Yes I do work in a sausage factory – in that we churn, churn, churn copy out all day long.
That’s churning out script after script, etc… sometimes 20 to 60 scripts a day – and it doesn’t leave much space for creativity and room to write the best that you can.
I have had a couple of clients ask me “how do you do it?” – and I always respond the same way – “It’s lucky I have a short attention span, I can switch from writing a script for a pharmacy one minute to a car yard the next, then a gourmet butchers, an artisan bakery and even a hippie candle-shop.”
Now, that means you are in danger of repeating yourself – something that I continually worry about – luckily I don’t think I have yet done that – touch wood!
So yes, sometimes I do worry about repeating myself – DOH!
But I do TRY to keep track of the scripts I write – those that get approved that is – the ones that don’t I keep in my swipe file for when I need an idea in a flash.
What I am saying is: I do this, day in and day out, and have done it for 14 years in this one location – as of today!
That’s right, today is my 14th year at the radio station I am now at. YAY!
And yes, that is one heck of a long time – and during that I have written promotions, ads, sales copy, videos, and more – plus done production, digital, promotional work and working in almost every department at some stage, in some capacity.
Now there are good things and bad things about working in the one place for so long, you know the lay of the land, and what you can do, and can’t do with certain clients. You get a feel for what they like and don’t like – but you still get frustrated on a daily basis when people don’t return your calls, emails – don’t like your scripts – do like your scripts “but can we change this one line and add in this line, and phone number” – Ahhhh! Nooooo!
So I thought I would pass on to you… My 10 tips to survive in a Sausage Factory…
- Don’t forget that you are good at what you do – no matter how many scripts you have had to pump out today – you are better than the ‘number’ that is tracked. You write good scripts – remember that!
- Always write the best copy you can, given the amount of time you have to do it in. If that means having to cut corners by delving into your swipe file – then do it – your sanity and time are valuable.
- Coaching, mentoring and training helps you to get ideas, to build your skill set and makes you a better writer – always be upskilling yourself, no matter what situation you are in.
- Stay focused on rewarding yourself, you deserve it for putting up with ‘all of this’. Mine is time away from work, and heading out of the country to one of my favourite holiday destinations. You can’t just “keep on working” you need to reward yourself for pumping through all of those scripts.
- Speaking of rewards: Small rewards keep you going – I buy and read books – so many books! I read on average 2 books a week – and I read everything from sales books, to copy, to biographies, and fiction – it’s my reward to myself. AND I never regret doing it. I always discover something new abouty8 myself, or that I can use.
- Stand up for what you believe in – if you have written a damn good script that you know is going to work – then go in to bat for it – stick by your guns and say to the client that it will work for ‘this’ or ‘that’ reason. Don’t just shrug your shoulders and move on – NO – it’s the small victories that make a difference in a sausage factory. So stand up for that script!
- Don’t forget to keep abreast of the trends in the industry – listen to the award winning ads – discover why they won the awards – AND ask yourself – should this have won? There are many times I listen to an award winning commercial and think that a 5 year old could have written better – but sometimes I go “WOW! What an amazing idea! Could I do something similar with the right client?” Don’t steal the copy, but the idea and note what it was, how it was done and then use it down the track to inspire your own script idea.
- Editing makes or breaks a script – and that can only be done with distance. Take 10 minutes after writing a script, and write another, grab a coffee, a donut, then come back to it and edit it. NEVER try to do it straight away – I always find I get better scripts when I give them time to percolate in my brain and then I distract it with something else. Sure it adds 5 minutes to the script creation time – but it is worth every second.
- My final tip – DON’T trust the work printer to EVER work when you are in a rush! I ended up buying myself a cheap $35 printer for when the work one dies, and have it sitting there ready to print – because you know the day you need to print 10 scripts, there’s going to be either a service tech issue, a paper jam, printer device not recognised message, or you’ll be out of paper. Before you burn the place down – buy yourself a printer!
10. Finally – if you smell fish for absolutely no reason (ie: there is no-one ‘cooking’ fish in the microwave) then 9 times out of 10 it means that there is an electrical fire, stay safe – GET OUT!
That’s it for today – until next time, keep on churning!
