Can Writers be Purple Cows?
I’m reading the book Purple Cow by marketing guru Seth Godin (Portfolio 2003). The idea is that marketing can only get you so far; in order to succeed, you need to build something remarkable right into your product or service. “In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is failing,” Godin writes.
I started wondering whether there’s a way for freelance writers (who are also marketers by necessity) to become Purple Cows. Since a couple of editors have told me that only 10 percent of their writers turn in good articles on time, it seems that merely doing a good job would make you remarkable. And it’s true — I’ve had editors tell me that they were ecstatic that I turned in an article on time or that I wrote a (gasp!) great lede.
But is that all? Make yourself remarkable by doing a good job and wait for the dollars to roll in? Unfortunately, that’s not the case for freelance writers. The market is always in such a state of flux — with editors moving around or even leaving to go freelance, a steady influx of new writers banging on editors’ doors, magazines starting up and going belly-up — that we can’t afford to sit back and wait for assignments, even if we are competent, punctual writers.
At the same time, writing is — well, it’s writing. We can’t play with the design like Volkswagen did with their New Beetle, we can’t set up shop on every corner like Starbucks, and we can’t offer free shipping like Amazon.com.
I’m stumped, so I’ll ask you: How can good writers become remarkable writers — remarkable enough that editors will tell their editor friends? Are you a Purple Cow, and if so, will you share your secret? [lf]
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Dec 2, 2006 Marketing, Observations, Personal yammerings
In a profession filled by flaky artists and semi-talented writers convinced that ‘anyone can do it’, I think there’s definitely something to be said for solid professionalism. Get articles in on time, according to spec, and error free. That alone will purple your cow considerably. (Yeah, I said it – purple your cow!)
To go beyond that, I would think it necessary to maintain that level of professionalism while also setting a high standard for the creativity and artistic quality of your work. Give evergreen topics a new twist, and bring in genuinely new ideas consistently.
The meat of our profession is in the words and thoughts behind them. We’re to do more than simply fill a page; we’re paid to fill it with something of quality. If we can do that in a manner that is appropriate to the markets we work in, we’ll be looking good and purple.
I got to your blog from “The Renegade Writer” and “Breaking Into Women’s Magazines…” (http://www.thedabblingmum.com/writing/magwriting/breakintowomenmags.htm), and based on your credits, you ARE a purple cow, compared to the not-so published and the unpublished (moi). Sounds like you’re in the “looking to lose the last 5 lbs.” category since birthing your writing baby, to me. Not a bad place to be, but not where you’d like to stay, hmm?
I wonder if purple freelancing has to do with being one of Peter Kyne’s go getters (http://www.amazon.com/dp/080500548X/?tag=therenwri-20) and in following creative trails such as Semple and Bennis suggest in The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership (http://www.amazon.com/dp/080500548X/?tag=therenwri-20). Kyne’s go getter stops at nothing to achieve his boss’ desires, despite a personal handicap, several setbacks and setups designed to test his mettle. Semple spoke at a leadership conference about the contrarian concept of imagining the wildest, most ridiculous scenario to solve a problem. His example as he (an engineer) attempted to correct a dishwasher design malfunction, was to imagine ladybugs fixing the dishwasher malfunction (Yep, ladybugs). This highly distinguished man of engineering and academia spread himself on his back on his livingroom floor and brainstormed the solution for a dishwasher was ladybugs crawling around it, over it, in it—and fixing it. And his mind, certainly a purple cow in his discipline, was so freed that he discovered the solution soon thereafter.
Interesting reading, and thinking, huh? It seems that you already are a go getter, so perhaps your purple status would increase (to your satisfaction) from a ladybug (or two), though I am still practicing go-getter.
Regards.
If I could offer one idea, it would be to become ultra-specialized. To be the best in the world at the topic you cover, or the way you cover it. A look at the New Yorker (the cartoons and some key contributors) shows you… you can tell who wrote what.
Good luck!
I’m a pretty new writer, but so far it seems that you achieve purple cow-ism with something along the lines of Seth’s comment; a distinct writing voice.
While in graduate school, I had more than one professor tell me that even though they covered student names and graded “blind,” they could always tell within a paragraph which papers were mine. You just need to make sure that the reaction is “this is great — it must be writer XYZ” and not “this blows so bad, I’ll bet it’s writer XYZ!”
Thank you for your comments! I now have a lot of food for thought. Becoming the best at a specialty may be the way to go (right now I have several niches).
Love the ladybugs idea!
For me the purple cows will be the ones able to provide a complete multimedia package — photos, video clips, podcasts. Here’s one really strong example http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5624896
I heard a panelist at a writing conference say once that approximately 70% of submissions are completely inappropriate for the publication (eg, pitching a piece on healthy pregnancy to Maxim) and another 20% are utter dreck, so it you write even remotely competently and perform even cursory market research, you’ll make it into the potentially acceptable 10% that’s left. And if you’re good on top of all that, well you’ll “rise to the top of the idiot pile” immediately. Not quite how I would have put it, but you can’t argue with logic like that. :]
Kristen
http://www.inkthinker.blogspot.com
I have to agree with Brian that professionalism equals purple. But, it’s not just any kind of professionalism that will make you go far. I’m talking about sincere, stick-to-your-word type of professionalism mixed with a healthy dash of spirit. When you meet deadlines, work with your clients or editors until they are happy, give it your creative all AND infuse the business of writing with spirit, your clients and editors reap the benefits as much as you.
Hm, so maybe it really is, at least partly, as simple as doing a good job, on time. I got that same 10% figure from two of my editors.
Cal, good point. We magazine writers can think about packaging our articles instead of just writing them; for example, I often suggest formats (like charts or Q&As) for my articles, and sometimes include a sidebar even if I wasn’t asked for one.
[...] added to this in an recent comment on Renegade Writer, where he suggests “If I could offer one idea, it would be to become [...]