Email Copywriter

Repurpose Social Chatter, But Make Sure to Deliver Content--not Clutter

Monday, May 9, 2011 by Sharon Long

content marketing group choose content over clutter

I appreciate that this article is encouraging us to repurpose content, I really do. It's something I push as a freelance copywriter and content consultant. I encourage our copywriting and content marketing clients to think in terms of rite once, use in multiple places. I'm also a huge proponent of sharing content across media, like blogging on your email newsletter or using testimonials posted to your Facebook wall as blog content. The possibilities for repurposing content are endless.

However, our goal must always be the same: Be customer centric. Whether you're hiring a ghost blogger or a content marketing group, make sure your content is customer centric. It has to be about them, not you. Talk to your customers, not at them.

That's why I take issue with this MarketingProfs.com article on using social chatter in email. The author is saying repurpose what people say about you in social networks by making it your email marketing content. I'm fine with repurposing the content! Go for it!

However, I have a problem with the reason for doing so and the approach the author recommends. His reason for using social chatter as email marketing content is simply to show your audience that you have a social presence. As a consumer, not copywriter, I say, "So what?" And the approach he recommends? Just stick it to them. OK, not in those words. But he's only saying to include it in your email marketing. I say, give it some context and, more importantly, vet it. Don't stick every Yelp or Facebook comment into an email willy nilly, and I don't mean use only the nice comments. Only use content that's relevant, useful and/or engaging. Only use customer-centric content.

If republishing that content into your email marketing isn't in some way helpful to your email recipients, don't do it. People already get far too much email and they're easily turned off by email marketing that's self serving.

Repurpose yes, but make sure you're delivering content, not clutter.

Pills Might Help Real-Life Headaches, but Words Soothe the Marketing Ones

Friday, May 6, 2011 by Sharon Long

Marketing is not about finding some magic pill that makes your website convert. It's about being specific in your content marketing and copywriting, talking about what your audience is buying, not what you're selling. Here's more proof...

Last month I helped an attorney with new copywriting for her website. She has an unusual niche: helping people in the healthcare profession defend their license when accused of wrongdoing. Yet she wasn't getting those kinds of clients. We redid the website copy to speak specifically to the concerns of that particular audience.

The result? This is the email I received from the attorney just now:

"Yesterday, I got my first professional license client just from the website. She told me that she had been frustrated that she could not find an attorney who helps nurses but her sister found my website and she was relieved. This is my ideal client and I wanted to thank everyone who helped me."

How did we help the website become a successful marketing tool? We didn't dip into a freelance copywriter bag of magic tricks. We didn't conjure up words known to miraculously get a website found and a client converted. We simply figured out what the target market cared about and wrote to those concerns.

Apparently it works. :-)

That's why I say we know words...and we know what to do with them. It's all about talking to your customers, not at them.

Pills might take care of your real-life headaches, but only the right words will get rid of your marketing ones.

Choose GOOD Content Over "Any" Content...Even if Your Budget Is $150/Month

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 by Sharon Long

This morning I moderated a panel on SEO and organic search at the eMarketing conference in San Francisco. Content was the over-riding theme of our SEO panel. Which is music to my copywriter and content marketing services ears, right?

There was plenty of talk about Panda too, again, getting us to look at content. Here's the thing about content and content marketing: You can create all kinds of content, but it must be good content. As the panelists said, the content must educate, entertain and enlighten (the three Es).

After the panel, I checked my email and read the following (with specific company names removed to protect the sender).

"In thinking about blogging, content, link building etc.

"Blogging...awhile back you asked about a budget to get blogging and content going. Budgets are going to be real tight at least until I can start seeing results of some type. But I understand it is going to be a critical part of our success.

"With that said I have tried to go out and pull together some ideas of what is available and at what cost.

"Things I have found are mostly from my current partners or industry resources, organizations I belong to.

"Example 1 ABC case study. They will compile these for free with my complete input and approvals. However they get the rights to use them at any time for there own purposes. which obviously has some down sides but also gives me direct links to to some very authoritative folks.

"Example 2 Content site from XYZ. This is a content site; they will update monthly with new articles and the like. This is a pay for service for $150 per month. I get complete access to all content I can use as just a link on our site branded to our look or take content and incorporate directly into our site which is probably what I would do. By the way the new site will have a pretty easy to use CMS for just this type of thing.

