A 3x5 Lesson for Copywriters

bNet recently featured a piece by Sean Silverthorne, who loved the observations Alan Webber made about jotting notes on 3x5 cards. Webber says the practice made him a better listener because “When you keep 3 x 5 cards close at hand, you don’t just listen to what people are saying; you listen into their ideas.” Into their ideas: how powerful!

Webber goes on to say, “You pay close attention to the way the words work — or don’t work — to capture an idea or an argument. As an involved listener you help others frame or reframe an idea so it clicks into place: you become an idea chiropractor. You find yourself using your conversations strategically, listening to learn, and learning to make sense of the world. And each day, as you assemble that day’s collection of 3 x 5 cards, you discover new lessons that help you develop your own understanding of how the world really works, your own rules of thumb that comprise your guide to work and life in a time of unrelenting turbulence.”

Webber’s 3x5 is a fabulous tool for copywriters working on a succinct marketing message. Maybe a Blackberry works the same way. But maybe not.