Professional Copywriter

Web writing can be a tricky business for a professional copywriter: You're never quite sure what you're going to be working with for a design, sitemap, clarity of message...I wrote my first website in 1997, if you can believe it, way before I even knew what a professional copywriter was! And in the 13 (gulp) years since then, I don't think I've done two website copywriting projects that were the same.

I really like what we were just able to do for Contract Controllers, a CPA firm, and this was a first for me: They had a set template and sitemap for me to work with, because of the company doing their site. But they were smart enough to know that even with a design that wasn't one-of-a-kind, their message better be! 

So they called me in as their professional copywriter. (Am I being self serving here? Probably, but this blog really is about them!)

They were great to work with, and the project went smoothly for this website copywriter. But I give them kudos for recognizing the need to stand out, to have a unique message.

I was a little frustrated with the company putting together the site because they wouldn't let us use unique Title tags (critical for SEO!). And certain elements couldn't be changed. But for the most part as the freelance website copywriter, I'm a happy camper because Contract Controllers got a decent looking site that tells their story.

See the site at http://www.contractcontrollers.com.

I'm a professional copywriter. That means it's my job to know words and how to use them, for websites, email, SEO, print, ghost blogging, press releases, etc.

But I've also made it part of my job as a professional copywriter to know about the tools and means used for serving up the copywriting that is my craft. That means learning about online press rooms, for example, or keeping up with changes in search engine optimization (SEO) copywriting. And much, much more! (You'd be shocked how much I know that has nothing to do with being a professional copywriter!) 

My embarrassing ah ha moment happened when I realized blogs would make perfect press rooms. I happen to know a little something about online press rooms (again, not related to being a copywriter, but related to knowing how to present my work). We did a presentation andarticle on online press rooms few years ago.

But that was before I really understood blogs as online marketing tools.

Using a blog for your pressroom is brilliant because it's easy to upload your content, the search engines will find and index those press releases faster (because they prefer blog content over static website content), it's easily searched, you can add static pages with your contact information and company bio...I honestly can't think of a reason NOT to use a blog for your online press room! 

If you've been thinking, yeah, we really need an online press room, but you haven't wanted to put the time and money into it, try a blog. I bet you can be up and running with your press room in less than half an hour. For tips on what to include, definitely read our article at http://www.weknowblogs.com/blog/sharons-marketing-missive/0/0/you-dont-have-to-be-an-online-copywriter-to-market-your-business-online-use-press-releases.

Note: This Seattle copywriter has been cleaning up a very cluttered We Know Words copywriting Web site. I’ve deleted a ton of files and pages and consolidated and made it much more manageable. I see now what Gerry McGovern means by being a “putter upper.” If blogs had been as easy (and if I’d understood them as well) back in 2002, I would have built a blog to market my copywriter services, not a Web site! Anyway, as I streamline the We Know Words Web site, I find stuff I don’t want to get rid of, so I’m moving it here to this copywriting blog instead. Plus I came across this little plug, and realized I might not have ever plugged my marketing tips ebook in this copywriting blog, oops! OK, enough preface…

Most small business owners can't afford professional marketing help. Nor do they know enough about marketing to do it well. That's why I compiled this ebook, "Marketing in a Minute."

Small business owners want to grow their companies. But growth requires sales, and sales require marketing, and many small business owners struggle with marketing... and time. So they don't necessarily have the skills, nor do they have the time to learn how to do the marketing.

That's where these marketing tips come in. They are short, easy to digest and easy to apply. Without investing in any expensive marketing program. "Marketing in a Minute" offers 104 such marketing tips, written for the realities of small business budget and time constraints.

So where does a marketing ebook crammed full of 104 marketing tips come from? Does one just sit down and write it? Not in this case. It took years to create this book...

In 2002, I took my copywriting prowess and started writing weekly tips and dispensing them via email to small business owners who desperately needed marketing help but couldn't afford to hire a marketing agency like We Know Words. The marketing tips were deliberately short and basic, but offered new ideas for those too focused on running a business to be a real marketer. The tips were nothing fancy, just text and just enough to fit in one's Preview screen. They covered print, Web writing, email marketing and more. I dubbed them "Sharon's Marketing Minutes" and made sure each one could be read in a minute or less. (Hence the title, "Marketing in a Minute.")

I wrote the weekly tips for almost 2 1/2 years until I ran out of time, but not out of ideas. The feedback was always so positive, and more than one subscriber confessed to archiving the marketing tips for future reference. When I announced that I was going to stop writing the marketing tips due to lack of time, many subscribers emailed to say, "Put the tips together in a book."

It took years, but most of the marketing tips are now gathered together into one extremely useful resource for small business owners and those in charge of marketing for a small business.

I have a friend wrestling with demons. Not unusual, we all have our demons. His is just stuff in his professional life that he has been battling for a long time, stuff I can’t fix (hard for me, the fixer) and stuff that is keeping him from moving forward because that “stuff” is all about the past. But he had a funny epiphany, and it was all because of my marketing is like dating book.

