April 28th, 2007 by Kelly
Managing your copywriting business.
It’s something that many people don’t think about as they are getting their business off the ground and spending most of their time and energy discovering their business identity and attracting clients.
Putting the systems in place so our business runs smoothly while we are busy writing copy for all the clients we have.
You can see it can’t you — you have more business than you can handle and you don’t have time to do all the boring stuff like invoices, answering emails, purchasing office supplies, marketing (well, marketing is kinda fun, but you get the idea here).
What’s key is putting the systems in place NOW so that your business runs on autopilot while you are busy writing copy and making all that money.
Can anyone give me some examples of systems they have in place so their business runs smoothly?
One example I have to share is I have some of my marketing automated. I use a company, www.sendoutcards.com to send postcards to targeted prospects every month.
Kelly and Terri
April 24th, 2007 by Terri
We are often asked by copywriters how to get clients. Clearly you must start by knowing who is your ideal client that you wish to serve and what kinds of copy you want to write (articles, PR, websites, brochures, etc.).
Then you can select from the following tools:
Telephoning people and telling how we can help them
Internet marketing - if you know the secrets of the Internet there is great money to make - if not, you’ll be wasting your bucks
Direct mail to targeted lists
Press releases
Articles
Joing ventures
Hiring an appointment setter
Taking out ads that are targeted
The Yellow Pages
What we have learned over the years is that it is a combination of these techniques and knowing exactly how to apply them that is most powerful. If you don’t know these skills, you might write great copy, but you won’t make money in copywriting.
Terri & Kelly
April 23rd, 2007 by Terri
I always teach these things to copywriters in addition to the tips already shared.
Make use of the word “FREE” in copy. Free continues to be the most powerful word. Instead of a sales letter, you now can title things “free reports”. I use “free reports” to teach information and show people what else I can do for them.
Another copywriting secret is to find a way to put the USP (unique serving proposition) into the “free report”. Show readers and tell them and have them feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel how this offer is different from other offerings. Stand out and they will buy.
One of my favorite techniques is to have people feeeeeeeeeeeeel like if they don’t do this, or buy this, or join this, or whaterver you are writing copy for, then they will be left out. Show them and tell them and have them feeeeeeeeeeeeeel how they will miss out on being part of the crowd and they will stand alone if they don’t jump on board.
So, with what you have learned on these blogs you now can write a sales letter that moves people to action!
Terri & Kelly
April 21st, 2007 by Kelly
A couple years ago I interviewed for some copywriting projects with a large engineering firm. They needed someone to write several articles a month for a newsletter that went to existing clients.
One of the questions they asked me on the interview was, “what do you do when the SME you need to interview won’t call you back (evidently marketing isn’t a priority for engineers - go figure!).”
It turns out the managers were getting calls from their copywriters two or three days before the project was due telling them they were unable to write the article because they couldn’t contact the engineer. This put the managers at the company in a tight spot. THEY had to scramble to find a new topic and a new SME to interview so they had enough content for their newsletter.
How would you handle this situation? What would you have said on the interview if that question was posed to you? What is the current copywriter doing wrong?
Kelly and Terri
April 17th, 2007 by Kelly
It makes me so sad to hear about the shootings at Virginia Tech. I have three kids in school and I hate the way they worry about things like this happening to them. None of us, especially kids, should have such needless worry in our lives.
Life was not meant to be this way.
At school my kindergartner practices what they would do if a “bad guy” comes into the school. She is six years old. Last year my twelve year old attended an assembly put together by a parent of one of the Columbine students that was killed. The intention was good, but….
My daughter stayed home and cried for an entire day. All I could do was hold her and love her. She should not have to know about this part of our world.
Our children have done nothing to attract this into their life.
How lucky I am to create a life where I am home with them when they need me.
Kelly
April 16th, 2007 by Kelly
Recent studies have shown that adults learn better when multiple senses are used, not just one sense. Remember those five senses we learned about back in school? Smelling, seeing, hearing, tasting, touching.
For decades neuroscientists thought that each of our senses worked independently of each other. A recent study done by researchers at Boston University and UCLA reveals that combining audio and visual information helps facilitate learning and improves performance.
The results showed that those who trained with both the audio and visual learned much more quickly and achieved near peak performance by their third day of training. Participants that had no accompanying audio did not reach this level, even by their tenth day of training.
What does this mean for you - a copywriter?
Look at the marketing you are doing for your business or that you are helping your clients with. How many of your prospects senses are you engaging? As copywriters we often work exclusively with the sense of sight. We are writers after all!
Think about ways you can add other senses to your written promotional materials. You can easily add a mixture of speaking engagements and teleclasses to your marketing mix. Audio or video to your web site.
Take this knowledge a step further…does your writing engage multiple senses? When you describe something — how descriptive do you really get? Does your writing bring up other senses? Perhaps the pizza you are writing copy about. How does it smell when you pull it out of the oven?
Food for thought
Kelly and Terri
April 12th, 2007 by Terri
What is the number one word that has the most power and gets the most attention when used in copy? If you said, “Free”, you are right! To create action from your copy use the word “free” and make offerings, if appropriate, with “free”. For example, “Call Today For Your Free Report on XZY”.
Another way to create action is to show how the reader won’t be able to get anything else like this anywhere else. Use the compelling advantages about the product or service you are writing copy about and show that there is nothing else on the planet like what you are writing about, and that will drive people into action as well.
People don’t like to feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel left out. Your copy needs to show that most people use this or have it or are getting it and that by not acting now they will be left out. People want to be part of the pack and will jump into action.
Remember the old college cheer, “Action, action, we want action…” and write copy that drives people to act and to act now!
Terri & Kelly
April 11th, 2007 by Terri
Everything you write should use the AIDA formula. Aida is: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. You begin your piece in the attention mode by grabbing the reader’s attention with a powerful and compelling headline.
The headline should get them interested and compelled to read more. It draws them right in.
The next part of the copy should include testimonials and such to build credibility.
Don’t forget the reader is tuned to station WIIFM or: What’s In It For Me. All of the copy should be written with this statement in mind.
See how each sentence can lead the reader to read the very next sentence and feeeeeeeeeeeeel compelled to do so?
What you have done so far is gotten them in, with your headline and kept them going and going and going!
When I write copy I write as if I am writing to a friend and sharing with them and not selling them. I use “you” a lot and avoid “I” as much as possible.
To add credibility put facts, testimonials and data throughout the copy.
Always be really, really clear about the benefits and how you want to help them. Speak as if you relate to the reader and you know their pain and you have the solution to their wants and needs.
Do you know the most powerful word in advertising?
If you do, post it on our blog within 2 days and we’ll give you a free ebook!
Terri & Kelly
April 10th, 2007 by Kelly
I was once given the advice to start paragraphs with a question as frequently as possible.
Why you ask?
To draw readers into the article.
By starting a paragraph with a good question you make the reader curious — they want to read more! They get pulled into your story full-force.
The two most commonly read parts of an article are the headline and then the first sentence in a paragraph.
In that first sentence it is your job to grab the readers attention and make them want to continue reading.
April 10th, 2007 by Terri
Many times small companies don’t think they need copywriters because they think they can write copy that is effective by themselves. Because they don’t think like copywriters and don’t know how to be inside the minds of a target audience, I typically see them failing and then they think writing copy doesn’t work.
Copywriters know that good, professional copy by a trained copywriter can reach their prospects and provide answers to their concerns and also stir up their interests and create potential buyers.
If a company of any kind is serious about making more money, they need a professional copywriter on their team.
Terri and Kelly