Posts Tagged ‘Suffolk copywriter’

Remember this guy? Our old English teachers may have taught us a lot at school, but for many the ghost of English lessons past has curbed their ability to write compelling and powerful copy. Why? Usually it’s because as soon as their writing starts to flow, a little voice mutters in their heads. It’s the voice of their old English teacher - “No slang! No sentence fragments! No Contractions! No colloquialisms!” Well I’ve got news for you Mr English Teacher, these are all perfectly acceptable in the copywriting world. Here are a few examples to illustrate: Sentence fragments Apparently all proper sentences should have a subject-verb-object construction. But in my opinion,  if they communicate complete thoughts, they are a perfectly acceptable tool for a writer. “Get your copy of About the Home today. Full of tips and secrets. ...

Psst. Come here – did you know there are millions of adverts everywhere you look? They’re on websites, in brochures, newsletters, emails… Do you want to know how to make yours stand out? Take a look at what your competitors are doing…and then do something completely different. I bet if you were to study the adverts in your industry you’d see a common theme running through them. It might be in the copy, it might be in the design, it’s probably in both. The problem is you are all selling similar products and services so if you want yours to be noticed, you have to be different – you have to stand out from the crowd. When you run a business, it becomes your life. You live and breathe it every day so it’s not surprising that you become blinkered in your ...

Creating copy for your marketing materials can take time. Getting your message just right takes thought, skill and a lot of practice. You marketing materials have to sell for your company without being able to speak. Their copy has to engage the reader instantly but without eye contact. That’s quite a tall order. But your marketing materials are not designed to stand the test of time. A marketing copywriter changes with the times Do you wear the same type of clothes all the time? Other than changing the way you dress to reflect the seasons, I’m sure you also change according to the latest fashions. You probably also make constant changes to your home, whether that’s redecorating or changing the position of your furniture. So if you do all that, why don’t you review your marketing ...

Is there a difference between when writing to a business audience and writing to a (personal) customer audience? That is a question that frequently causes arguments amongst freelance copywriters – or at least heated discussions. Before I begin, this is my own opinion on this particular conundrum, and one that has stood me in good stead for all the clients I have worked for over the years. As far as I’m concerned, B2B (or business to business) copywriting should be treated in exactly the same way as when writing for a B2C (business to customer) audience. I can’t think of any reason why it should be seen as different. After all a company can’t physically buy anything, it can’t get up and meet you for a coffee and it can’t sit down and sign ...

If you are a copywriter, you have to be an extrovert. That doesn’t mean to say you have to get off your trolley constantly – well you could, might it play havoc with your writing. Your gregarious nature means you have to be personable so you can build rapport with your clients. You also need to be a great listener – that way you’ll understand exactly what they are looking for. And you have to understand your reader – you have to get to know everything about them. The first two things are reasonably straight forward to achieve, but the last one is a wee bit tricky. Getting inside your readers’ heads can seem an impossible task. I mean, half the time I don’t even know what’s going on inside my own head! But taking ...

Can you write in such a way as to create an emotional bond with your reader? Now there’s a question for you. You can probably guess that I am going to say “yes you can” otherwise this will be one of the shortest blog posts in history! Building rapport with your customers is something that requires a bit of work and a lot of thought. I wasn’t born a copywriter, this was one of the many skills I have learned. It’s easy to connect with someone face to face, but when it comes to the written word things get a little trickier. Show you care “Hey. I’m hired to write sales copy not get emotionally involved with my readers.” Well if that’s your attitude then perhaps copywriting isn’t the career for you. A ...

Writing a diary for yourself is one thing – the only audience is you (unless someone takes a sneaky look at your inner most thoughts) so the process of writing is fairly straight forward. But writing for other people is a different ball game. You have to make your opinions and views entertaining and interesting enough for them to take time out of their day to read them. When writing for publication you are putting yourself forward as an expert in your field. That comes with a lot of responsibility. What you write has to be of good quality because there’s a lot of competition on the internet. If you are serious about article marketing it is important you are aware of one of the key elements to successful article marketing – high ...

Ask any copywriter what one of the most important aspects of their job is and they’ll probably mention focusing on your reader. It is the reader you have to convince that the product you are writing about is the one they have been waiting for. Understanding them is vital if your writing is going to succeed. If your writing is to be persuasive you must use a convincing tone of voice and the right choice of words in punchy sentences. So before you begin, clear your mind. Forget about your rumbling stomach, the night out or what you’ll be cooking for dinner – there is only one thing that should be in your mind when you’re planning your writing… YOUR READER Every word you commit to paper must mean something to your reader. I’ll illustrate my ...

