5 Things You Should Know About Copywriting

By: Carol Dorman

As a small business owner, you know that to stay ahead means attracting new customers, often, without a large advertising budget. Hiring a professional copywriter is certainly a cost-effective component to any marketing campaign (Yes, I am biased...), however, there may be times when you prefer to take the bull by the horns and write your own copy.

With this in mind, here are five important points to help reap the best from your - until now - hidden talents:

1. Good copywriting is NOT synonymous with good literature.
Writing that sells usually has little or no regard for what your English teacher taught you. Sentences simply need to make sense when read - they don't need to conform to "THE RULES".

The one exception to this is spelling (see below).

2. Spelling is important.
Nothing detracts more from the written message than spelling errors. This is because the reader's attention is drawn more to the errors than the message you are trying to convey. It also implies a lack of professionalism and poor attention to detail. The solution? Always proofread your work and don't rely on Mr Spellcheck - he often gets it wrong. When in doubt, consult a dictionary.

3. Write for your reader.
Whether an ezine, sales letter or some other form of business communication, you must write what the reader wants to read - not what YOU WANT the reader to read.

Picture this: You're promoting a new health product to consumers. Which is the best approach?

a) Write a sales letter extolling the wonders of "Elixer 107", illuminating in great detail the clinical trials that identified its effectiveness to within the 98th percentile on "molecular pain prisms" and displaying all the graphical data.

or

b) Identify with the reader's daily struggle to live a normal life while crippled with arthritis and illustrate how Elixer 107 can help alleviate that struggle.

4. Don't forget a strong Call to Action
Everything you write has a reason. After all, if it didn't, you wouldn't write it...right? You wouldn't write a sales letter if you didn't want anyone to respond. You wouldn't write an article without wanting to inspire or impart knowledge and expertise. (See if you can spot the Call to Action at the end of this article.)

Sometimes, however, the Call to Action can get a bit lost and muddled by the time the last sentence is drafted. Whole chapters could be written about the Call to Action but for now, remember these few tips:

• Know what you want your reader to do before you start writing.
• Write with the end in mind.
• Some copywriters find it helpful to write the Call to Action first.
• Keep it simple and to the point.

5. Headline! Headline! Headline!
Without an attention-grabbing headline, your masterpiece won't receive the kudos you know it deserves.

• Don't be too cryptic - clever isn't always smart, especially if your reader doesn't know what you mean.
• Spend a lot of time on it. More time is often spent writing a good headline than the whole piece.
• Write the headline last. That way you will spend more time on it and have the whole work in context.

Writing effective copy is a valuable skill to have and, for the business owner who finds herself not too time-poor, can even be fun! Of course, these five tips are simply "tips of the copywriting iceberg", however, they do give you a solid place from which to start.

So, start writing, follow the tips and hone your technique. And remember, if you get stuck, there'll always be a friendly copywriter somewhere to give you a hand.