Posts Tagged ‘Copywriting’

What Are You So Afraid Of?

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Here’s what it is for me:

I’m usually afraid to show my true optimism.  I worry about enthusiasm mistakenly interpreted as being naive.  I think people will point and laugh and call me Ned Flanders.

The reality is: so what?  So what if they do? It doesn’t matter.

Here’s why.  Holding back feels to me like hedging your bets.  Like trying to play both sides and please everyone.  That can show up in a ton of places.  This blog.  My work for clients.  Home.

(Another reason is I can be a really gifted smart-ass.  I don’t know where I picked that up, but if there were awards, I’d at least be at the ceremony, maybe even nominated.)

So I’m at least a little comfortable hiding it.  But that shouldn’t be the case.  It should be more like, “Say it once, say it loud:  I’m nice and I’m proud!”

Fear inhibits extraordinary work.

Whatever it is that you’re worried about, think about this:  what would it take for you to set it aside?  What could you accomplish if you did?

For marketers, I believe the sky’s the limit.  You’re creative, you’re smart, and no one works harder.  You’ve got an opportunity, with the tools that are available now, to do something dynamic.

Your work can make a difference, if you want it to.

So what are you so afraid of?

What Everyone Should Know About Writing Inspiring Copy

Monday, March 8th, 2010

It’s risky.

There’s a lot more safety in writing something else.  And by that, I mean writing something that won’t offend anyone.  Won’t make you stand out.  Won’t draw criticism.

The best way to go about doing that is to google “5 paragraph essay” and start from there.  You can get all your information into a neat package.  Everyone will be satisfied.  No one will complain.

Of course, no one’s going to read it.  But that doesn’t matter.  Your assignment was “We need copy for the web site”.  You did your job, right?

Mission Accomplished.

How To Write While Going Over A 14 Foot Waterfall

Friday, December 4th, 2009

The quick answer?  Take notes on the way down.

There’s a waterfall here in West Virginia on the Gauley River called Sweet’s Falls.  As a ballpark estimate, I’ve run the falls around 500 times.  Here’s how it works…Kaali River- kuttibalu

When you start, there’s a line of waves that runs right up against a cliff on the right side of the river.  You have to line your boat up on the left side of those waves.  Once you start into them, get ready; no backing out now.

Follow the waves as they get bigger and bigger, and then…

That’s when you start writing.

Meaning, your message goes right here.

The process of writing for the web is like paddling into the entrance to Sweet’s Falls.  You want to put readers on a path, a line of waves.

One thing to consider:  Really good guides would run the falls without anyone ever taking a stroke.  The current did all the work for them.

That’s how your website should be.  Each micro conversion (getting to your About page, downloading your PDF) carries readers toward where they want to go.  They don’t have to work for it.

Long paragraphs, ambiguous menus, and big chunks of test are all swirling eddies that pull readers off course.  It’s work to get out of an eddy, and if you make readers work, they’re gone.

It takes a lot of practice and training to drop the falls just right.  But if you start with that end in mind, you’ll carry your readers through safely.

Did Yoda Tell Luke Everything?

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

I’m more of a Star Wars fan than a baseball fan.  Pat’s the opposite, so in that way, we’re balancing each other out.

But I bring it up because, either way, you’ve got pretty much the perfect metaphor for anything you want to say.Do, or Do Not.  There is no Try.

And what I want to say today is this:  Be like Yoda when Luke came to begin his training.  Don’t try to shove every single detail about what it is that you do in your online reader’s face.

The temptation is huge.  That’s one of the reasons Yoda held back some info from Luke- it was the path to the dark side.

Whenever people, especially business owners, get a chance to tell their story in a place with no boundaries at all, it’s tempting to just put every single detail out there.

After all, you’ve got the space.

But here’s what you need to know: it’s boring to do that to readers.  They lose interest.  And the one person that doesn’t was already a raving fan anyway.

Temper your information.  Space it out.  Save some for later.  Be brief.

In other words, let the reader, like Luke, find the path themselves.  And you’re Yoda, so you know how to put someone on the path, right?

You keep readers on the path by giving them only the information they need to continue.  Edit, and edit some more.  Use only what you need, and nothing you don’t.

