Breakthrough or bust: why safe copy is the enemy of growth

Executive overview

Most copywriting plays it safe. Safe copy grows a business incrementally — it never breaks through.

The only way to write breakthrough copy is to push so far past your comfort zone that failure becomes a real possibility.

The breakthrough or bust principle

• Push copy so far from comfort that it could either transform the business or tank it
• Clients resist — they want a middle ground that delivers modest, predictable growth
• Resist the middle ground; the job is to push, not to comfort
• Discomfort is the signal you've gone far enough
• Only during editing are you permitted to pull anything back