He’s fighting a battle he has fought for years. I kept saying the same advice over and over. Over time, I’ve been frustrated because I haven’t felt heard. I keep saying these wise things, giving this really insightful (I hope!) advice, without him ever getting it.

Exasperated recently I finally said, “Look. Pretend this is in my book and we’re talking about marketing is like dating. Basically, you’ve been asking the same girl out on a date for years, and she keeps saying ‘no,’ and instead of moving on, you just keep asking. Not only that, you keep complaining about the fact that she keeps saying ‘no’ when you’re the crazy one because you keep asking.”

A looooong moment of silence ensued and I thought for sure I’d crossed some line…

Then, the reaction. His words? “I never really thought your marketing is like dating book was such a great idea until just now. I get it.” That was an epiphany of sorts, but the one that really mattered was the one that enabled him to see that that’s just what he’d been doing all these years. Awareness is the first step, and for my friend, I hope it leads to freedom from the battle as he just accepts “that girl” doesn’t want to date him.

In the marketing world, we do this all the time. We market to people who keep saying “no,” thinking if we’re just persistent enough, if we just keep sending those postcards, if we just keep sending those emails, if we just keep up with our telemarketing, someone will finally say “yes” to our offer.

In the dating world, that would get you a restraining order, not a date (i.e. customer).

Wouldn’t it be better to target your efforts to someone who does want to buy from/date you? As a Seattle copywriter, I’m not expert on database marketing, segmenting, behavioral marketing, etc., but I know those tools exist. (It’s my job as freelance copywriter to craft targeted copy after that work has been done.) However, in my experience, many companies fail to use them. They prefer the quantity over quality approach, marketing to more people who don’t want to hear from them instead of less people who do.

If you can think of yourself as dating, not marketing, it will completely change the way you think about marketing (and copywriting).

Why do so many companies shy away from being real? I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s like my dad used to say, that people are rude drivers because it’s anonymous, they are sheltered by their cars. They’d never cut in front of you in line at the bank, but they’ll do it on the highway. Do companies want the anonymity so they don’t have to behave as well as they otherwise would?

Being real is something I as a freelance copywriter preach and preach and preach. But just the other day working as a Web site copywriter for a new client, I found myself trying to persuade them to include photos of the founders on the Web site…and they flat out refused. As a copywriter, I see the power in words that are real, whether in blogs as marketing tools, small business marketing, email copywriting, wherever. Words are powerful. But only more so when real.

People, you are missing the boat here. Customers want to do business with, well, people. Not nameless corporations. Being real means making a connection to that customer, developing a relationship with her. One that will deepen her loyalty to your customer and brand.

Think about it: Isn’t there a company you stick with mostly because you like it or them? Like the farrier I had who wasn’t very good but was a delight to visit with while he shod my horse, or the drycleaners that’s a little farther from home but you keep going back because you like the owners, or the coffee shop that charges more but you like the welcome feeling you get when you walk through the door…we all have allegiances that don’t make economic sense, but then we shop with our minds and we buy with our hearts.

So how delighted is my little copywriter heart to have two great examples of being real to share with you.

My first example comes from a company I partner with. I do copywriting for their email marketing clients. They hired a new salesperson, no biggie, but the email this guy sent out to introduce himself to clients was a gem. It wasn’t about all this professional experience; it was about him as a person, a real person, who lives in an interesting town, met his wife via online dating, and has an interesting background, born in Europe and raised on the east coast. The tone was conversational and chatty. It made him real. If I were a customer receiving that email, I’d like that guy right off. And we buy from people we like. With our hearts, remember?

My second example comes from Basecamp, aka 37 Signals, a company I love not just because I love their Web-based project management software which I use for our copywriting projects, but because they excel at being real. Yesterday when I logged onto Basecamp, at the top of my screen it announced “Basecamp's birthday! Basecamp turns five!” and then went on to explain they started on Feb. 4, 2004 with a link to their story. This is brilliant because it’s promotion but sincere. When you read the story, you are that much more attached to this company. And what does that mean? Well, I recommend Basecamp to all the freelance copywriters I know, and to clients as well.

Both of these examples gave this copywriter warm fuzzies. And note that they both achieved their goals with words, nothing fancy, just words, real words.

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot on small businesses, partly because so many have been contacting me over the past month about copywriting…and deciding they don’t want to spend the money on a professional copywriter after all. :-)

And I get that, that’s why I spent 2 ½ years writing over 100 small business marketing tips! I have a soft spot in my heart for the small business. After all, I own one!

But I was thinking this morning that maybe small businesses have an advantage over big businesses, despite their lack of funds--or at least willingness to part with those funds—to invest in compelling copywriting. And then I read Seth Godin’s blog on conceal vs. reveal and that tied right into what I was already thinking.

So if the small business marketer has as smaller budget than the big business counterpart, why would the small business have an easier time marketing? Because the small business can afford to be honest, real, authentic, different even. As Seth says in “Purple Cow,” it’s being different that’s safe, and being the same that’s dangerous (paraphrased). Small businesses can be bolder, they can have a voice and personality and character difficult for a bigger company to pull off.