Now, who wants to put that in baseball terms?

5 Ways To Change Up Your Digital Marketing

Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

Conventional thinking says change is hard, and people don’t like it.  Actually, it’s not the change that’s hard, it’s the hassle.  A more appropriate way to think about change is to say that inconveinience is hard; change is good.the change up

Change is especially good when the subject is digital marketing.  Depending on what types of systems you’ve started out with, changing things around to fit your marketing strategy is easier with digital than with any other media.

Here are five ways you can change your digital media for the better…

1)  Conversion If you feel like your website isn’t doing anything for you, it may be because you’re not giving it anything to do.  Pushing digital marketing without any definable goals is like putting up a billboard on the other side of the country.  Make sure that your materials direct readers to something.  You won’t ever know if you’re effective if you can’t measure your results.

2)  Copy Digital copy has great potential, if you’re willing to be bold.  The copy that will attract customers to your website is more open, genuine, authentic, and honest than your competition’s.  Also, it’s more direct, informative, obvious, and clear.  Most companies can’t or won’t write like this.

3)  Design Everything else being equal, design wins.  For big projects, you need to hire a professional to do your design (just like you do for your copy).  But for small changes, buy a design book and do it yourself.  Knowing a little bit about design makes you more apt to change some things around, and when it comes time for that really important job, you’ll be able to better communicate with your graphic designer.

4) SEO Changing how your site performs in search is like changing the oil in your car-  if you keep up with it regularly, there’s less need for a massive overhaul.  If not, there’s plenty of low hanging fruit to get things rolling.  A sound digital marketing strategy can’t ignore changing SEO.

5) Social Media Social media marketing is not as hard as it’s normally made out to be, but if you’re seeing no effect from your effort, you need to change something.  One aspect commonly ignored in social media marketing strategy is listening.   The tools are there for you to hear everything that’s being said about you, anywhere online.  Social media is an amazing opportunity, full of constant change.

So, when’s the last time you changed up your digital marketing?

Why Your Copy Needs Confidence

Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Americans love to talk.  A lot of it is loud and uninformed (see: current health care debate).  Some of it is incredibly thought provoking and insightful (see: TED).

What separates them?  They’re both selling ideas.  They’re both trying to persuade.  But the second style is confident.  confidence

People are tricked into thinking the first style is bold and potent.  The loud and animated style of delivery substitutes for most of the actual content, and listeners are shouted into acceptance or rejection of whatever message is being sent.  Most TV advertising, though less polarizing, works the same way.  The trick is that, beyond the roar, there’s not much to back up what’s being said.

Confidence doesn’t need volume.  It creates resonance by building a smart way of saying something.  Copy that shows real confidence stands on its own structure, tone, and style.  That kind of copy is polarizing, too, but in a way that’s inviting, not intimidating.

Roaring out a message is becoming less effective.  Digital media is allowing businesses to have meaningful, persuasive conversations with people, for those businesses willing to use it.

What creates customers in those situations?  I think, along with a good idea, it’s confidence.

10 Web Copy Mistakes That Everyone Makes

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

How long do you linger on a site with bad writing?  Hours?

Nope.  About a 1/4 of a second, actually.  Design plays a big role, but your copy is just as important. mistake

So don’t make common mistakes.  What mistakes, you ask?  These ones…

Adding Filler Web readers don’t have the time or desire to read filler.  Just give them what they want- information.  Using tons of adjectives is a dead giveaway that you’re just writing stuff to write it.  So are filler phrases like “a wide variety of…” and “something for everyone”.

Writing A Narrative A narrative has an introduction, offering some history or background.  If I see that, I’m going to bounce over to a competitor that gives me the information I’m looking for, right up front.  Start with your main points.

Making Readers Understand How You Do It Just because you always, always check the bottom of a page for more information if you see an * doesn’t mean your users will.  Examine your info from every angle, so it’s easy to find.

Selling And Yelling Here’s the thing about the internet- your competitor is a click away.  If you push hard for sales up front, before readers have had  a chance to get at least some of the info they want, they’ll go somewhere else.  Sell after your readers have found what they want; sell after the conversion.

