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copyblogger.com http://www.copyblogger.com/sex-and-the-ci

Jeff Sexton

The Hidden Key to Cosmo Headlines: Sex and the City?

I bet you didnt know that the main characters o f HBOs Sex and the City

represent one of the better examples o f the f our personality

temperaments, did you?

Just about every personality typing systemfrom Hippocrates humors

to Myers-Briggs/Keirsey or DISKgroups personalities into fourprimary

temperaments. Only the labels dif f er:

sanguine, cho leric, phlegmatic, melancholic

spontaneous, methodical, competitive, humanistic

artisan, guardian, rational, idealist

and so on.

And, yes, each major character on Sex and the Citytypif ies one of the

f our temperaments:

Carrie serves as the Humanistic hub that brings all the others together, and she discusses and writes

about her feelings and relationships

Samantha, the here-and-now, Ill try anything, conf ident hedonist, represents the Spontaneous

temperament

Mirandas hard-edged, skeptical, career-minded voice-o f -reason perspective corresponds to the

Competitive temperament

Charlot tes more t raditional, conservative concern f or T he Rules marks her as a Methodical

And, yes, Dorothy, this pat tern applies to many more shows t han jus t Sex and the City. Star Treks Bones, Kirk

Spock and Scot tie also f all into this pat tern, as well as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Rabbit, and even

the Tin Man, the Lion, the Scarecrow, and Dorothy, herself . If f our principle characters are involved, theyll

probably line up with the temperaments.

So what does temperament have t o do with Cosmopolitans Headlines?

Well, take another look at Cosmos cover and headlinesthrough the eyes of these Sex and the Citypersonas

Better yet, imagine them sitting around brunch, passing the magazine around the t able, the way they might ThNew York Times. While each of the characters will have a comment to add about any one of the headlines and

would listen to the art icle if it was read to them, the key is to picture the character most likely to be reading th

storyeither by grabbing f or t he magazine af ter hearing the headline or, in Charlottes case, reading the sto ry

at home.

The 22 Best Relationship Tips Ever

This one has Carries name so all over it, she may have written t he article. This type of relationship advice

would normally appeal to Humanistics.

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Get Ahead Faster: 12 Brilliant (and Slightly Badass) Ways to Do It

OK, Ill bet most readers think of Samantha when they read, slightly badass. But the problem is context

Samantha is the mos t immediately at home with the Cosmopo litan approach to lif e and Sex. Take this headline

out o f Cosmo, put it in the Timesbusiness section, and suddenly it becomes pure Miranda. The headline wou

instant ly appeal to our Competitive, Harvard-educated lawyer who would undoubtedly approve of the hard-

edged, and slightly bad-ass advice.

A Shocking Thing 68% of Chicks Do In Bed

While she might express some disdain on the thing, or disbelief that so many women do it, Charlotte would

undoubtedly be the most interested to compare herself to the supposed norm, even if she might be too shy

to take a visible interest in it. Also, notice the use of chicks to indicate the otherness of the women in the

study, and then add Charlott es att raction to t he specif icity and seemingly factual nature of the headline.

Methodicals dig both f acts and objectivity. Since Samantha will undoubtedly tell the group t hat the t hing isnt

all that shocking, her interest will be passing. But Charlot tes t he one who would be mot ivated enough to buy

copy of the magazine on her way home just so she can read the story.

Your Sexual Health: Crucial New Facts Your Gyno Forgot to Mention

Yup, Charlot te would probably be the f irst to f ret over this one, too . Shed def initely want t o know the f acts

and to be as responsible as possible about her health.

Deep Sex: Breat hing and Touch Techniques That Are So Intense, Youll Both Reach a New

Level of Pleasure

Um, Samantha, anyone? A headline loaded with experiential and sensory language is sure to attract

Spontaneous women like Samantha. Carrie, our Humansitic, would love the words youll both, since it implies

intimacy and connection between two people, but Ill give the nod t o Samantha on this one.

The Sex Posit ion He Craves: It Gives Him the Hottest View and Hits All the Right Spots

This one also seems custom-made for Samantha. In certain situations or relationships, I might expect

Charlot te to want to make sure she was meeting her mans expectations, but o therwise, this is def initely

Samanthas headline.

Guys Spill: White Lies They Tell Women All the T ime

OK, this one would undoubtedly appeal to all fo ur women. You can almos t see them each grabbing for the

magazine over this one. But Im thinking Carrie would eventually snatch the magazine f rom the f ray in order to

read this art icleshe craves insight into how men think and f eel and would want to explore t he lies and their

impact on relationships (great material f or a f uture article, right?) Miranda would be more interested in this on

simply to conf irm her suspicions and to gain an extra edge in her relationships. Samantha would consider

these lies as just part of the game. And, of course, Charlot te would be a bit put-o f f by the inappropriateness

of the lies, but isnt this why The Rules were made in the f irst place?

How to apply this insight to your headlines and copy

First, if you have a blog, scro ll down through your last f ew weeks or months worth of posts /headlines. Are

they predominantly appealing to only one temperament? Are you just grabbing the interest and attention o f

Competit ives? They only represent 10% o f the population, so broadening your headlines appeal could have a

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huge impact.

Second, what about sub-headings or hyperlinks to related info? Suppose that all f our women didend up

opening their personal copies of Cosmo up to the Guys Spill: White Lies T hey Tell Women All the Time sto ry

The right sub-headings to that article could f urther attract or retain the interest/eye of each woman as she

scanned and skimmed the pages. In f act, tes ts show that Web and blog visitors engage in exactly that kind of

skimming and scanning, so you might want to f urther hook these hypothetical Sex and the Cityreaders with

something like:

How to see through the smokescreen and gain control o f the situation

On the other hand One womans naughty move to turn his embarrassment into her bedroom

pleasure.

Does this mean your charming prince is really a Jack-of -all-lies? 5 rules to restore respect to his

courtship.

The psychology behind the lies and what it means for your relationship

Wanna guess which character would zero in on each subheading? Then dont read this next part til af ter

youve guessed.

How I ordered the subheadings and why

Miranda and Samantha f irst, f ollowed by Charlot te and Carrie. In a dif f erent s ituation, I might have placed

Samantha bef ore Miranda or Carrie before Charlott e, but Id almos t always put the f ast decision- makers

material, the Competit ive and Spontaneous s tuf f , at t he to p. Methodical and humanistic temperaments will

usually scroll or read further down the page before deciding to click of f of an article or web page.

Should *you* be writing with an eye t oward the Sex and the City gals?

Well, no, actually. Not unless you f eel those characters accurately represent your readership. Otherwise, you

do much better creating your own personas.

But you do want to ensure your personas cover the four major temperaments, as exemplif ied by the Sex and

the City characters. And youd want to apply as much psychological insight in writing to those personas as you

would in writing to those charactersor to your best f riend or spouse.

Jeff Sexton is a Persuasion Architect and copywriter with Future Now, a frequent contributor to the grokdotcom

blog, and a co-instructor of the popular and highly regarded Persuasive Online Copywritingcourse.

(Editors Note: The next Persuasive Online Copywriting seminar is January 14, 2008 in Orlando, Florida. Its no

too late to attend, so check it out.)

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