…but your writing can still turn people on.
Let’s talk about sex for a minute. And before you get all weird about it…
No, I’m not suggesting you strip down and start gyrating at your laptop camera or whatever.
Most of us don’t have the body for OnlyFans anyway. I certainly don’t. My belly looks like a sad, deflated basketball (damn all of those steaks) and my chest hair is well…chest hair.
I’m talking about the whole “sex sells” thing.
I mean it’s not really about sex anyways.
We’re talking about desire. Tension. The promise of satisfaction that just stays out of reach.
If you think about it. Good sex is not just about the climax. We want that build up. The anticipation. The slow burn that makes your brain melt and your pulse quicken. The tiny moments right before everything explodes.
That’s what your writing needs. Funnily enough. That’s what your marketing needs too. If you look online. Everything is vanilla and boring as shit.
Most people blow their load in the subject line. They give away everything upfront like some desperate amateur on their first date.
It’s boring and predictable.
I mean it’s over before anything has really started.
You need to be a god damn tease. Start with tension. Create a problem that itches. Makes them lean forward. Make them want to know what’s going to happen next.
Your hook should be like foreplay. It should make them curious and not satisfied.
Your opening paragraph should be like that soft and sensual kiss to the bottom lip, the bite and pull. The drift away as you trail your lips down their neck and onto their collarbone. Sweet and promising but not the main event.
The middle section? That’s where you build the heat layer by layer. But you have to hold something back…
The call to action bit? That’s where you finally give them permission to get what they came for.
Satisfy their craving while creating hunger for more.
Good marketing like good sex should leave them wanting to come back.
There’s rhythm. There’s a bit push and pull and giving and withholding.
If you create anticipation and deliver satisfaction. Then create new anticipation before they have the chance to catch their breath…
Blog posts and social media posts should have cliffhangers.
Emails should end with questions (occasionally)
Tease upcoming content and just use your imagination.
Make them wait for it and even work for it. Make them choose it.
The wait also needs to be worth it too.
This works for everything that requires a bit of creativity.
Writing, marketing, storytelling, product launches even silly PowerPoint presentations.
These principles are universal because human psychology is universal.
We want what we can’t immediately have. We crave what requires effort. We value what doesn’t come easy.
So stop being so available. Stop giving away everything away or free upfront. We don’t want to be the marketing and creative equivalent of a one night stand.
I’d very much want to be the person they think about. Be the message they save. Or the content they share.
Become unforgettable.
Stephen Walker.
P.S. If you made it this far. You probably need a cold shower or something.