Do you want to infuse your sales copy with humor and life?
Do you want it to pack a powerful wallop?
Then start applying the power of similes.
For example…
“When he realized that his ex-girlfriend was his current girlfriend’s cousin, Buddy felt as uncomfortable as a bug sitting under a magnifying glass.”
Similes show how two things that are not alike in most ways are similar in one important way.
Authors use them to make their writing more interesting or entertaining. We as marketers can use them in our copy to add emphasis, humor, and life to our points.
The best way to effectively set this up is to explain the situation as you would normally, and then drive your point home by including your simile.
It’s like setting up your reader with a literary left jab, and then following it up with a vicious right cross.
For example…
“Carol was careful when driving in the rain. The downpour made the streets as slippery as greased glass.”
Aristotle said that good similes give an “effect of brilliance”. And when used correctly, similes cause a pleasurable sensation in your reader’s brains as they make the mental connection between your unlikely comparisons.
Just recently I realized that I use 9 particular similes in a lot of my writing. They’ve helped me out a lot. (Although I don’t think #4 is a classic simile. But it’s still a darn good figure of speech)
Here they are for you to use:
1. You aren’t merely at a disadvantage: You feel like a one legged man in an ass kicking contest (Gary Halbert)
2. Bob wasn’t just expressionless: Bob was as sober as a judge
3. Carry wasn’t just socially awkward: She was about as welcome as a skunk at a lawn party
4. Jezebel wasn’t just coldhearted: Butter wouldn’t melt in this woman’s mouth
5. The film wasn’t just boring: The film was about as interesting as watching a copy of Windows download
6. The child didn’t just play the harpsichord badly: The harpsichord sounds like two skeletons copulating on a corrugated tin roof. (Sir Thomas Beecham)
7. He didn’t just stand out like a sore thumb (An over used expression): He looked about as inconspicuous as a tarantula on a slice of angel food. (Raymond Chandler)
8. Mary wasn’t just refined and composed: She was as calm as the ocean on a moonlit night
9. Ted wasn’t just fidgety: Ted was as nervous as a cat with a long tail in a room full of rocking chairs
Use these similes to add life and meaning to your copy. Your readers will appreciate it.
Hope this helps.
-James D. Lee
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