"Down side it is not my original content. Will we be penalized by the gods of Google? Sounds like we might as this same content will be sold to others."

I smiled when I read this because of all the discussion about Panda that happened during the panel. Here's my reply to him:

"I would be a lot less worried about duplicating content and a lot more concerned about offering content of value! Plus you won't get SEO if you don't have keywords...

"If someone finds your blog because you've repurposed content from somewhere else, you've won only one part of the battle: You've been found in the search engine. If they click on the search result and end up at your blog, you've won the second part: They are at your site. But you're going to probably lose the third part: They aren't going to stay. If they go to your site and see content that's not yours, or that's crap, what are they going to learn about your company, your brand, your product, your service?

"Plus there's no guarantee your keywords will be used, so you're not really going to get any SEO benefit from doing so.

"For $150/month, original blog content can be created. We'll set you up with a writer for that. If you can pay that money towards blogging creation, plus commit 20 minutes of your day every day to blogging and get the free case studies, you will get better SEO results, and you will have happier site visitors. When they land at your blog, they are going to know that they have come across a real company and a real person...not a company regurgitating what someone else said.

"That's my opinion. :-) Remember too that any content you create is potential blog content: press releases, case studies, emails to customers even."

Honestly, $150 per month spent on good content is going to do this small business more good than all the free repurposed content he's going to grab from other places. Because it's not just having the content. It's about having good content. Period.

Does Your Business Have a Sales or a Marketing Mentality? Please Say Marketing!

Friday, April 15, 2011 by Sharon Long

Does your business have a sales or a marketing mentality?

I’m asking because it’s heavy on my mind and, although I think I sensed there was a difference, it wasn’t until this week that I realized how different the two mentalities are. And don't think I'm going to say the sales one is better. I'm not.

This thinking was prompted by an eye-opening conversation with the marketing person for a company I’ve worked for in the past. I was their website copywriter for a much-needed website revamp. I was happy with what we accomplished, and I expected more online marketing to follow suit after this initial project.

But none did.

I kind of pushed them with occasional emails hinting at and asking about potential online content marketing they could be doing. Now when I say “pushed,” that’s a relative term. I’m not a pushy person. :-) So my suggestions to them were likely easy to ignore.

After leading a highly successful panel on content marketing at a Seattle marketing conference, I thought enough is enough. It’s time to get these folks doing some online content marketing. “It’s a perfect fit for them,” I thought. “Surely they’ll see the need for this and the ease of it.”

Alas, I had overlooked one critical factor, one that hadn’t even occurred to me before. This company has a sales mentality, not a marketing mentality. You might be asking, “So what? I mean, the point is sales, right? So what’s wrong with a sales mentality?”

It leaves out an entire potential market.

Here’s what it looks like: A company with a sales mentality has a sales staff, not a marketing staff. They zero in on certain companies and individuals. They wear blinders as they work to get the attention of these highly desirable prospects…who aren’t really prospects, meaning they haven’t expressed any interest. At all. A company with a sales mentality invests all their time, effort and therefore financial resources into the manual labor of pursuing these elite businesses they want to woo and convert to customers.

Here’s why this is a problem: While the company with the sales mentality has a laser focus on say the 100 ideal customers they’d love to win, another 100, nay 1,000, potential customers are actively seeking a solution to a problem…a problem this company could solve. But they don’t find out about this company. They use a search engine and get a page of results and this company isn’t one of them. So they spend their money with someone else, one of the someone elses that did show up in the search results.

And the company with the marketing mentality? They are making themselves known to everyone out there looking by using content marketing such as keyword-rich websites, blogs and other content they create and share online. When someone goes looking for a solution to their problem, this company shows up in the search results. And when the possible prospect clicks on the link and goes to this company’s website or blog, they find engaging, relevant content that says to them, “Yes, we can help you solve your problem.” The company with the marketing mentality invests time, effort and therefore financial resources in content that will continue working for them day after day after day. They create it once, and reap the benefits of it repeatedly. They expose themselves to a whole big audience of potential customers. And the sales staff? Their time is spent closing, not pursuing.

What kind of mentality does your company have?

Will Content Marketing Be Reduced to Formulas? I'm Just Sayin'...

Thursday, April 7, 2011 by Sharon Long

Today I read two blogs in total contrast to each other that really got me thinking.