Article marketing is an excellent way to promote your business and elevate yourself to expert status within your field. With that comes trust and increased sales - but it doesn't happen over night. As it is one of the cheapest ways to market yourself, it seems mad that so many businesses shy away from it. Getting started The hardest part of article writing is getting started. How do you come up with ideas? When you have the idea, how do you start the article? If it's any comfort, once you're over those hurdles you'll get a great feeling when you've finished it. One reason many people put forwards as an excuse not to write articles is that they don't think their writing is good enough. But remember, it's only an article - you're not trying to bag ...

  You may have spent hours putting together a pretty advert which is very informative. Great - I'm sure you're very pleased with it, which you should be assuming you weren’t hoping to make any money from it. But I have a feeling the main reason for going to all that trouble was to make money so you may have a problem. You've just blown your marketing budget on a nice piece of paper that won't sell. The copywriting (or sales writing) on your advert is there to perform 2 functions – it tells your reader what your product is but it must also be persuasive enough to make them buy it. Not always an easy combination to achieve. ...

The writing of articles and article marketing is one of the best and fastest ways to market your business. As a copywriter it is something I have been doing for sometime to great effect. Don’t believe me? OK then, I’ll prove it. I have put together 7 ways you can benefit from articles. Are you ready? 1) Articles quickly position you as an expert in your field By writing articles you'll be setting yourself apart from your competition. You'll never have to grab a chair, climb on it and yell "listen to me, I'm an expert!" Your articles do that for you. 2) Articles are an army of 24/7 salespeople Once your articles are ...

All  freelance copywriters understand what is required to get their readers to do what they want. It isn't some dark mystical secret but rather the skill of getting inside their heads to understand what makes them tick. Psychology is a big part of the copywriting process. The real key to effective copywriting is understanding how your reader feels, what they are looking for in life and what problems they are looking for solutions to. It might sound daunting, but it is easily achieved. The first step is to put yourself in the shoes of your reader – why would they want the product you are selling? What will they get out of it? What problem could they have that would be solved by it? Don't guess because you'll get it horribly wrong - ...

  Ask any freelance copywriter what is one of the most essential elements in their marketing  armoury, they'll say your call to action. Your call to action is undoubtedly one of the most powerful parts of your copywriting. Let's assume your copy has been compelling enough to keep your reader engrossed to the very end, you have them in the palm of your hand, they're ready to buy so you'll want to make sure your copy ends on a bang not a whimper. 8 crucial desire drivers for your call to action Your call to action has to convince your reader to take action - it's your ...

The copywriting on your website is the one thing that will make it work. "You would say that, you're a freelance copywriter!" Yes I am, but that's not the reason for saying it. You see flashy graphics and animations might look pretty but it is the copywriting that will convey your sales message to your readers and make them want to buy. If you don’t use the right words within your copywriting you will never convert your traffic into sales. Anyone with a website (or thinking of getting one) understands how important keyword research is and the effect it will have on your SEO, but there are also some other very important words that should be featured on your website. Below is a list of 10 simple but vital words that ...

One of the hardest parts of my job as a freelance copywriter is working out exactly what to say to make someone buy. Everyone is different, every product is different. Wouldn’t it be great if you inherently knew exactly what to say to make someone buy from you? Well, that is pretty much what I hope this article will do. You see, people have to justify their buying decisions, so all you need to know is how they go about it - simple! How many times have you bought something you didn’t really need but you wanted? Come on, own up - I know I have one or two pairs of shoes I ...

Advertising is one of those marmite things - some people love it (especially kids around Christmas) and some people hate it (especially parents around Christmas). But they are what make the business world go round. A lot of people think writing adverts is really easy - toss a few graphics and images together, add a dash of colour and a few words and voila! An advert. If that is your idea of a winning advert formula, you probably won't be in business too much longer. It takes a bit more than luck to create an advert that looks great and sells so here are a few pointers for you: 1.    Get inspiration by studying adverts ...

  After a while your website copywriting  is going to become tired or out of date. Its pulling power  will lessen resulting, potentially, in a drop in sales. If this happens it's because your readers have become bored of the same old message. They’re ready for something fresh that will make them sit up and take notice. Before you roll your eyes at me and think “…and just when am I supposed to find the time to re-write my web copy?” remember that simple changes can make a huge impact. To give you a hand, I've devised a list of 10 simple ways to breathe live back into your tired sales copy. 1.    Change the ...

Considering the size of the internet these days, there are a vast number of websites out there which adds up to oodles of content. You can find practically anything online these days. Some of the content you come across is informative, funny, thought-provoking, persuasive, interesting...and some of it quite frankly is pants. Funny how it is always the bad content you remember. To make sure your website doesn't fall into this Hall of Shame, I have put together a list of 20  website copywriting sins that should be avoided: 1.    No attention-grabbing headline (or no headline at all) 2.    No sub headings 3.    No benefits 4.    No guarantees ...

