This tip from 12th grade made me a better copywriter

My weirdest flex: I was the editor of a national award-winning yearbook in high school.

We didn’t just do mug shots of all the students — we wrote full articles and stories. We won awards for our design, photography, copy, and the overall theme of the book every year.

But the real win was learning from my advisor, who taught me lessons I still use as a copywriter: how to cut word count, take tough feedback, lead creatives, and more.

The biggest thing that sticks with me though?

“It’s better to make a perfect Jell-O than to make a mediocre soufflé.”

What do Jell-O and soufflé have to do with marketing?

The idea is that it’s better to do something simple — and do it beautifully — than it is to do something complex and lose the message.

For example:

Writing a solid one-page website > a scattered 11-pager with cool animations.
Posting quality content daily on LinkedIn > a disjointed multi-platform social strategy.
A bare-bones launch campaign with great messaging > a complicated funnel.

Or, in Ron Swanson’s words: “Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.”

*There is a Ron Swanson quote for everything, but this is the best one.*

How to put this tip into action

Every business has different priorities and resources — so there’s no one “right way” to apply this.

But here are a few tips:

1.) Nail your message before you create anything

Whether it’s a social post, website, or email, start with the basics before you get into the nitty gritty details.

What are you saying here? Who are you saying it to? What’s your end goal? If these basics aren’t clear, nothing else will matter.

2.) Start with the minimum-viable version

When you kick off a new project, ask yourself: “What’s the least I can do to make this work?”

Stay laser-focused on the answer as you create. If you have time to add more assets or details — great! Just make sure you start simple and don’t stray from the vision.

3.) Question every piece of content

Before you publish, ask yourself: “Is this needed?”

If it doesn’t support your end goal in some way, it’s probably going to distract from it. In those cases, it’s time to follow Emily Dickinson’s advice: “Kill your darlings.”

Need help narrowing your content strategy? Here are 5 ways to accomplish more with fewer resources:

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Genius of the month: Steve Jobs

One of the best role models for simplicity. Jobs took “less is more” to a new level — not only in marketing, but also in product design, business processes, and his own personal life.

To him, simplicity opened space for creativity and innovation… which ended up being one of his biggest legacies.

“Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

— Steve Jobs