Be bossy in your copy!
If you want to improve your copywriting, read this article now.
I’m going to give you one of the most powerful secrets for making your words work harder in any promotion. And it’s about as simple as copywriting tips get. Ready?
Tell people what to do.
That’s it.
I told you it was simple. But it works. You see, for the most part, people do what you tell them to do. You can’t make people do what they don’t want to do, but if the request is reasonable they’ll comply.
Do a little experiment. At the grocery store, walk up to someone and tell them to hand you something off the shelf. “Excuse me, sir. Hand me that box of Cheerios.” You can soften it if you like. “Excuse me, sir. Will you hand me that box of Cheerios?”
Every now and then, you’ll get a cantacerous old fart who will tell you to “buzz off,” but most of the time the person will do what you tell them to do. People respond to commands. Read more
5 tips for more creative copywriting
Have you ever noticed that some copywriters are forever coming up with new ideas while others write the same thing in the same way over and over? It’s true of any group in any industry. You’ll have a few innovators and a lot of followers.
As I write this, I’m creating a postcard for one of my clients. I’ve written and designed many postcards for this client, but on this one I wanted the front to look more like a print ad with a lot of copy.
It struck me that the standard horizontal orientation wouldn’t work well, so I decided to turn it 90 degrees and have the front oriented vertically. There won’t be any problems in the mail since the address side will still be horizontal.
Okay, it’s not a world-shaking idea. It’s just an upended postcard. But it’s a nice little twist that could help the card stand out for this promotion. And that’s copywriting creativity in a nutshell. Doing one thing different that gives you an edge for boosting response.
How do you become more creative? There are lots of ways, but here are 5 quick ideas to get you started. Read more
Speedwriting: 12 tips for writing faster
Some writers have the gift of “speedwriting.” They are naturally blessed with the ability to write fast and turn out solid work without agonizing or extensive rewriting or editing.
Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people.
It’s not that I’m slow. I can move through projects at a good pace when I have to. But I simply can’t dash off copy with lightning speed and walk away as some do. Like this sentence, for example: I just now wrote and deleted three or four other sentences before typing these words.
Obviously it’s better to be a good writer than a fast writer. However, I think that just as you can learn to read quickly and maintain comprehension, you should also be able to write quickly and maintain quality. So I’ve been on a mission recently to boost my writing speed. This can help me be more productive, earn more, and have more time for other activities.
I’ve analyzed my writing habits and come up with solutions to boost my productivity. Here are a few of my ideas. Read more
Harlan Ellison rants about writer’s pay and the amateurs who screw things up for the pros
Do you like writing for free? Do you enjoy businesses asking you to just “give” them your work for the supposed PR value? I’m guessing the answer is “no” to both questions.
Harlan Ellison agrees with you. And in this video, he talks about how writer’s should get paid and how amateurs willing to work for nothing make things difficult for the professionals.
Now, if you know anything about Ellison, you know this isn’t going to be a polite Sunday sermon. So be warned. He’s a man who speaks his mind bluntly.
What do you think? Do you agree with Ellison’s sentiments?
Links for copywriters and would-be designers
I’ve started contributing articles to Copyblogger, which is one of the best blogs for copywriting even if you’re not a blogger. 11 Top Secret Recipes for the Aspiring Copywriting Chef is one of my recent posts. Another is The 5-Step POWER Copywriting Method for writing ads.
SEO has become a vital part of copywriting for the Web. But one of the confusing things about this subject is that different gurus have different ideas about best practices. So SEOmoz has collected the wisdom of 37 top SEO experts to decipher Google’s secret algorithm in a meaty resource called Search Engine Ranking Factors.
Can you teach yourself graphic design? That’s a good question and the Graphic Design Blog cites several people who have done it, though they left me out of their list. Harumph. They also go over various learning styles and provide a collection of resources for teaching yourself the basics of design for print and the Web.
Has a client ever asked you what kind of response rate is typical for a particular promotion? That’s a tough question. But that doesn’t stop Ted Grigg from tackling it and coming up with some benchmarks for a variety of typical promotions.
How to develop a unique writing style in one lifetime or less
In a recent e-mail exchange, Brian Clark from Copyblogger said my writing style was similar to his. And in a variety of comments, readers of this blog also have mentioned my style.
Years ago, I thought a lot about writing style, probably because I didn’t have one. These days, I don’t think about my style at all, though apparently it has evolved into something unique.
When did that happen? And how did I do it?
Here’s what I think: You can’t develop a writing style on purpose. You can mimic someone else’s style. But you can’t put on a style like you put on a hat.
Developing your style comes naturally from developing your writing skill. When you’re a novice, you bask in your own words. Your writing is affected, verbose, and shallow. You have little to say, but like a cat walking on piano keys, you love the random noise.
As you mature (if you mature), you become smarter and wiser. You have more to say and a greater desire to communicate something important to others. You think more about what you’re saying and less about how you’re saying it. If you develop into a good writer, you become obsessed with clarity. You edit ruthlessly. Over time, your writing becomes natural, crisp, and deeper in meaning.
In other words, as you stop trying to create a style, you create one. It just happens.
When I look back at things I wrote years ago, I’m shocked at how different it sounds. My writing today is leaner and more clear. How about you? How has your style evolved? Do you think about style as you write, or do you think about what you’re trying to say? Have you reached the point where you can appreciate what Strunk and White were trying to tell writers in The Elements of Style
Happiness drives consumer behavior
People-centered marketing always outperforms product-centered marketing. And ultimately, all marketing comes down to one thing: making people happy.
An article at MarketingProfs talks about how happiness is the driving force behind everything Americans do and that it’s the “who not the what” that really matters.
Think about this. Think about it hard. It’s one of the core ideas behind the very best copywriting. Here’s an article with some practical applications for the idea of people power.
Good copywriting often requires “bad” writing!
Some of the worst copywriters are “writers” who enter the commercial copywriting profession. Why? Because they’ve learned the formal rules of writing so well, they can’t break free of the grammar and style shackles. They’re forever obsessing about what is correct rather than what is effective.
On the other hand, some of the best copywriters are salesmen or businesspeople or other folk who would normally have no credentials to write much of anything. They aren’t fixated on rules as much as they are on results.
To illustrate what I mean, here are some writing rule breakers that are often part of effective copywriting.
- Write in the second person. Speak directly to the reader with words such as you, your, and yourself.
- Keep most paragraphs short. Ideally, they should be no longer than 7 lines, especially in letters. If a paragraph gets too long, break it into shorter chunks. Forget standard paragraph development.
- Drop in one-sentence paragraphs. They’re punchy and add variety.
- Begin sentences with conjunctions. This includes and, also, besides, furthermore, likewise, moreover, or, else, otherwise, but, however, nevertheless, so, then, and therefore.
- End sentences with prepositions. In ordinary conversation, do you say, “With whom are you going?” or “Who are you going with?” Allow yourself the freedom of putting of, for, with, and other prepositions at the end of a sentence. Strive to be natural, not slavishly correct.
- Add occasional fragments. This helps add excitement. Urgency. Picks up the pace. And creates a firm tone. Don’t overuse this technique, though, or you’ll annoy readers.
- Use intelligent redundancy. Free gift, actual fact, call anytime 24-hours a day, and other such constructions may get you poor marks in English class, but in the real world they help to emphasize your point and clarify your meaning.
Read the full article or or browse my Direct Marketing Article Archive. I’m adding articles all the time. Read them. Digg and Stumble them. Share them. These are all articles I’ve published over the years in Direct Marketing Magazine, DM News, Target Marketing, and other publications.
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