One was on email copywriting, and thinking about writing emails as an author would think about a novel. It's a great reminder that the email copywriter has a responsibility to not only "sell" something but to use thoughtful, meaningful approaches to writing to do so. And my apologies to Mike May, the author, if my paraphrasing of his post is not quite what he intended!

The other was on a content marketing checklist, called "Creating Valuable Content: An Essential Checklist." For me, it presents a real contrast to the email copywriter blog. It represents something I fear about content marketing, that it will become formulaic. When our checklists are all about making sure we've used the right tags and included a call to action and a sharing link, well, where's the checklist that asks "Is the content authentic? Is it engaging? Is it real? Is it customer-centric?"

Like Mike May alluded to in his post, content must still be good content! You could use a checklist for an email too, and it wouldn't look all that different from this content marketing checklist. But both the email and any other kind of content you produce must have some substance and a reason for being beyond a place to put tags and sharing links.

I know the creator of the content marketing checklist knows this. I just get a little nervous about the direction of this kind of thinking, away from the quality of the content itself and toward the technical, formulaic details.

I'm just sayin'.

Be Careful to Be Timely When Re-Using Content for Content Marketing

Friday, April 1, 2011 by Sharon Long

I've always been a huge proponent of repurposing and re-using content as a freelance copywriter, long before the dawn of content marketing. But I just saw an "oops" that prompted this content marketing blog on being careful to be timely.

I opened an email newsletter from a company I trust, and scrolled down to see a headline I thought I'd better click on. It was on a topic that was hot back in the fall and one I need to stay on top of as the copywriting and content marketing coordinator for one of We Know Words' clients. "What is this new information?" I wondered. "I'd better read this article right now!"

So I clicked...and then clucked...my tongue, that is. In disgust.

The article wasn't new information. It was an article from last September when these industry changes were new. In fact, I probably read that very same article back then when researching the then timely topic.

I think I know why the company repurposed the article: as part of their content marketing program. And I don't have a problem with that except they didn't alter the article in any way to make it timely. In my opinion, the intro should have been changed to something like, "We reported on these industry changes when they first came to light back in September 2010 when this article was published. Because we are still finding out clients don't yet understand these changes and the ramifications, we are re-publishing the article."

One reason I'm so happy that such a thing as content marketing exists is because many pundits call for authentic content, something I've wanted to see become widespread for a decade. But simply linking to a six-month-old article in your newest newsletter isn't authentic if you don't give it context and make the reader aware that it is six months old.

It would have taken all of five minutes to do so. And that would have been better content marketing.

I'm just sayin'.

(Need a little help making sure your own re-use of content is up to snuff with the new rules of content marketing? Start here: We Know Words.)

Stop Worrying About Content, Marketers: Outsource It Instead!

Monday, March 21, 2011 by Sharon Long

outsourcing content marketing takes away worries about content creation

According to a recent MarketingProfs article on B2B email marketing, these marketers are primarily concerned with improving the relevancy of the content in their emails.

In fact, it's so important to them, 66% of B2B marketers surveyed cited improving content as a goal for the next 12 months. The next highest goal was list hygiene at only 42%.

In the interest of being self serving, may I point out that it's interesting that content is such a huge concern at the time when content marketing is coming into its own as a marketing strategy and tactic?

And if two-thirds of B2B marketers want to make their content more relevant, then copywriting and content marketing services providers like We Know Words should plan to get really busy. Because the best content, the most relevant content these marketers will create will come from tapping into a customer-centric approach to content creation, the intellectual property known as their employees, the seasoned and skilled input of professional writers and editors, and a content coordination approach that ties it all together.

Which is a really long-winded way of saying the answer lies in outsourcing content marketing to a reputable, experienced content marketing agency...like We Know Words.

Really, why is this a concern for so many B2B marketers when there are companies like We Know Words who can make it all happen?

Outsource the content marketing, marketers, and move to the next item: list hygiene.

I can't help you there. But I sure can help you with the content!

You Can Love Design But It's the Words That Win in Content Marketing

Wednesday, February 16, 2011 by Sharon Long

Love your design but words win says freelance copywriter

Reading David Baker's email marketing blog, I just had an "ah ha" copywriter moment.

