Let yourself off the hook. Our natural tendency is to stereotype. (I’m guilty of it at times as well) We’re looking for a shortcut to understanding who people are and what they want. It takes some extra work to dig deeper, but it’s always worth it.

Another clue you may be stereotyping is if you find you do not like the persona or audience you are writing to.

I was reminded of this while watching “Entourage” – At first I was going to write the show off. It was a bunch of steroeypical young guys in hollywood. I found myslf disliking most of the cast.

But after watching two full shows, I changed my tune. I got a chance to go past my surface reaction (and stereotypes) and get to know the characters. I found I actually liked these guys.

If you told me to write copy to these characters after only 15 minutes, it would have been hard. But after two full shows, it would be much easier to write copy to them.

I catch myself stereotyping my prospects on a regular basis, even though I teach others not to do this very thing.

I can say I am doing a better job of catching this weakness, since making “Waiting For Your Cat To Bark, Persuasive Copywriting and Call To Action” part of my daily referrence material.

Thank you for this post, it has given me some extra referrence points.

Never Give Up,

Troy Dooly
Rainmaker
DeskPing

I’ve struggled a little with this concept too… What is a stereotype? Even a persona could be called a stereotype at micro level. I guess you’re referring to broad cultural or sex stereotypes and assumptions.

It seems to be much easier to write copy once you have drilled down to the most specific picture of your customers that you can get. Personality, needs, wants, buying styles etc. By-passing this just doesn’t work. I appreciated your examples Holly.

Kevin, funny site. I’m sure it will appeal to the niche!

It sounds like you’ve done your homework on Rugby Players. You’ve made an effort to understand who they are and the language they use, am I correct?

That sounds like doing uncovery to me.

An example of stereotyping would be – you think almost no one plays rugby so why even bother to try to sell anything to them? But it is my understanding that rugby is growing in popularity, for men and women – and is the third most watched sport in the world.

So it sounds to me like you broke through a stereotype to even consider them as a target audience.
(at least from the perspective of a U.S. resident)