There are a lot of lessons we -- as business storytellers -- can learn from the kings and queens of songwriting, because they live or die by their ability to quickly grab an ear (or preferably both), hold them for 3 or 4 minutes, and then ... here's the best part ... make you want to hear their message over and over again.
You probably haven't heard of Clay Mills. But he's a songwriter with 2 Grammy nominations and 6 x #1 hits under his belt. Slaving away behind the scenes in his SongTown Studio to create magic messages that others will sing, perform and record.
Here's a few words of wisdom -- with 5 clear pointers -- from him on the art and aim of his craft:
“Songwriting is not about how many chords you know, how many notes you can play. Songwriting is about communicating with your audience, it’s about being real, it’s about being honest, and touching your audience, and making them feel something.”
Ok, now I'd like you to re-read that quote and substitute the word 'copywriting' for 'songwriting'.
Makes sense, doesn't it? So try remember that next time you need to write anything, even just an internal email, and see if it helps make your messages stickier.
If you're interested to check it out, here's a list of some of the biggest hit songs Clay has written. Listen to them to feel his sense of rhyme, rhythm and storyline development (and dozens of other sneaky tools that anyone who's done my Psycho-Copy Copywriting Course would easily sniff out).
Warning: it's mostly country-style music for those who are "allergic" to it, but the Human-to-Human lessons are yours to learn.
Hope this strikes a good chord with you.