He makes the point that we spend so much time, effort and money on creative, and maybe we should spend less on creative and more on content:

"We spend far too much energy on revitalizing creative. Don't get me wrong, good creative does pull, but does the effort involved warrant the output? Depending on your business, I believe most could compress creative costs 25% with rational approaches and better content management."

Is this music to the ears of a freelance copywriter? You bet it is, but not new music, rather classical. Good content, engaging content, customer-centric content...this is what We Know Words copywriters have been crafting for 10 years. That is what content marketing is all about.

And we have often as the freelance copywriter taken a back seat to the creative. Many times we've been called in as the website copywriter only to find the design and navigation are set...and aren't appropriate to the message.

Many times have we as the freelance copywriter been tasked with writing brochure copy or other sales collateral with very specific word counts...we couldn't write the right amount to get the message across, rather we had to write long or short enough to fit the already determined space...because the creative was foremost.

Now that we've entered the age of content marketing, and more and more emails are read on smartphones, words will matter more than ever. Content has always been king...but a bit of a tepid ruler, hidden behind a mighty council of designers.

But you know what? The right color doesn't get you found in Google. The right words do. The right logo doesn't get someone to click on your call to action in your email marketing. The right words do. And the design of your whitepaper is irrelevant if you haven't hired a whitepaper copywriter who builds a compelling case for your product...with words.

Thank you, David! I know this wasn't the direction you meant for your comment to go, but I appreciated taking it there just the same. :-)

Copywriter vs. Content Marketing: What's the Difference?

Monday, January 31, 2011 by Sharon Long

This whole Content Marketing thing has admittedly caught me a little off guard. As a freelance copywriter, I work with words every single day. Marketing through content is what I do. It's my passion, my livelihood.

As a freelance copywriter, at first I thought, "Well, content marketing is what I already do." But as the articles keep popping up in the email newsletters I read, and eMarketer, and other places, I am trying to sort this out. And here's what I think...

Yes, as a freelance copywriter, content marketing is what I do. But in a way it's also what I've always wanted to do, and that is to be involved in the strategic planning of the content. I tried making a list of what I would consider copywriting vs. what I would consider content marketing...as a way to sort things out on the We Know Words website. But having two lists was disingenuous. From web content to banner ads to SEO to ghost blogging to writing articles, it's all copywriting.

But maybe what's happening here is an evolution. For two years now, I have been the freelance copywriter for a Bay Area company, integrating the ghost blogging, email newsletters and other content. I have from the start tried to tie all together, repurpose content, and link between different channels. And you know what that is? Content marketing.

I can see some distinctions, that I'm working to address at our We Know Words copywriter agency as I type this. If you need to generate 100 blog posts per month for online content marketing, you're not going to pay a typical freelance copywriter rate for that kind of volume. That's where I stop thinking of it as copywriting and start thinking of it as content generation.

Ditto if you want to generate weekly articles as web content, or weekly press releases.

Working on that here in our Seattle copywriter office...stay tuned.

How to Start a Copywriting Business: Leave the Ego at the Door, PLEASE!

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 by Sharon Long

I've had an interesting email dialog this week with a freelance copywriter who started his own freelance copywriting business a couple of years ago, but would like me to send overflow work his way because he doesn't have enough work. He's only about the 20th freelance copywriter to ask that of me in the 10 years I've had We Know Words, so it wasn't a new request.

What was new was my response. I finally, after years of trying to figure out how to work with other freelance copywriters in a way that made sense but didn't make me a freelance babysitter, have come up with a way for copywriters to work for We Know Words that easy for all of us...and doesn't require any babysitting on my part.

I told this freelance copywriter about the new business model and he balked. Big time. But what about his brand (meaning his name), he asked. What about his website? Um, if you're that busy, if your name and website are working so well for you, why are you asking me to send work your way?

And I got to thinking, this is soooooo typical of freelance copywriters! Do you realize how many of them have their name as their business and their website URL? Why is that? It's seems to ego-driven on the one hand, and so short-sighted on the other. How can you grow your business if you are just John Doe, will always be John Doe? How can you serve every copywriting need of a client if it's just you? You can't be good a good script copywriter and a good SEO blogger both. And if you are, well, are you any good as a whitepaper copywriter? You can only grow your business if you're more than you. You can only serve every copywriting need of a client if you're more than you.

When I started We Know Words as my copywriting business 10 years ago, it never even occured to me to call my business Sharon Long. (Or Sharon Baerny, my name in 2000.) I went through a huge long list of potential company names to get to We Know Words...and not one of my choices had my name in it.