Is it true? Can a copywriting really make someone want to buy something? I mean it's not as if they were fitted at birth with a button that, once pressed, will make the reading public open their wallets and buy, buy, buy. That's rather a shame actually because then my job as a freelance copywriter would be so much easier. I can tell you one thing though - something that most definitely won’t make people buy - clever marketing. You can make your ad look amazing, write a witty slogan and hilarious content but it is unlikely to make your reader think ‘I must buy that’. To get them to open their wallets your marketing must strike a chord with them. It is exactly this that a copywriter must aim for; they must tap into their emotional reasoning. Customers aren't daft - they won’t buy just because you are trying to sell to them. ...

Even if you could write the most interesting copy ever seen in modern times, if it isn't laid out in an attention-grabbing way, it won't get read. The problem faced by website copywriters everywhere is that humans are a fickle bunch. If we are expected to take time out of our busy lives to read something we have to know it will be interesting, entertaining and above all, that it will benefit us directly in some way. How to get your web copy read Basically, what it comes down to is your copy has to look attractive. Put you hands up if you've ever browsed the ...

  Words can be very powerful. Believe it or not, the English language is full of words that will make people act the way you want them to. They will buy, they will contact you, they'll even hop up and down on one leg whilst waving their arms around - OK, maybe not the last one. What am I talking about? OK, let me ask you this. What is the purpose of copywriting on your adverts, brochures or website? The answer is simple – it is designed to make your reader buy. Now and again your readers may need a nudge to get them to arrive at that buying decision. So, the words ...

  Q: What is the one thing that freelance copywriters are always asked for? A: Snappy or punchy copy. But of course, when you actually probe a bit deeper and ask exactly what they mean by ‘snappy copy’ and the response is usually along the lines of: “Erm…you know…snappy…punchy…that sort of thing.” Hmmm, very useful. If a copywriter is going to produce powerful copy, they need to fully utilise the one tool they have available to them - the power words. We're not talking about incredibly complex words here. The words they use are very basic, simple words that don’t require defining or explaining. Your reader shouldn't need ...

Finally you've reached the final stage of the AIDA saga. The past few articles have shown you how to grab your readers’ attention, get their interest, and create a desire for your product. Now all you have to do is get them to take action. The best way to get your reader to take action is through the use of testimonials. These are a fantastic motivator and a tool that every freelance copywriter should have in their writing armoury. Avoid the temptation edit client testimonials. They may contain the odd grammatical or punctuation error but this is exactly what you want – it makes them real. Another way is by offering free samples, statistics, a free trial or money-back guarantee. If you have the option of using these why not use them all or a combination ...

My previous two articles have looked at how to attract attention and interest so now we are onto the 'D' of AIDA - so just how do you create a desire? Any sales person will confirm that getting someone to interested in something is one thing, but to get them to want it is entirely different. That's because what we actually want makes up only a small percentage of the things we are interested in. As a freelance copywriter I always keep one thought in mind whenever writing for clients - when someone wants something they’ll convince themselves that they really need it. Bring the product to life You need to use words to create a picture and make your readers 'see’ what their lives would be like with your product. Play on their emotions. Will they appear ...

Following on from my last article, we're now going to discover how you can attract your readers' interest in what you are selling. How do you do that? Well, your reader has a problem – they are feeling stressed, bored or unfulfilled. It's down to you to find a way to tie your product to their problem as the solution. A metaphorical arm around their shoulder Freelance copywriters can be described as counsellors. We have to be able to show our readers that we understand how they feel. We then we promise to take the problem away - all  they have to do is buy your product. The golden rule here is to make sure you write about the solution not the problem – negativity won't help your case. Think about this question - ‘How will my reader’s life be ...

Every freelance copywriter lives by a certain set of letters. AIDA provides all the elements your writing needs to make a sale. If your copywriting skills are going to be effective you have to learn how to: - Capture your readers Attention - Arouse their Interest - Create a Desire - Get them to take Action. I am going to break this down over the course of the next few articles. So to start with we'll take a look at how to go about grabbing your readers Attention. How does a copywriter grab their readers’ attention? If you're writing direct mail, web copy, reports etc., your attention grabber is an effective headline. If you are writing an email, it's the subject line. To save complicating matters this article will concentrate on the writing of a sales letter. Your headline will be ...

7 Ways To Make Your Website Readable As a freelance website copywriter I am often asked by businesses to give an analysis of their  website copywriting. It is the same mistakes I see again and again so I decided to write this article to help you review your own site. The appearance of the text on your website can have an impact on your sales because its readability will affect your reader’s buying decision.  Here are 7 basics that will make your website readable: 1. Easy to read Simple words, simple sentences, simple colours. If you use a light coloured text on a light background and your copy will be unreadable; the same goes ...