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Controversy Or Avoidance - Which Sells?
“I don’t like getting into debates. We’re running a business blog.” 
‘Whew . . .!’ I thought when I read that. Good luck with that approach, buddy.
Fellow copywriter and blogger James Chartrand is wrestling with the direction to take his “online personality,” and he’s doing his thinking out-loud with Harrison McLeod, the other half of their writing team.
I decided to chime in, and what you’re reading started out with a simple comment, but that tiny hatchling of an idea ballooned into this gargantuan post rampaging through the Tokyo downtown of polite discourse.
See, I think James has it wrong — controversy does sell and avoiding it not only fails to sell, it makes one seem bland . . . like human tapioca.
It’s like this, presumably one of the points of having a business blog is to sell by proving your expertise with your content, and I know my numbers go up whenever I take a really big swing at some company or school of thought or institution.
And the larger the institution or company, the more aggravated people are about it and have sublimated that outrage because they don’t have an outlet for it. Part of what I do is to give voice to that pent-up emotion.
Gore-ed By The Prophet
For example, anytime I poke at Gore and the global warming controversy, my numbers jump and I have to refrain from posting even more on that subject because I realized I was becoming a stat-head addict about it.
Now, I put myself out there very early on challenging Gore while he was still hot and everyone was kneeling at the alter of his conclusive infallibility. I was one of the first to say, “Hey wait a minute. There are a number of things about your science and stats that don’t add up.”
I took a lot of heat for that. Over a year later, the very issues I was raising back then, are now touted on the evening news. Today I look like a bloody prophet, but back then I was called a ‘neo-con oil burner’ who wanted to shoot Bambi and drill in Alaska.
Well, one out of three ain’t bad, right? As Vonnegut would say, “And so it goes.”
Being interesting and challenging is part of our business, at least that’s how I see it. The CMO of Mindjet labeled me a ”provocateur.” But I never gave much thought before that about what I say and how I say it, that’s always been who I am.
After some consideration about what she said, I even changed the focus of my blog to reflect it. Why not ride the horse in the direction it’s already going? I like being provocative. I like to challenge other POV’s and I also like having my own challenged.
What’s So Special About You?
I use my blog to show prospects that I can write consistently, produce work on a schedule and most importantly, jack up their conversion rates (but only if they have the good sense to hire me).
Plus, as some have noticed, tackling controversial themes and displaying a wide range of views and interests is all part of my self-promotion, since a number of clients are C-suite folk that I ghostblog for. I can’t very well use my personal writing voice and idiosyncrasies on their blogs and promotional materials.
But if I wasn’t interesting or challenging while writing — I’d be just another copywriter blathering on about copy mechanics and lists of how-to’s, do’s and don’ts and sundry “7 fatal mistakes you must never _____” . . .
Zzzzzz . . . Oops! See, I just put myself to sleep, and probably you as well.
My point is, if I take the safe, well-trodden path (and I did) then I’m no different than the hundreds of other copywriters and marketers out there mooing about the same old junk as they’re herded across the Rio Grande.
My clients and prospects like the refreshingly direct approach I bring to the table. And when meeting by phone or in person, after a few minutes they’ll say, “You talk just like you write.” Ever the wiseguy I usually counter with, “Or is it I write like I talk?” and then we’re off onto the matter at hand.
And because of the conversational tone, by the time we sign contracts they feel like they already know the person behind the sales copy and the cool strategies.
Crossing The Line Is Risky Business?
> I didn’t want to rock the boat. I didn’t want to jeopardize our business. I didn’t want to risk offending clients, readers, or people in general.
I’ve learned that you can only be effective as your willingness to risk offending someone. Not that you have to offend, but the unwillingness to find out where the line is keeps folks from being engaging and authentic.
Now, that’s my experience and studied opinion and I understand in advance that others feel differently about that. And to that I say viva la difference! What a wonderful culture and time we live in that we can amicably disagree and mentally joust to our heart’s content.
Offense Or The Fence?