What other business is as short-sighted as that of the freelance copywriter? Even my accountant has his business set up as Roland and Associates. Plus you totally lose on the SEO front when your name is your business and URL. (If I were to do it all over again, I would have named my business something SEO friendly...but I didn't know anything about SEO 10 years ago!)

So my number one advice to anyone asking how to start a copywriting business is this: Leave your ego at the door. Please. No one cares if you are John Doe or Mary Schmoe. They care if you know marketing and words. They care if your rates are fair. They care if you meet your deadlines. But they do not care about your name or your ego. And they never will.

And there's another point to this: You are dooming yourself to isolation, and you'll never be able to work with others together. If I'm building a brand for Sharon Long, and you're building a brand for Mary Schmoe, then we are missing out on the opportunity to work together to build a brand for freelance copywriters.

OK, that's what I have to say on the subject. Are you about to start a copywriting business? What do you think?

Does Your Website Suck? What You Can Do About It, for Cheap!

Monday, May 3, 2010 by Sharon Long

Is business slow? Maybe now is the time to figure out where your website needs improvement…and do it, before the economy picks up and you get busy again.

Websites prove the age-old adage, “Out of sight, out of mind.” That’s why horrid sites stay that way—we don’t see them, we don’t do anything about them.

Bad sites don’t sell. Bad sites don’t do anything but make you look bad. Can you live with that?

Now, when business is slow, is the time to take a good, hard look at your website and figure out how to make it better…so it makes you money.

Very few websites are the best they can be, or even close to being decent. I’ve been a website copywriter for 13 years. I’ve seen some pretty bad websites.

And I’ve developed a low-cost method for assessing websites and recommending simple changes that can add up to big improvement. I call them website assessments. Not a glamorous name, yet a fitting one, because the report I give clients is straightforward and easy to act upon.

If you’d like to take advantage of this downtime to improve your website, hire me for a website assessment. I’ll review your website. Then I’ll give you a written report and roadmap for improving it as your time and budget allow. Implement all of the suggestions or only a few. Change it yourself or hire someone else to. As long as you do something.

Most of these changes will be basic because people go online to find information, not to be impressed with fancy graphics. There also basic because my experience is that of a website copywriter, not designer. I’ll also give you suggestions for ranking better in the search engines, so people find your site.

When you hire this website copywriter to review your site, here’s what I’ll do:

I’ll interview you to figure out your target audience and their perceived problems.
I’ll figure out why they go to your site, how they get there, and what they want to do when they get there.
I’ll listen as you tell me what you want them to do there.
I’ll assess your website based on all this information to see how well your website is doing its job.
I’ll present you with a detailed report outlining recommendations for improving your site to make it a better information and sales tool.

A website assessment costs just $500 for up to seven web pages. A measly $500 for a detailed reporting that spells out what you can do to improve your website as a marketing tool. Best of all, with your assessment in hand, you can make the changes whenever you want, as your time and budget allow.

The recession will end. The economy will pick up. And customers will be back. Be ready to be busy by making your website better now while you have time.

Take it from this website copywriter: Your website has to be good, otherwise you’re missing out on opportunities…especially if you’re not even getting found on the Internet in the first place!

And when the economy does pick up again, the better your website works, the faster you’ll recover from this recession!

To see other assessment I’ve done, to ask questions, or to get started, call 206.459.8225 or email Sharon@weknowwords.com.

Even on Facebook, Content Is King, So Hire a Professional Copywriter to Set You up Right

Saturday, April 24, 2010 by Sharon Long

Reading a SilverPop whitepaper on social media, I as the professional copywriter was drawn to section 4, called Create Content That Connects. It starts off:

"The foundation of effective marketing remains the same: content is king. For example, a company with 50,000 social media followers disseminating highly relevant, engaging content that users feel motivated to share can be more effective than a competitor with content that is not deemed valuable and is rarely shared by its fan base of 100,000." (Emphasis mine.)

Again, I see my role switching from Copy Writer to Copy Coach. In the social media marketing age, yes, customers will create content, as they use wikis, comment on blogs, post on your wall...or blog or tweet about you! But, you will set the stage for that content. Or you'd better, anyway, by getting a professional content copywriter in there to set it for you. If you don't set the stage, you won't have any say over the direction it goes.