There’s No Point You’ve written every conceivable fact about your business anyone could possibly want to know on your site.  But to make it effective, you need to direct users somewhere.  Once you do that, you can start measuring conversions by how many visitors go where you want them to.

Big Unbroken Pieces Of Text No one is going to read your laundry list of things to do.  Or, at least, they don’t want to.  Break down the information on your pages by using subheads, bullets, numbered lists, and text blocs.  Stay away from paragraphs with more than 70 words.

Centered Text Not even your headers should be centered on your pages.  And especially not the main body of copy.  Reader’s eyes will flow much easier over justified text.

Using Big Words “Initially, filling out username and password fields by participants is mandatory” or “First, you must choose a username and password”?  Which do you prefer?  Don’t turn your site into legal-ese in order to appear business-like.

Changing Styles If one of your subheads is a direction, the next a question, and the third a statement, where does that leave your reader?  Use the same style throughout the page.  It takes more planning, and it’s worth it.

Wasting Links You never, ever have to write “click here” or “more” for your link.  Be descriptive, and highlight the words that describe where the link goes. The internet has been around long enough for everyone to recognize that an underlined word is a clickable link (and if you’re using underlines in your copy that aren’t links, stop.)

And those are just the most common mistakes you’ll find.  Which ones are you guilty of?

What Whitewater Rafting Taught Me About Business

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

There are two kinds of rafters:  People who have crashed, and people who are going to.  Somewhere down the line, process of elimination, it’s got to happen.  No avoiding it.enjoy it

I’ve crashed rafts.  Hard.  With people in them.  I once crashed a raft so bad, I was thrown headfirst into the cooler in the middle of the boat, after which I stood up (still in the rapid) and said (I’m told), “Everybody put your shoes on- we’re at Grandma’s.”

So, with those experiences in mind, I wanted to make a list of things that I learned while living the wild life of a professional guide.  I always thought running whitewater was pretty intense, but it’s nothing compared to being in business for yourself.

Still, I think there’s a lot that can be learned from it.  One thing I understood early on was that rivers are metaphors for… well, just about everything.  Here’s my chance to put that to the test.

Anticipate

Rafts don’t drive like cars. If you want to make that turn down there, you’ve got to start way ahead of time.  You can move too early, but you can’t prepare too early to move.  Because if you’re late, you’re done.  No amount of correction can put you back on track.  I got so good at anticipating out on the river that I knew what would happen way before it happened.  That’s a good place to be.

Same thing goes for business.  Want to impress a client at that big meeting in the future?  Better do good work now.  Economy is tanking?  Hope you shored up your customers and pricing.  If you ever miss a deadline, it’s next to impossible to  convince someone that it won’t happen again.  The only way to avoid those situations is to prepare.

Cover Every Option

Out on the river, everything went a lot better when I prepared my crew for what to expect.  I’d talk a lot about where we wanted to go, how we’d get there, and the possibilities of what might go wrong.  Invariably, people had a much better time out on the water (and we had a lot more fun in the rapids) when they knew exactly what they could expect from me.

Same thing goes for business.  When I talk with our partners, we discuss exactly what the challenges of the project are going to be.  We discuss tone, style, and structure.  We discuss how many edits to expect.  Basically, we cover as much territory as we can before, well, venturing out into the territory.

Play Through The Bad Stuff

I had a lot of great one-liners for when people fell out of the raft, or when I fell out of the raft, or when I crashed the whole raft.  “Did you see any fish?”  “Don’t worry, I close my eyes for all the scary parts,” and “I’ve been trying to hit that rock for years.” were all standbys.  I know- cheezy.  Still, rivers are one way streets.  When you crash, you literally have no choice but to pull yourself back in, tighten up the straps on your life jacket, and keep going.

The same thing goes for business.  If you do it long enough, you will lose that sale or get an angry client.  With bad breath.  If you get too wrapped up, it’s going to effect the other, great, outstanding work you’re doing.  So, chin up, lil’ buckaroo.  Things will get back into the main current.  Keep playing.

Enjoy It

For a while, sometime in the middle of my career as a guide, I got into this awful habit of just moving downstream fast.  I was intent on getting from A to B and being done.  In reality, what I had done was taken this wonderful thing -my job- and forgotten why it was wonderful.  It was just about the most selfish way I could have behaved, and at the time, I didn’t even know it.

