Growth Newsletter #205

Generate hundreds of copy ideas ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  [Demand Curve]( [Read on demandcurve.com]( The Growth Newsletter #205 Generate hundreds of copy ideas Most people create copy the wrong way.  Whether for ads, subject lines, headers, or a social post hook. Let's dive into a framework for generating hundreds of ideas.  – Neal Brought to you by [Village Global Velocity](  Calling all ambitious pre-seed founders looking to scale to the next level.  Applications are closing soon for Village Global’s exclusive program for pre-seed founders: - Get up to $1M of investment - Access to the Village Global network and peer accountability groups - $350k+ in free AI credits from Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic. - Open for pre-seed founders worldwide.  Village Global has investors like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Sara Blakely, Reid Hoffman, Eric Yuan, and Michael Dell.  Pretty stacked team.  [Apply here]( by September 10th for the vintage starting on October 15th. Want to be featured in front of over 101,000 founders and marketers? [Learn more here](. Generate hundreds of copy ideas Insight from [A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters]( by Dan Nelken.  Most people jump straight into writing a bunch of headlines.  Worse yet?  A lot of them just roll with the first idea that comes to mind.  Here’s Dan Nelken’s process for generating hundreds of ideas for your next copywriting project.  Step 1: Create your idea buckets  Instead of jumping into finished headlines, start extremely high level. Create at least 20 idea buckets. As Dan says, you’re on the right track if they're too obvious.  List benefits, attributes, insights, and general truths for whatever you’re selling.  Here’s what this might look like for Udemy: - You can learn from home - You can learn from the comfort of home (slight word change) - You don’t have to go to school - You don’t have to commute - Classes start whenever you want them to - Add new skills to your resume - They offer free courses - Countless 5-star reviews - Students can rate teachers. - Over 40,000 courses to choose from.  And so on.  Notice how high-level and obvious these are. They are just simple truths about the product and the company.  Some tips: - Just jot them down. - Make slight wording changes to previous ideas. - Get more specific with ideas. - Look at the opposites. "Not slow" may give interesting ideas versus "fast." - Research product pages, competition, FAQs, socials, and reviews.  Step 2: Fill your buckets with ideas  Let’s dive a little deeper. We’ll jot down ten first-thought ideas for each bucket.  For example, for the bucket “You can learn from home:” Note: This is straight from [A Self-Help Guide for Copywriters]( Some tips: - This is a painful process. You’re flushing all the bad ideas out to find gems. - Resist the urge to write headlines. Just jot down the ideas. - Look out for [relatable truths](. Ones that make you say, “That’s so damn true!” - What’s the benefit of the benefit? Or phrased differently, [what are you really selling](? Trampolines are fun for kids but also give parents a break.  Step 3: Craft the ideas into headlines/ads  This is the trickiest step. This gets into the entire field of copywriting, which I can’t teach in a 100-ish word section of a newsletter.  You want to take your collection of ideas and turn them into clear (or clever) and compelling headlines.  Here is a collection of copywriting/ad creation techniques I’ve either created or collected in my time: - [The 10 ways to hook people](: Our free 12-day email course on the different ways to write hooks. - [3 fundamental rules of good copy](: Brilliant advice from one of the best copywriters, Harry Dry. - [Twisted visual. Straight line](: A simple framework to create compelling ads. - [Be candid with your flaws](: How to win their loyalty with candor. - [X vs. Y](: Control the narrative with clever framing. - [Re-using a familiar interface](: Leverage the familiar to your advantage. - [“Ugly ads”](: Purposely ugly. Delightfully charming. - [The Mullett](: A simple way to write a headline that leaves them smiling.  I’ll keep sharing various frameworks in the future, ultimately culminating into a big resource for all the various ways to do it.  Stay tuned ✌️ What did you think of today's newsletter? 😍 Loved it: Forward to a friend, or reply—a simple 😍 will do! It really helps. 🤷‍♀️ Meh: You can unsubscribe [here](), or manage your subscription [here](. 🤔 I'm new here: You can join the party [here](. 🤩 Give me more: Check out all previous growth tactics in our [Growth Vault](. Something fun  Although for us founders, it's more like 3+ back-to-back startups. But I can't wait for my goose farm era.  (Source unknown, sadly.) How we can help you grow - Read our free [playbooks](,[ articles](, [growth guide](, and [teardowns](—we break down the strategies & tactics used by fast-growing startups. - Need help running ads? We’ve built [the]([ ads agency]( for startups. - Looking for a growth freelancer or agency? [We’ll match you]( with a vetted partner for free. - Get in front of 101,000+ founders by [sponsoring]( this newsletter. Thanks, everyone! [Neal]( [Neal O'Grady]( [Grace]( [Justin Setzer]( [Grace]( [Nick Costelloe](   © 2024 Demand Curve, Inc. All rights reserved. 4460 Redwood Hwy, Suite 16-535, San Rafael, California, United States [Unsubscribe]() from all emails, including the newsletter, or [manage]( subscription preferences.