I believe this so strongly, I'm now officially acting as a sometimes Copy Coach, helping small businesses and big companies figure out how to harness social media through great content...after figuring out if it even makes sense to do so.

Want a Copy Coach to guide your business onto the right path for social media marketing? Email me at sharon@weknowwords.com.

Do I Want to Be the Best Copywriter? Or the Happiest? This Email Made Me Happy!

Thursday, April 22, 2010 by Sharon Long

I received a wonderful gift today. One a non-copywriter might not appreciate, but one worth its weight in gold, for someone like me, a professional copywriter often working alone, struggling to make clients happy, to stay on top of changes like SEO and social media...

Wow. Sounds like I'm having a pity party! But I'm not. I'm having a joyful copywriter day, because I received the following wonderful message from a fellow freelance copywriter:

"I’m a freelance copywriter in my spare time, and have been for 20 years. For the last few months I’ve been in a rut, feeling generally uninspired and just plain wondering if I’m just any good at this. Marketing is continually evolving, the social media thing can be overwhelming, clients expect miracles—you’ve been there, I’m sure. Anyway, stumbling upon your site today I actually felt excited about what I do. The passion you have for writing jumps off the page. I used to feel that same passion and thought it had left me. Now I know for sure it’s still there."

Some days being a freelance copywriter is really hard. You have to work to find work. You're often thought of last in the creative process. You're pigeon-holed and only asked for words, when you know so much more and can add so much more value. You're asked to do work beneath your abilities. And we freelance copywriters do tend to work alone!

Add all that up, and it can be hard to keep your passion! This email did two things: It reminded me my passion for copywriting is still there, burning strong and lighting my way. And it made me ever so grateful that I was able to reignite that passion in another freelance copywriter.

What a gift this email is! I might not be the best copywriter on the planet, but as long as I'm inspiring others, I might be the happiest. Long live the freelance copywriter!

Freelance Copywriter Finds 18 Great Tips for PPC Ads

Wednesday, March 31, 2010 by Sharon Long

Although I've been a freelance copywriter for 10 years and I've worked on all kinds of copywriting projects--websites, email, direct mail, brochures, whitepapers, and more--I've resisted doing pay-per-click (PPC) ads all this time.

Why? Probably fear. Unlike organic SEO that takes time to gain traction, PPC is immediate...so I'd know right away if my copywriting was working or not.

But change comes into the lives of all good professional copywriters, including me, and I am embarking on my first PPC ad copywriting project. (Gulp.)

In doing research for hints and help, I came across this great article of 18 tips for copywriting PPC ads.

Whether you're a freelance copywriter doing PPC ads for clients, or a small business owner tackling that copywriting job yourself, take a look at the tips, they're good.

All right then, enough procrastinating by blogging. Time for this freelance copywriter to earn her keep with some PPC ad work!

Freelance Copywriter on Why Your Business Needs a Facebook Page

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 by Sharon Long

I’ve heard this question from several small business owners lately: “Why have a Facebook page for my business?” As I re-evaluate what I do as a professional copywriter in the age of social media, i.e. the age of user generated content, where the customers create the copy, not the copywriter, I see my role shifting from Copy Writer to Copy Coach. So I take this social media marketing stuff very seriously!

To answer the question of “why,” I made some notes which you’ll find below. If you have anything to add, definitely post a comment! That is social media!

It’s Web 2.0, user generated content (UGC)…people want to talk back to you, and they want to talk to each other about you. Now that is their expectation, that they will be able to. And Facebook enables that.

It’s free.

It works for B2C companies with loyal customers who want to be engaged by the brands they believe in. If you have a ho hum product or service no one gets excited about, a Facebook page is likely a waste of time.

Facebook pages show up in search results, so it can help with your SEO and getting found when people search online.

You can have a vanity URL that’s easy to share and direct people too, like www.facebook.com/yourcompanyname.

Facebook (and Twitter) icons are now commonplace on websites and in emails, encouraging people to fan (or follow) your company. This is still new enough that people will.

For a small business, a Facebook page can replace a website. You can do all the marketing you want via your Facebook page, even solicit email signups. The only thing it can’t do is online transactions (i.e. letting customers buy from you).

If you go this route, your Facebook page is far easier to maintain and update than a website, and you don’t need to pay for hosting.

