She had spent days thinking, drafting, re-drafting.  No computer at first, pencil and a pad, old school. 

The crumbled paper spilled from her wastebasket and the candle burned at both ends.  Coffee mornings, wine evenings. 

Digital drafts counted the dozens.  Mark Twain adages rumbled in her head, “I apologize for such a long letter – I didn’t have time to write a short one.” She had lived it.

It was days later.  She felt good about the draft because it affirmed her process.  It was neither perfect nor award winning, whatever that meant…  But it did involve the reader, much like a personal letter.  It shared a story and drew those readers in, showing need, never telling of it.

It would have done its job.  Would have…

The committee was ruthless.  Red ink was everywhere.  At first, she felt disappointed, she’d surely let the client down if it was that off the mark.   That quickly changed to frustration and maybe even a bit of anger as she reviewed their comments. 

Opinions ran amok, subjective feelings.  “I think”, “We feel it”, “I like”, “we don’t like”.   But, how could she possibly counter this?  How to save the copy, the client and the donor?

She knew the answer as instantly as the questions arose in her head.  Scores.  Objective scores, not opinion.  She’d score her version and theirs.  She’d share the findings and the rationale but she’d rely on the scores.  Higher is better.  Better for the reader.  “If you care about being donor centric, and I know you do”, she said, “ you’ll think long and hard about sending your version. “

As I tell her tale I’m reminded of the many charities and consultants living this very experience.   Writing to make a difference matters.  You’ve shared this feeling with me, it’s our kindred connection.  We’ve built the Copy Optimizer tool for you.  The writer.  The one person entirely and fully committed to the craft.

Don’t stop imagining a world full of personal letters and stories needing told.  Let us help you continue  your path to mastery and along the way, give back a bit of control where it belongs.

I wrote the above using the Copy Optimizer Tool.  It’s worth underscoring that our database of emails and letters and corresponding response rates with paired samples of good/bad is significant and growing.

We are now over 80% accuracy in correctly predicting the winner.  The birds-eye view chart shows we achieved near gold standard (fiction writing) success.  Not because I’m anything close to a brilliant copywriter but because I’ve got a better set of underlying rules and measuring sticks and ingredients.  And, I’ve now been drafting and redrafting client and charity and consultant submissions, and practice matters.

Click to enlarge image

The 2^nd half of the illustrative letter – the part speaking to you, the writer – is genuine.  Hell, the first half is pretty genuine as well based on your feedback.  Maybe we took a few artistic liberties…

Speaking of which, we’ve been encouraged by writers’ use and feedback on the tool.  If you’re a writer you should submit paired samples.  This isn’t about public or private shaming.  This is about sharing and growing.  Not just you, us and this product.  We need your input and if your colleagues are any indication, you’ll get a ton of value along the way.

The end game here is a do-it-yourself, at your own pace and within your own workflow, online product.

We aren’t always going to be a bottleneck in sending submissions our way and pushing reports back yours.  But, that is the stage we’re at now.

And speaking of now, now’s the time.  It’s free (for now).  Send paired letters or emails with response rate (one good and one bad).  Your samples will get added to the aggregate database but never shared individually other than with you.

Please send directly to me at kschulman@thedonorvoice.com and I’ll get a report and analysis back to you.

Kevin