😄 1 simple trick to tickle their senses with the written word

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Happy Wednesday! Dry January was decidedly *not* in effect over here at Gig HQ, but for those with more discipline than us, here’s a tasty way to break your fast.

Now, onto today’s agenda: Twitter, Microsoft, GitHub, OpenAI, and Instagram. Plus how not to take constructive feedback from clients, and one simple trick to tickle their senses with the written word.

Read time: 3 minutes and 11 seconds

Making the Rounds

  • Twitter taking steps to become a payment processor. CEO Elon Musk has said in the past that he wants Twitter to become a “superapp” used for everything from messaging to paying your bills, similar to WeChat in China. And the company continues to take steps in that direction, as it’s begun applying for the regulatory licenses it would need to operate.
  • Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI ask for AI copyright lawsuit to be thrown out. The class action complaint, claiming GitHub’s Copilot violates copyright laws after being trained on publicly available code, is sure to be one of the first in a flood of suits centered on AI copyright concerns.
  • Instagram Notes now available worldwide. The new feature inside the world’s favorite photo-sharing app lets you add a 60-character text update to your profile.

Working With Clients

How Not to Take Constructive Feedback From Clients

What’s the easiest way to tell the difference between an amateur and a professional?

[A] Six-figure income
[B] Laundry list of testimonials
[C] Big audience on social media

Answer:

None of the above.

The easiest way to tell the difference between pros and amateurs is the ability to take constructive feedback.

It’s easy to get defensive when someone shares something critical with you…

In fact, for most folks, it’s the only way they know how to react.

But if you want to become world class at what you do…

You have to train your ability to receive constructive criticism and separate the signal from the noise.

This means:

  • Creating space to let the feedback in
  • Putting yourself in the other person’s shoes
  • Analyzing the feedback objectively
  • Identifying growth opportunities

And just to be clear…

Not all criticism qualifies as constructive.

(especially if it’s coming from a client who terrorizes your inbox and refuses to respect your boundaries)

But learning to receive feedback well — without getting defensive — and extract the lessons buried within…

Is the mark of a true professional.

From The Copywriting Gig

1 Simple Trick to Tickle Their Senses With the Written Word

Strong copy doesn’t just make you think…

It sends a shiver down your spine and triggers an itch you can’t scratch…

… Until you buy, that is 😉

That’s the power of using sensory language to engage the reader.

You should always be thinking about how you can tickle all five of their senses…

Which are:

  • Touch
  • Taste
  • Sight
  • Smell
  • Sound

Whether that means saying “showering” instead of “stimulating”…

“Thundering” instead of “shouting”…

Or “beefcake” instead of “hamburger”…

The more sensory receptors you can light up along the way…

The faster your reader’s credit card details will Scrooge McDuck themselves into your payment processor.

And if you’re looking for ways to integrate AI into your workflow, this is a great use case.

You can ask ChatGPT (or your favorite AI writing tool) to assemble a list of sensory language for a given topic in advance…

Or simply upload a draft, then ask it to spice up your copy with a bit more sensory goodness.

Gig Alerts

Looking for clients? These freelance jobs were posted on Upwork in the last 24 hours:

NOTE: We only share job postings from Upwork. We’ve found it to be the most trustworthy platform with the highest-quality clients. Furthermore, job postings must be for high-income skills like copywriting, media buying, funnel building, graphic design, remote closing, etc in order to qualify.

Quote of the Day

“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.”

— Stephen R. Covey

Tools of the Trade

Looking to upgrade your toolkit? Here are some of our favorite tools we use to powerful our freelance business:

  • ConvertKit — Email marketing for creators. Simple, easy to use, and very cost-effective.
  • ​Kinsta — Super fast website hosting trusted by 25,000+ small businesses.
  • Fireflies — AI note-taker that can record client calls + create searchable transcripts.
  • ​Krisp — Eliminates echoes and background noise on calls and meetings using AI.
  • ​Wise — Unbeatable rates on currency conversions. Saves you a ton of money if you’re an international freelancer.

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