Putting together a sales page for a client recently, I faced the usual dilemma of how to start the piece.

I’d already got a good sense of what I wanted to say overall. I just needed the right opening.

The sketched notes I’d made in preparation I left to one side.

I came back to it the next day.

I looked at what I’d written again.

And then the idea struck me.

I’d open with a story I’d been told by an entrepreneur in one of their regular mailings.  This story was at least two or three years’ old and yet one line or phrase in it had stuck with me.

I pinched it.

I opened the sales page with the entrepreneur’s story.

And included the key phrase from that tale.

The rest of the copy flowed very easily from there.

I sent the client the copy.

They loved it.

The point to share with you is this. You don’t need to re-invent the wheel.

You can pinch and borrow from other sources.

You can weave that into your copy.

So, keep your eyes out for stories, for news, for email subject headings you like, and so on.

One day they might come in handy.

And save you a lot of time.