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Michal Berman's avatar

I loved “finish the knock knock joke” and everything in that section - it’s absolutely true the writing can’t be as strong if we aren’t clear 🙏 great article. Thanks for sharing

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Josh Garofalo's avatar

Nailed it.

I started my career as a copywriter. Give me the scope and I’d send words… usually the right ones.

As I gained experience, I realized many of the problems people were hiring me to solve weren’t copy problems. The copy was a symptom of a shaky foundation.

Positioning with too many hedges for fear of alienating someone with a credit card.

Or, like you mentioned, weak messaging. Messaging that doesn’t know what was critical, kind of important, and a footnote. Messaging lacking a POV. Messaging afraid to say, “hey, you’re probably great, but move along because this isn’t for you.”

So, I had to learn all of this on the go, because clients were hiring me to solve problems, not write copy (even when it was copy they asked for).

It’s made me this weird thing I’m calling a “PMM Copywriter.” Typically, a copywriter with a story similar to mine, or a PMM who treats the craft of copywriting with the respect it deserves.

Will I keep using the term? Does it have legs? I’m not sure.

But I’m desperate for a title people see and immediately think, “ooh… this guy handles the copy and most of what informs the copy.”

Because the perception is:

PMM = strategy and decks

Copywriter = words

Even if this isn’t true.

Anyway, great post!

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