My rule about offense is that it is a personal choice and never something done to you (the generic you, not the personal you, James). You see, people have to choose to take offense. And those seeking to take offense at the slightest slight –well, they were gonna do that no matter how diplomatic you were.
So that’s the rule I live by for giving and taking offense. By and large it works well and frees me up to be more authentic.
Now, some things James said that I would like to challenge:
> chafing at having to listen to other people’s opinions while my own had to be hushed up.
> I was force-fed narrow views and told what I should and shouldn’t believe.
With respect, who made that choice to “chafe,” “resent” and be “force-fed”? Who made the choice to suppress in the face of an opinion you found disagreeable? You did. This wasn’t done toyou by the Philistinic tendencies of others. It was a decision you made, right?
See, I like to test my views against those of others. How else are we to learn either how correct or how flawed our beliefs and views may be? We do that by testing it in the crucible of debate.
Who Do We Toast & Who Do We Roast?
A final point to make in my thesis — globally, look at who we celebrate. Do we elevate and respect diplomats and mealy-mouthed folk who choose each word so carefully, that by the time they get finished qualifying everything — they have said nothing?
Hell no! We respect those who have a distinct POV and are unafraid to say it and stand by it. By your own example James, would you find Naomi’s blog so interesting and worthy of comment if she were a corporate cube-dwelling politically-correct drone?
Of course not.
By Walter |
Topics: Client Top Secret, Marketing Mishaps, Pet Peeves |
December 2nd, 2007 at 11:24 am
Point. Point, and point again. But is it controversy that draws me to Naomi’s blog or is it the entertainment value? Perhaps it’s the feeling that Naomi is real. Maybe it’s that she shows no fear – the sign of a true leader. Maybe I just like that she writes motherf**cker and doesn’t care if some people get upset. (It’s only words, you know.)
But Naomi isn’t controversial. She is different in a sea of people all trying to find themselves. Does she gain business by being different and unafraid? I’m sure she does. Does she lose business as well? Most certainly. But the point that sifts down is that Naomi’s clients are probably people that she enjoys working with and they enjoy working with her.
Other people tend to take the safer road. They want business – everyone’s business, not just those that are like them in personality or speech. We originally took that road and tried to woo all readers professionally.
It wasn’t a good fit.
So yes, I chose to tamper and shackle my personality and beliefs versus displaying a so-called professional business attitude. I wanted to do business, not be elevated or toasted for my words of wisdom.
Then… why the hell did I have a blog?
I’ll disagree with you on one point in your post. You said, “What a wonderful culture and time we live in that we can amicably disagree and mentally joust to our heart’s content.”
What you suggest is that the world is a place where we can debate as friends over wine in a café somewhere, enjoying discussion and opposing views simply because we can.
I wish I lived in that kind of world, Walter.
However! My blog is my world, and I write there because I like to, first and foremost. Please the readers? Certainly. Please myself? Most definitely. Is that risky business? It can be, yes… but it’s a risk I’m now willing to take.
December 2nd, 2007 at 2:37 pm
> I’ll disagree with you on one point in your post. You said, “What a wonderful culture and time we live in that we can amicably disagree and mentally joust to our hearts content.”
> What you suggest is that the world is a place where we can debate as friends over wine in a caf somewhere, enjoying discussion and opposing views simply because we can.
> I wish I lived in that kind of world, Walter.
Ok, I’m bite. So why don’t you live in that world, James? Literally, we live in the same world, do we not? Are you saying that you and I inhabit 2 entirely different realities, kind of like parallel dimensions but w/n the same space-time coordinates? Or do you actually mean we filter our perceptions differently?
I choose to perceive the world as a safe place to joust with opposing views and thus I act that way and by and large, that’s what I get in return (there are always exceptions). Could it be that we’re not talking about the way the world is, but the way we **perceive** it to be?
December 3rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
Ha, you know that perception is everything.
Let me clarify: The world I knew before stepping into the at-large, wide-open, multicultural world of the Internet was a very safe place to joust with opposing views. But that is not true of all places in the world, and I have hit many a brick wall in my years only. I’ve also been hit by many a virtual bat simply for believing one thing or another. Crazy.