You know what they say, it's Monday somewhere! No one says that. It's not Monday, I realize, yet here I am, posting Marketing Monday anyway. Sometimes that's how these things go.
If you've been around here or my Twitter or Instagram accounts at all, you might know I love reading. I love it recreationally, but it's also important to my work. The more I read - of anything - the more voices, vocabulary, and points of view I'm exposed to. The more of that I'm exposed to, the better a writer I become.
When I was in sixth grade, there was a class spelling bee. I remember vividly how we all lined up along the wall and went down the line, taking our turn trying to spell the words the teacher said aloud. At one point she asked for the word 'click'. She went down the line, and student after student said "Click. C-l-i-c-k. Click.", and it was wrong. Everyone was puzzled. But as their puzzlement and murmurs grew, so grew my excitement. I knew what word she was asking for, and it wasn't click.
At that point I read and re-read a lot of Sweet Valley High, The Babysitter's Club, Nancy Drew Files, and anything else I could get my hands on, especially if it had to do with friendship and characters that were close to my age. I knew exactly what word she was talking about. When she got to me, I said "Clique. C-l-i-q-u-e. Clique.". She smiled. I was correct. My classmates were all impressed and confounded and I felt triumphant. I remember vividly feeling like there was a secret I was in on, and I had unlocked it simply by doing something I loved and that came naturally to me: reading.
I had unlocked it by sneaking books outside with me when I was told to put that book down already, go outside and play. I had unlocked it with all those late night (you know, really late for an 11 year old, like 9-10 p.m.) sessions in my room, sneakily reading by the light of the closet, the method for which I had perfected by turning on and cracking the closet door just so: enough light to read by, but not enough to get busted. I'd unlocked it reading by the light of the tiny Christmas tree lights in my room, which I loved so desperately. I'd unlocked it with all those times I brought a book with me everywhere I went, and my poor mother would want to use our solo time in the car together to chat and catch up: But I couldn't help it, I couldn't bear to tear myself away from the words on the page. (I'm sorry, Mom! In my defense, you did have children with someone who magically goes deaf when he has his nose in a book.) (I can't tell you the number of times one of us has stood in front of my Dad's chair while he's reading, calling his name, literally right next to him, and he has been blissfully, completely unaware. These are my genes. I cannot help it. I come by it honestly.) I'd unlocked the secret by befriending the school librarian in fifth grade. She made recommendations for me and would set aside books for me. I'd unlocked it by reading anything I could get my hands on, and letting myself get lost.
Reading was transportation for me. It took me to other places and showed me other ways of thinking, of being, of seeing. It's still that, as an adult. But as a kid, I can still remember the impact of certain books, and how they became part of me as I learned and grew and got to know the world around me, beyond me. Reading taught me things I couldn't have learned anywhere else, and let me safely come home. Reading was an endless selection of windows into different worlds. Reading is very important to me now, but it was important to me then in a way that was different. It's why I've mostly given up on giving cute clothes and shoes to the new babies in my life and instead have taken to giving books, books, books. It's not that I don't love a cute baby in cute clothes, because boy do I ever. It's that the clothes won't last, and the books will, and how often do we get to be part of that in someone's life? My parents recently gave me a stack of books from my childhood, and I found myself gobsmacked at the memories that came flooding back. Things I'd completely forgotten suddenly came to life again on the page, just by reading. A friend of mine told me just yesterday that her tiny son loves the books I got for him, and asks for some of them by reciting some of their lines ("la la la"). It's a privilege to be a part of that. Making memories with books: this is what excites me.
So, Marketing Monday. Reading is important to my writing. I am constantly searching out things I want to read more about. As someone who works for myself, it's one of my primary learning tools outside of the actual work I do for clients. Marketing Monday is a place to share some of those interesting things I find, similarly to how the Friday Find is a way to share anything fun, light, and interesting.
This week I want to share this HubSpot article on some samples of really good copywriting: 10 Companies that Totally Nail Copywriting. Also has some good insight if you still want to get your head around more of what copywriters do.
Thanks for reading, friends.