The challenge remains however: being willing to invest money in marketing from the start. The small business owner or marketer that will be noticed in the crowded marketplace is the one that makes sure they are making a great first impression with their marketing. And that comes from investing in an image and a message that are appropriate. We’re not talking a $100,000 outlay of cash here. A few thousand dollars would get a small business a great marketing startup package.

So, small business marketers, I think you might have the marketing advantage. Make sure you use it.

From where I sit, as the owner of a copywriting agency dealing with clients on a daily basis, it seems a lot of companies write their own marketing materials for two reasons: to save money, and because they don’t realize the value in really great copy. But as I’ve been pondering this lately, I’ve been thinking maybe it’s an even bigger problem. Maybe it’s not just that they don’t recognize the damage they’re doing by using mediocre marketing. Maybe these marketers lack awareness, not knowledge.

I recently joined the advisory board for the University of Washington marketing certificate program. One of the board’s tasks this year is to help the university plan for a new program specifically for interactive marketing. We had our first meeting on the topic last week and were asked to brainstorm ideas around certain questions to help determine the outcome of the program. In addition to having a blast being in a room full of such incredibly bright and highly regarded marketers, I was intrigued to find out that—at my table at least—we pretty much agreed that it wasn’t that these people had to be taught how to run a pay-per-click campaign, how to use search engine optimization, how to run an A/B test, or any other particular skill, but they do need to learn what is possible. They must be made aware of all the possibilities in the world of online, interactive marketing first and foremost. And then we agreed that they need to recognize the value in outsourcing and to know how to work with vendors.

These certificate programs are for working professionals with marketing experience, not newbies. Still, all the seasoned experts in my group agreed that it’s more important to make these students aware than it is to give them specific skill sets. In the world of marketing, knowing what’s doable is much more important to an organization than being able to actually do it.

Even for small businesses that don’t have dedicated marketers on staff or the budget to outsource, it’s better to turn to resources like our small business marketing ebook than to guess or stay ignorant.

Yesterday was about having something worth saying. Today is about keeping your promise…

Last weekend we visited a seaside town. Strolling up and down the street, we kept running into the Candyman, a colorful character singing and handing out coupons and samples of saltwater taffy. Well, of course my youngest was excited to go to his candy store. After all, he was fun!! A bonafide Candyman! But what a disappointment. The place was shoddy and dirty. The carpet and floors were worn, the employees rude and uncaring. And worse, they didn’t even make the candy there. It was basically an outlet store. Even the taffy was a letdown. A big bag of saltwater taffy is a family tradition for us whenever we go to the coast. But we’ve always purchased from candymakers before, and I made the mistake of assuming someone called the Candyman with a store called the Candyman would be making the candy, and the store would be fun, not drab and icky.

By now you’re probably wondering why this is such a big deal, and really, what it has to do with marketing communications, right? Here’s the thing: Marketing is a promise. Whether it’s your Web content, your email marketing, your printed sales collateral, you’re telling prospects “this is who we are, this is what we’re selling, this is what you’ll get.” And then you have to deliver. If your copywriting markets the professionalism of your staff and employees are dressed shoddily or rude, you lied. Ditto for software that’s sold as scalable but won’t. Or the low-maintenance gadget that keeps needing repair. Etc., etc. Maybe your marketing will get you the sale the first time, but you likely won’t get a chance to sell to that customer again.

Your marketing communications make a promise. Make the right promise, and you’ll get the customers. Keep your promise, and you’ll get the repeat customers.

Yesterday I got an email from a company trying to sell me on a landing page optimization webinar. Now, we write a lot of landing pages at We Know Words (yes, landing pages are another piece of marketing collateral best left to professional copywriters!), and I’m constantly watching for opportunities to stay current on marketing trends. So I was more than interested.

As I skimmed the email, I counted four different calls to register, but no price. So I clicked on one of the “register now” options thinking that would take me to a landing page (of course) with more information about the webinar, including price. Nope, took me to a registration form. So I tried another link. Same thing. And another. Same thing. Every link on that page took me to the same registration form.

OK, does it make any sense at all for a company to advertise a webinar on optimizing landing pages when they can’t even do one themselves?? And this is a big name company! (Just for the record, no, a registration form is not a landing page if there’s no selling going on. It’s fine to have a registration form on a landing page, but don’t stick it there by itself and expect a conversion.)

The main marketing communications lesson to be drawn from this is: Walk your walk and talk your talk! If you’re going to sell a webinar on landing pages, use an optimized landing page to sell it. That’s also part of show AND tell. (Marketing has to be the right mix of copywriting—tell—and delivery—show.)

The other mistake they made from a marketing perspective: They asked for too much of me early on in the sales cycle. Which is hilarious given that their email marketing included a picture of a funnel. They apparently chose to send me straight to the bottom of the funnel, but marketing doesn’t work that way.

Maybe they’ll do a better job after they see that webinar they’re marketing…