You can engage prospects and customers in a way you simply can’t with a website or even a blog.

It’s automatically viral. When someone becomes a fan, that shows up on their profile page. And they can easily invite others to be fans. Imagine someone doing anything like that with your website! It’s inconceivable.

Facebook integrates seamlessly with Twitter and blogging. I don’t want to turn this into a “why use Twitter,” but there is an SEO benefit to using Twitter, and when you have your tweets integrated with your Facebook page, you are updating your Facebook page without effort.

I also don’t want to turn this into a “why use blogs for Internet marketing,” but there are several benefits to blogging, among them SEO and credibility. And, like tweeting, your blog can be automatically posted to your Facebook page, keeping content fresh.

Maybe Facebook is going to become a bigger and more important marketing tool than websites. Facebook can be where you engage, build relationships with customers, and market. Your website might only be where business done, downloaded, bought and sold.

Your customers are on Facebook. It’s the third largest “country” in the world in “population.” That’s how many people use Facebook. In the age of social media marketing, guess what? You follow them. You go where the customers are. And the customers are on Facebook.

Still not convinced? Watch this short video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8.

And by then I hope the question is: “Why not have a Facebook page for my business?”

Need a Copy Coach to help you get started? Sharon@weknowwords.com standing by…

Web Copywriter to Rescue: Trying to Salvage a Crappy Copywriting Job

Monday, March 15, 2010 by Sharon Long

Sigh...

Why is it people think anyone can be a copywriter? I just did a rush job as a website copywriter trying to save a project for a poor soul with hardly any budget or time. She had been sucked into what I think sounds like a shifty web designer deal. He hired some friend of his to write her website. She didn't like the copy. She turned to me in desperation, with little money and a hard due date of today.

I deleted 90% of the crap I was given that the supposed freelance "copywriter" had done. It wasn't poorly written. It wasn't wrong. But it wasn't doing its job. This guy had gone off on some tangents that while potentially helpful information to a prospect later in the sales cycle were totally irrelevant and useless as far as the website's job: marketing this person.

Not only did I delete most of the thousands of words, I completely redid the sitemap. None of the copy made sense, none of it, not even the structure.

In only seven hours, I did the best I could and the client now thinks I'm a goddess. (I even did some basic SEO, but very little.) But it's not going in my freelance copywriter portfolio because I know how much better it would be if I'd had the time. And this woman has to move forward with a "good enough" website, having wasted money on the schlep.

Too many freelance writers pass themselves off as freelance copy writers. They think because they can write, they can write copy. And people seem too accepting of whatever their writer gives them. So we get literally millions of bad websites, poorly written direct mail, spam instead of email copywriting, ads that do nothing but take up space in a magazine...I could go on and on.

The best copywriter is the copywriter who knows marketing as well as she knows words. And she knows her strengths. I am strong as a:

Website copywriter
Email copywriter
Whitepaper writer
Case study writer
Newslettter writer

I do not do, because I don't know how to do:

Script writing
Speech writing
Presentations (OK, I can do these, I just don't want to)
True journalism
Catalog copywriting
Those convoluted direct mail pieces that have letters and postcards and...

I know my strengths, I know my limitations, and I'm honest about both. Every professional copywriter should be.

People, if you are hiring a freelance copywriter, be picky! Don't assume simply because they say they are a copywriter that they are. Ask for proof. Don't be afraid to question the samples you're given. Expect more.

This is your marketing, your branding, your voice, your reputation. Do you want the best copywriter for the job? Or any ol' freelancer with a laptop?

Don't Use Press Releases if Your Website Sucks and Your Blog Is Nonexistent

Friday, March 12, 2010 by Sharon Long

Last of my MarketingSherpa “Marketing Wisdom for 2010” freelance copywriter insights...

Even small businesses can get a big bang from PR, and I don't mean hiring a publicist and trying to get written up in the national news. For years, the We Know Words copywriters have pushed clients to do more with press releases. Use the right freelance copywriter, and your press releases can:

*Be written with keywords and optimized for search
*Be added to your website, increasing your SEO
*Be submitted to an online press release distribution company like PRWeb.com, also increasing your SEO
*Provide blog fodder
*Be linked to in your email newsletter, taking people back to your website
*And more!

But here's a good point from the Marketing Wisdom report, submitted by Tino of ImageLight: Make sure your online presence is worth going to if your press release does intrigue a member of the media!

