Clark Kent is the fumbling, bumbling, mild-mannered newspaper reporter who wears the big geeky glasses. A nice guy, but not exactly a role-model for self-confidence. We can all identify with Clark, at least sometimes. But when an emergency happens, Clark tosses the glasses and sheds the business suit. Underneath the costume of the ordinary, we discover a being of extraordinary strength and power: Superman. The Man of Steel.

The “strange visitor from another planet … … fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!”

You don’t really need me to explain Superman to you. And that’s the point of this piece. If you’d like to really amplify your marketing message, one of the best ways to do it is to become the superhero of choice for your prospects. Here’s how you do that…

These could be economic villains like rising interest rates, or psychological villains like poor self-esteem, or even health-related villains like arthritis. Once you’ve identified the villain – get specific and identify the villains superpowers and weapons.

This could be your personal mission, or your company's mission – but you need to have a “title” or “superhero name”. Something that sums up who you are and what you’re about. It should be short, catchy, and self-explanatory.

Superman’s mission statement is a great model: “Superman … fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!”

Build your own mission statement – it should be short (ideally one sentence like Superman’s – more like a “slogan” than anything else).

VILLAIN: Anemic Advertising. This creepy character sucks the life our of small business advertising budgets – by spending all your money on ads that get very little response. Ad dollars go out, but revenue doesn’t come in.Anemic Advertising leaves victims penniless and discouraged, and destroys many businesses.

HERO: Captain Copywriter. Magically transforms limp, lazy, lackluster ads into profit-pulling powerhouses. Multiplies revenue while at the same time slashes your ad spending.Captain Copywriter produces sales, profits, and peace of mind.

MISSION STATEMENT: “Captain Copywriter fights a never-ending battle for better ads, producing more profits, more often.”

So how do you use your “superhero identity”?

Well, first of all, start “living it”. If you were a copywriter who had now become Captain Copywriter — how would the Captain behave? How would he talk? What would his costume (web site) look like? Does he have an insignia? What are his sayings and catch-phrases? (Superman had “Up, up and away!” – what would yours be?)

Even more important than all of this: once you start putting yourself into the state of mind of your “superhero character”, you’ll easily start thinking like he would think!

Let me prove it.

If you came across a bank robbery in progress, you might not know what to do (other than maybe call the police). But let’s say you were Clark Kent and you came across that same robbery in progress. Now what would you do?

You’d intervene, of course. You’d duck behind a door or into a hallway, put on your super-suit, and then move into action. See how simply imagining a super hero identity gives you access to superhero strategies?

The only thing you need to do is step into the role of your business superhero… and then just as yourself, “What would Captain Copywriter do about this?”

And then just do it.

So…

What are you waiting for?

Take off those glasses, snap on that cape, and commence your crusade!

Question: What's your superhero identity?