The 5 Monsters of Copywriting

<img src="https://copywriterspodcast.com/images/banner/copywriterspodcast236.jpg" /> <br />The market research company Ipsos recently did a poll that found 46% of Americans believe in ghosts. I found that annoying because they didn’t ask Americans how many of them believed in monsters.<br /> It’s so important which words you use when you’re taking a survey.<br /> Ipsos also found that 7% of Americans believe in vampires, and 6% believe in zombies.<br /> With Halloween coming up, I thought this would be a good time to do a show about monsters. Specifically, the Five Monsters of Copywriting.<br /> Especially for all the copywriters who can’t go trick or treating because they are locked in a room on a deadline.<br /> Now, look. The Ipsos poll also found that 88% of parents eat their kids’ Halloween candy. So I guess being a copywriter on deadline isn’t as bad if you’re a parent.<br /> But let’s talk about these Monsters. They are the very things that keep us from writing.<br /> I saw this sad plea for help on Twitter on in late September, from newspaper humor columnist Alexandra Petri. She wrote:<br /> “Friends if you see me on here next week, please bang a rolled up newspaper on a table nearby. So that I get startled and scuttle away. I am supposed to be working on my book.”<br /> Imagine that. She thinks that her friends can scare the monsters away from her by banging a rolled up newspaper on the table, miles away from wherever she is at the moment.<br /> Well, what are these monsters, anyway?<br /> Everybody knows about these monsters, at least vaguely. Everyone at least has an inkling.<br /> But we’re not afraid to talk about things other people are afraid to talk about.<br /> Even if we are afraid of those things ourselves.<br /> You know, they say the first step to solving a problem is admitting you have a problem.<br /> That may be as far as we get with some of these monsters. Other ones, we might have a solution or two so you can scare that one away WITHOUT having to get someone else to bang a rolled up new