I was at a party on Saturday and several people asked me what I do.
“I’m a writer” gets a good response until they realise that I’m not a ‘creative’ writer.
“I’m a marketing copywriter” produces a yawn and a comment about the weather.
“I’m in marketing” gets a laugh and then people tell me what a crook I am.
It’s very difficult. I’m tempted to go with “I’m a marketing consultant” or “I run a marketing company”.
It was worse when I used to run a computer games company. For some reason, people think that if you make a fun product, you can’t be a serious person or run a serious business.
Anyway, Jakob Nielsen has a great article on how to write an “About us” page which is helping me with this quandary.
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Most people I meet socially confuse copywriter with copyright, so normally I just say I write for businesses or write brochures (if I say I write websites they assume I’m a coder).
My friends just think I sit around watching daytime TV and playing online poker.
Do you mean sitting around watching TV *isn’t* marketing?
I just tell people, “I’m a slacker.” My ambition is to become a well-paid slacker and, ultimately, and overpaid slacker.
Clare, our co-founder, always used to say she was a receptionist in an insurance company. I always used to say I was a photocopier salesman.
It’s far simpler – and both are higher up the social food chain than ‘being in marketing’.
Matthew! Long time since I left a comment. I’m going to give you a few plays out of my own playbook.
The good thing about the “What do you do?” question, is that it’s never asked expecting an impressive response. Therefore, it’s usually ok to lie, because when that person finds out what you really do, it makes you one of two things. 1, a bad ass. Or, 2, mysterious. Either way you win.
Here are some of my responses I use all the time.
“What do I do? Oh nothing; I’m retired. I invented dice a long time ago, when I was a kid.” — Stolen from Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
“Hehe…please.” — Stolen from Barney Stinson on How I Met Your Mother
“I’m a professional board game player. I used to be into Monopoly, but I’m entering a Chutes and Ladders tournament this weekend.”
“I’m a professional hopskotch player.”
“What do I do? Well, I’m actually a bum. But don’t worry, I’m here with purpose.”
“I’m the guy who sandblasts Mount Rushmore.”
“I work in corporate espionage.”
–
Women love those, but only if you say them with a smile. Otherwise you come off as being a jerk.
@Owen
Women love them eh? Surely not as much as “Let’s not talk details… I’m a millionaire, fancy a dinner of lobster and champagne, followed by a jump in my Aston Martin?”
Hey, I just found your blog today, very amusing! My husband and I are a winning combination at parties because while I’m a writer, he is an artist. We’ve got the market cornered on the ’starving artist’ stereotype.
And I am not a creative writer either. I write about (no kidding) the functional properties of food ingredients. Yup. I can dull down any party almost instantly!