H.L. Mencken said, “No one ever went broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public.” One of my early mentors said, “When I write copy, I imagine Homer Simpson sitting on his couch. He’s reading my letter after a long day at the nuclear plant. Not a smart guy. A dumb guy. DOH!”

There’s truth there. But then again Mencken was a bitter, angry cynic, and I’d have a hard time classifying the early mentor as Mr. Generosity. Everything I ever saw him do was ruthlessly calculated.

Still there’s just a whole lot more to writing copy than assuming that “people are stupid.” You have to do better than make up something they’ll “go for.”

This much is always true:

“Plumbers won’t understand if you write like a college professor – but professors will understand if it’s plain to a plumber.” Dr. Luther Brock said that, and he was right.

Simple is not dumb. Simplicity is the real mark of genius. E=MC2 may be the biggest discovery of the 20th century. Yet it’s so short, even people who know nothing about science recognize it.

Plus I bet you can find one senior in every high school classroom who can give you a decent explanation of what it means.

Do you need an expert who really knows a subject? One who can explain it well? Steve Manning says: find someone who’s written a children’s book about it.

Once I wrote an Ethernet book. My goal was to strip away all the usual techno-speak. My job was explain computer networks in plain English. If the Amazon reviews are any indicator, I succeeded.

Here’s the deal: It doesn’t matter whether your audience is Homer Simpson or a bunch of nuclear physicists. Either way, if you can’t reduce your idea, product, technology or offer to a simple, pithy, straightforward soundbyte… you don’t have a good idea, product, technology or offer.

You should be able to explain your idea to a 9th grader, and if possible, a 4th grader.

Perry Marshall

Grade level of this blog post: 5.6 (Click here for a free tool you can use)
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About the Author

Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.

He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.