How Writing Launch Copy is a Lot Like Gestating a Child
When I was pregnant with my third baby, I wrote copy for a launch that ultimately raked in $4 million dollars.
If you’re a working mom, you get why this was kind of a big deal.
And if you’re a copywriter and a mom, you have an inkling as to the kind of craziness that I was juggling on a daily basis: middle of the night Slack messages, last-minute emails, and 3-hour long marathon meetings at the worst possible times. Not to mention the sheer amount of words that needed to be put on page.
As both my pregnancy and the launch began to dominate my life—progressing to the final stages of anticipation, stress, discomfort and, “let’s just get this done”—it felt like I was giving birth twice. “Hey baby, meet your twin—Product Launch X! Isn’t he cute?”
There were so many overlaps between growing a baby and writing launch copy that I thought all the CopyMoms out there might get a chuckle.
So, without further ado…here are the 6 ways that pulling off copy for a launch is like gestating a child.
#1 You Research the Heck Out of Everything
Both having a baby and writing launch copy involve a lot of preparation, research, consultations, and organization.
With baby one, if you’re Type A like me, you’ll probably read a million books, have a gazillion tests, write a birth plan, draw up an organized list of potential names, and earn a Bachelor’s in baby paraphernalia.
A product launch is the same—but different. You’ll also read a lot, write a launch plan, agonize over which headline fits best, and run tests on your copy, not to mention that you’ll learn enough to earn a Bachelor’s in the niche you’re writing for.
#2 It’s Hard Work!
I still don’t understand how some women turn up at the hospital complaining of a stomach ache only to “unexpectedly” give birth. For me, growing a baby is a hard and pretty uncomfortable labor of love—and a launch is similar.
By the time I have written fifty segmented emails, four video scripts, thirty Facebook ads, and three landing pages, my fingers are creaky from pounding the keyboard, my eyes are red from screen-strain, my back aches from sitting, and my shoulders are seriously hunched.
Compare that to nine months of throwing up, exhaustion, indigestion, swollen feet, c
onstant bathroom breaks, and inability to sleep, and you come out on the other side feeling like Wonder Woman (funnily enough, Gal Gadot, the actress who played Wonder Woman actually DID film the movie while pregnant. She gets us).
#3 It’s a Big Commitment
Gestating a baby is an intensive nine-month “marathon” of a commitment, with a whole load of sleepless nights, uncertainties, curve balls, and hours of anxious waiting thrown in for fun.
A launch usually has a three to six month gestation with sleepless nights, uncertainties, curve balls and hours of anxious waiting for results thrown in for fun. Sound familiar?
#4 Time Slows Down
Deadlines and due dates are necessary but misleading gateposts of a launch and a pregnancy, as they have a knack for moving!
I gave birth to all 3 of my kids a week (or more) late. Let me tell you, week 40 of pregnancy does not have 7 days in it…it has 7,000.
And in “Launch Mode” as well, time seems to slow down. There’s just too much to do in a 24 hour day. Every minute becomes valuable.
Obviously, in our Wonder Woman dreams, everything is done by the due date (or perhaps even just a little bit before so we have time to get our legs waxed). But since man plans and God laughs…
Yep, deadlines and due dates give us focus and a sense of urgency: must get copy written by… must get bassinet out of storage by…
But that’s about as far as it goes. Nature and the unexpected often barge in uninvited to send stress levels soaring when our water breaks two weeks prematurely, or the client suddenly decides to move everything up.
#5 You Get Excited – and a Little Scared Too!
And so to launch date–the birth! It’s an exciting, messy, adrenaline-filled finale, where you will finally see the results of your labor come out to greet the world.
It doesn’t matter how many launches I write, there is always a mixture of adventure, anticipation, and stress. Will everything go to plan? (probably not). Will my copy deliver results? (hell, yes) Will my client be a happy bunny? (I’ll try my darnedest)
Birth (even the third time around) also had me feeling anxious. You never know what mother nature has in store. I worried about how the birth would go. I worried about how my girls would adapt to the new baby. And I worried about never (ever!) getting enough sleep to function as a human being (which, of course, is why God made coffee).
Someone get me this for my office wall please!
#6 The End Result Is Worth It
Well obviously.
I have to admit that I thrive on the adrenaline rush of a launch. I love to see my clients succeed, and being part of that often feels like a privilege – although payday is fun too!
And having a child is an empowering and humbling experience, which expands our hearts until they are overflowing.
So though I have three adorable children, I also have at least 10 ‘launch babies’ under my belt––which I nurtured and birthed with tender loving care, but which luckily did not leave any stretch marks.