We've all seen crappy websites. Heck, some of us are even guilty of having crappy websites! And if that's the case, if your website is an embarrassment and your company lacks a blog, then you'd better skip the press release. Because in this day and age, anyone looking for more info about you is going straight to the Internet. Better not to get found at all than to be found lacking!

So hire the best copywriter you can afford, improve your website, launch your blog, and then get busy on those press releases!

That wraps up my week of recap of the MarketingSherpa Marketing Wisdom report, through the eyes of a freelance copywriter! Hope you found it useful!

Be Emotional to Get Your Copywriting Noticed, Read and Reacted to

Thursday, March 11, 2010 by Sharon Long

Day 4 of my MarketingSherpa “Marketing Wisdom for 2010” freelance copywriter insights...

Today's topic ties in with my "marketing is like dating" philosophy. Ron Baginski of Advertising That Works (no website was listed) encourages marketers to "connect with emotions."

One of my "marketing is like dating" points is that: You must be emotional. Think about dating, meeting someone for the first time, going out on that first date...if they were all business like and professional and, well, cold, you would either think they didn't like you (if you're a woman) or you wouldn't like them (if you're a man).

As a professional copywriter, it's my job to grab the attention of a prospect, whether the copywriting services being put to use are web copywriting, email copywriting or print.

That's why I ask about pain points. I ask what problems the prospect is trying to solve, and how they see their problems.

It is by knowing the pain that I can determine the emotion needed to get their attention.

As a freelance copywriter, I've found some companies have a hard time with that, with being emotional. They want to keep it all business. And then you know what you get, in the opinion of this professional copywriter? Me too, generic copywriting that doesn't stand out, doesn't engage. It's just more clutter.

Demand more from your marketing, more from your content copywriter. Demand more from yourself, if that's what it takes. But find the pains, and let your copywriter speak to it, let your copywriter be emotional in the messaging.

Maybe you'll end up with some emotions too: the happiness you'll feel when your copywriter does her best and engages those prospects at last!

Talk to Your Customers, not at Them

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 by Sharon Long

Day 2 of my MarketingSherpa “Marketing Wisdom for 2010” freelance copywriter insights...

Here's a great example of talking to the customer, not at them, this professional copywriter's mantra: Tyler Garns of InfusionSoft submitted a great example of simplifying the marketing message. His company went from a big promise to a small one, from promising an all-in-one solution to promising an email marketing solution. They found the all-in-one message didn't resonate with their small business audience. Turned out, the small businesses were only looking for email marketing.

I've used this example before, but it is worth repeating because this comes up so often in my work as a professional copywriter: Are you selling new mattresses or a good night's sleep? If your prospect views their problem as poor sleep, and they don't know a new mattress will help, do not sell them the new mattress. Do sell them the good night's sleep.

I guarantee if you take a hard look at your current copywriting and messaging, you'll find you tend to talk at customers. You tend to assume they know they need whatever you're selling. And chances are, they don't.

Take one piece of existing marketing collateral and force yourself to reframe it in customer-centric terms. How different is it?

Copywriter Says "Whew!" My Marketing Tips eBook Is Still Relevant!

Thursday, March 4, 2010 by Sharon Long

The marketing tips in my free ebook are from many years ago. More years than I want to admit to! Let's just say, my office has been moved twice since I wrote those tips.

This morning, I started wondering if the ebook was out of date. Maybe I am being an irresponsible copywriter for continuing to offer it to people. One of my biggest pet peeves as a professional copywriters is marketers who give clients out-of-date advice! Was I doing that?

Literally minutes after I was pondering this, I received a request for the marketing tips ebook from a potential client. I unabashedly asked her to give me her honest opinion about how helpful or not it is given how long ago it was written. I sent her the ebook, and very soon after received this good news:

"I went through all the statements of tips and a number of the paragraphs. I can't wait to read the whole thing through, with my highlighter in my hand! I think it is a wonderful booklet, and it is very generous of you to give it away. I think the ideas are definitely relevant, not only for marketing but for daily life with others. Thanks."

That was a relief and a pleasure to read. I guess it proves too that sound marketing advice is just that: Sound.

If you'd like 104 marketing tips pulled together over the course of two plus years by a professional copywriter, drop an email to info@weknowwords.com or leave a comment on this blog post.