, and the basic psychology behind why people buy — then write from there.
3 Pieces of Copywriting Advice I’m Begging Savvy Business Owners to Completely Ignore
Let’s bust some of the copywriting “best practices” (*cough cough* myths) that might actually be making your writing worse (or at least much harder than it ever needed to be).
More of a carousel-on-Instagram kind of learner? I get it! Take a peek at this post for a bite-sized version of this blog.
Copywriting Propaganda #1: AI Is the Ultimate Timesaver
Can AI spit out 500 words faster than you can? Of course it can – it’s a machine!
Before you run as quickly as you can to Chat or Claude, please remember this crucial distinction: fast words and good words are not the same thing.
AI can hand you a draft of something in three seconds or less.
But if that draft is generic, off-brand, and just…weirdly full of phrases you would never actually use, you’re pretty much missing the mark.
I can prove it. I plugged this very blog prompt into ChatGPT to have it write this article for me. I fed it my IG post (the one I shared above), and an email I wrote about this subject before to my Hey Pal Club newsletter, too. I gave it a ton of specific info and words I already wrote.
It spit out a full, 1,000-word blog in about 10 seconds! Amazing, right? Sure. But guess how much of that copy I used to write this blog?
None of it. Like, absolutely none of it.
I’m not hating on AI. I’m also certainly not saying you’re a bad business person for using AI to assist you with your words, but I genuinely believe that AI strips the magic that is YOU out of your words. And often, that magic is what’s drawing your ideal people to you in the first place.
Most savvy business owners realize that. They also realize that if AI spits something out for you super fast, they’re going to spend a ton of time prompting, correcting, tweaking, re-prompting, de-roboting, and desperately trying to get their personality back into that AI-generated content.
Which doesn’t sound like a huge “time-saving” move to me.
The better time saver is to know your messaging before you write anything down.
Get clear on your people, their problems, what you can promise, and your brand’s POVs – in other words, the 4Ps of Messaging.
How to Avoid the AI Copy Propaganda
If AI has officially eaten your ability to start from scratch, I made a whole free email workshop for that exact problem: AI IS GARBAGE.
It walks you through a step-by-step writing process in a simple daily email – teaching you how to start writing again without Chat, Claude, or whatever robot you’re using.
Copywriting Propaganda #2: You Have to Hire a Copywriter to Write Good Copy
As a person who makes money writing copy for people, this would be an extremely convenient belief for me to add a little smoke to.
The good news is that I don’t actually wholly believe it.
Don’t get me wrong, a talented copywriter (Hi! It’s me!) can absolutely make the process easier, faster, more strategic, and significantly more low-lift.
But that doesn’t ever mean you are incapable of writing strong website copy, sales copy, or marketing copy by yourself.
Most business owners already know their people really well! They know the questions clients ask, what’s frustrating them, why they hesitate, and what they’re looking for.
And the problem isn’t usually that business owners don’t have anything good to say; it’s that they don’t really know what to focus on to sell their stuff.
Having a simple messaging framework already set up for your brand as a whole and each of your offers can do so much heavy lifting for you. That way, when it comes time to write anything about your stuff, you can refer back to your messaging strategy and know what points to hit on.
How to Avoid the Must-Hire-a-Copywriter Propaganda
The best thing you can do to set yourself (and your words) up for success is to lay out some go-to guides for your business. That way, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to say something about your business.
To me, this means having two things at the ready: a messaging guide and a brand voice guide.
I have a ton of resources on how to start piecing that together, but I’ll lay out just a few of the most actionable right here:
Brand Voice Roundup: A quick mini course dedicated to teaching you how to build and then use your own custom brand voice guide.
Brand Voice Bootcamp:A totally free, self-paced challenge that teaches you the basics of discovering and using your own brand voice.
Mini Messaging Marker:A 12-min training that walks you through the 4Ps of messaging – your people, their problems, what you can promise, and your unique POVs.
All the brand voice blogs: a collection of free blogs all about brand voice – what it is, how to curate yours, and how to start taking note of it in a guide format.
All the messaging blogs: A collection of free blogs all about messaging – what it means, how to create your own messaging guides, and why it matters what you say.
Copywriting Propaganda #3: You Have to Sound Serious to Be Taken Seriously
Boo. Hiss. This is my least tolerated piece of copy propaganda because I feel like it’s so damaging. I would like to formally retire the idea that professionalism requires removing every identifiable trace of your personality.
You should be taken seriously because you’re talented, you know what you’re doing, and you know how to talk to your people. If you’re a serious brand and a serious person, great – by all means be serious. Be who you are and who your people need.
But don’t try to be a buttoned-up, corporate, sterile version of your brand or yourself just because you think that’s going to be what gets people to take you seriously.
If you are naturally warm and conversational and quirky, I’m begging you to not just up and start saying things like, “We endeavor to provide comprehensive solutions tailored to your unique needs.”
For the love of everything, don’t do this.
Your personality – your brand’s sticky voice! – is what gets your people’s eyes in the first place. It’s the neon welcome sign in a sea of somewhat lit-up signs that snaps them to attention.
How to Avoid the “Must-Be-Taken Seriously” Propaganda
Remember that your personality – yours! – is what gets people’s attention. Focus on what’s sticky and special about you. If you’re not serious, don’t try to be. If you’re not the loudest in the room, don’t do that either.
Read this blog alllllll about why your brand voice might not be stickin’ (hint: it’s got nothing to do with how unserious you’re being)
What You Actually Need to Write Better Copy – the No Propaganda Version
Since this is technically the call to action (CTA) section of the blog, you’re probably thinking this is where I say “forget the propaganda and hire us!”
Which you can totally do. But you also don’t need to hire a copywriter (see copy propaganda #2 again if you must)
Here’s my best advice for you.
The fastest and easiest answer is more of your brand’s personality – but you can’t just be the personality hire. If I had to sum it up, here’s exactly what I’d tell you that you need a better handle on to write better words that sell more and connect with your audience:
A messaging guide that clearly outlines who your people are, what their problems are, what you can promise them, and the POVs that set your brand or stuff apart.
A brand voice guide that makes it easy to infuse your sticky brand voice (your words, phrases, and isms) into everything you write so that your people recognize, remember, and like you. (The building blocks of trust, by the way).
A general understanding of sales psychology so you can start with a better understanding of your client’s brains, how they work, and what they need to hear to make decisions.
And, if you’re still reading, here’s how Boundless Copy can help.
We’ve got resources in the Boundless Copy Shop that you can tackle on a DIY or done-with-you basis. If you’d like more one-on-one, done-for-you help, we’ve got that covered too.
Take a peek at our messaging and brand voice strategy service and our website copy service, and heck, all our other services while you’re at it, too.
When you’re ready to chat, just inquire by clicking the button below, and we’ll start chitter-chattering about how we can help you write better words that stick with your people.