That sucks, and you know what?  The same thing goes for business.

In that way, even when I don’t enjoy being an entrepreneur (and it ain’t all peach milkshakes), I still enjoy it.  Just the chance for me to do what I’m doing is worth everything I put myself through.  I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world.

How about you?

The Catch-22 Of Marketing Strategy

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

Alright, here we go.  I’m going to write about my favorite, favorite subject in the world (next to my kids, gravity sports, and layman-level physics.  Seriously.)  Ready?  Here it is:  Paradox.kung-fu

I think I need to put in a disclaimer. If I explain why I love circular dilemmas so much, it loses it’s appeal. The explication of it gets so big and intense that the delicate simplicity of the situation just breaks down.  What makes them work, stops working.

See what happened there? So, there’s that.

But on to how this effects marketing.  Here’s what I see as the big Catch 22: Less-Is-More.  It’s a familiar phrase that gets overlooked quite a bit, and could stand a little love and attention.

What It All Means

Less-is-more means don’t shout.  It means help others, even if it doesn’t benefit you directly.  It means forget competition and be yourself.  It means do something amazing without seeking credit.  I’m sure you can add others.

So, here’s the dilemma- companies that do less-is-more well are very successful.  They can use that success to make “less” effective, because they don’t have to do “more”.  Tiny companies that are struggling to start in their vertical feel as though they have to do “more”.  But if that’s the route they go, they: create spam, appear selfish, play catch up, and toe the line.  And other consequences.

When Less Becomes More

It’s much better to embrace it.  Use less-is-more as a central tenent of marketing strategy, even though it’s tough.

And why is that?  Because it feels on the surface like: no one will hear you, it’s not worth the effort, you’ll appear inexperienced, you won’t get noticed.  And other fears.

That’s what it feels like.  But, of course, the opposite happens.  It takes time -more time than spamming, anyway- but eventually less-is-more.  And as that happens:

  • Your voice becomes more important.
  • You reap big benefits from those you’ve helped.
  • Competition become de facto partners.
  • People seek you out to bestow credit upon credit upon you.
  • And many, many other boons and blessings.

Have an opinion, young grasshopper?  Too much philosophy and not enough juice?  Reply, and reveal your innermost thoughts…

Why Tone Matters Most

Friday, July 31st, 2009

The most important quality in writing is tone.  There.  I said it.

It’s true, and here’s why: tone is such a significant part of writing style, it tends to rule everything around it.

Tone determines structure.  Tone accentuates subject matter.  Tone focuses message.  It really does make everything else better (or worse).

When you’re writing, consider tone first.  Before you start.  In the outline stages.  What will happen is this: you’ll end up creating a message with more purpose and feeling, something that speaks to your audience in a way that isn’t possible if you ignore it.

When I first started writing here on the Matterhorn blog, I swore probably once or twice each post.  But that hasn’t happened in a long time.  The reason?  I don’t swear much.  It wasn’t sustainable in the blog because it wasn’t natural for me.  And while that would be fine in a piece for one of our partners, where we take information and match tone to it, it doesn’t work here.

So the tone of the writing here, to continue the example, is very informal.  The point is for Pat and I to be ourselves, and write about whatever happens to make our brains itch.  The tone fits us, and Matterhorn, exactly.

It wouldn’t work for an insurance company.  In fact, it would do a lot of damage to an insurance company’s credibility to have a really informal tone.  That seems obvious, but think about how far it goes.  In our example, informal tone also means truncated sentences and short paragraphs.  So it links directly to structure.  It would be next to impossible to talk about insurance this way, so the subject matter is compromised.  And when those fall apart, the message is lost on the audience.

It’s worth it to write in your notes the tone you’re looking for.  There are tons of ways to describe it.  Light, dark, wordy, brief, grave, silly, funny, serious, direct, oblique, strong, soft, and on and on.  Be specific, because you can’t really overthink it.  It’s that important.

Tone connects everything you want to say to your audience.  Spend some time, for both your sakes, and examine not just what you want to say, but how you’re going to sound when you say it.