Maybe you have been writing a long time. Or perhaps writing is not your thing.
Whatever the reason, it is easy for your business writing to get stale – or the dreaded B word – boring.
It happens to the best of us.
Here is a trick I use to jumpstart my business writing.
- Consider your topic
- Then pick a totally unrelated object
- Use that object when writing about your topic
To show you what I mean, my topic is health insurance. My object is a Pet Rock.
Pet Rock History
Before we get started, here’s a brief history of the Pet Rock – since most of you are too young to remember it.
The story is that Gary Dahl, a salesman from California, was having drinks with some buddies. The group started complaining about the hassles of owning a pet.
Gary came up with the idea of a pet rock.
- It was low maintenance
- It was cheap to own
- And it had a great personality (remember, drinking was involved)
From that night in 1975 came the idea to market the Pet Rock, equipped with its very own Pet Rock Training Manual.
They sold a million Pet Rocks and Gary became an instant millionaire.
From Pet Rock to Health Insurance
Let’s use the Pet Rock for our business writing topic of health insurance.
1. Does health insurance have you between a rock and a hard place?
Beware of Pet Rock policies
- Talk about a low maintenance insurance plan that may hide limits
- Discuss why a cheap plan may have appeal, but it may sink you like a rock
- Caution against good marketing that leaves you with a low coverage plan
2. You can dress it up, but make sure your health insurance plan is rock-solid
- Use the analogy of the Pet Rock being a “dressed-up” plan
- Give examples of a solid plan with good coverage
- Illustrate the loopholes in the fine print
3. Is your health insurance plan just another passing fad?
- Like the Pet Rock, it’s rolled out with much fanfare
- Will your coverage be here today, gone tomorrow?
- Are you paying more for a plan that is nothing new?
You try it. No matter what the topic, how can you apply the Pet Rock theme?
- Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest
- Your next great idea starts with something you know
- A new spin on an old idea reaps rewards
What’s your Pet Rock idea?
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Rock solid advice, Cathy. 🙂 This is a writing practice I’ve tried myself. Throwing in an oddball object or idea stirs the mind and adds freshness to your writing. Thanks for the reminder.
Wade – love how your comment got into the spirit of the theme. 🙂
I totally agree with you about how it stirs the mind and adds freshness to your writing. Thanks for stopping by, Wade.
Proof you can indeed squeeze money from a rock…. 🙂
Great analogy, Cathy! And I never owned one. My sister did, though. LOL Lord, I miss those toys that weren’t really toys…..
Lori, I never owned one either, but I use it to talk to myself that I need just one stupid idea to make my millions, Why do I find that so difficult? 😀
Thanks for squeezing in your comment. 😉
Of course, the rock has another use… It helps to arm oneself against the gatekeepers that blockade the visits to the required specialists…
(But, you should also arm yourself with facts and figures- or you will be spending time in the clink. Without a sink.
Roy: Be careful, your creativity is showing. 🙂
What a great way to avoid veering into boredom in your writing. I believe I’m not of the ‘pet rock generation’ but growing up I had tons of ridiculous toys. The Yoda magic 8-ball comes to mind, although I guess you could actually get some use out of that (y’know, basing major life decisions on what it tells you, etc.).
Hi Greg: Thank you for the kind words. LOL about the Yoda magic 8-ball. Let me know how that works out for you. 😉