I just licked the envelope on a Valentine’s Day card for my 5-year-old nephew. As I pressed down the seal, a random afterthought hit me…. I should have asked Jamison to do something silly, like give the dog a kiss.

I imagined what he would do when he opened the card and read such a ridiculous directive. He’d probably hold the card in one hand as he chased the dog around the room. “Auntie Beth told me to kiss the dog,” he’d tell his mom. He’d be laughing. “Silly Auntie Beth,” my sister would answer.

Instead of encouraging action and making the card memorable, I went with the lame, “Happy Valentine’s Day from Auntie Beth!” Frankly I was too hung up on 1.) getting the card into the mail, and 2.) making sure I printed instead of wrote in cursive (last time I sent cards, Jamison was upset because he couldn’t read his name and thought I hadn’t sent it to him), and 3.) making sure his card was exactly like his brother’s card, which I had already sealed. When the boys get their cards, they’ll probably look at them for a minute then leave them on the kitchen table as they run off to do something more interesting.

My question to you…. when was the last time you wrote marketing copy so engaging they were compelled to act upon it rather than tossing or filing it? Are you too worried about listing your features in a bulleted list to really make your piece memorable? How can you make the next marketing piece you write stand out so much that the readers hold your piece in one hand while they take action with the other?

As always, I’m turning the mirror toward myself first. As I mentioned, I just spent quite a bit of time and money sending letters to new prospects. I was very careful to include all the points I wanted to make, spell the names right, add just enough color to catch their eyes… but did I say anything that would prompt them to even consider kissing a proverbial dog?

The letters should start arriving by the end of this week. I guess we’ll know soon enough.