New Site Showcases Our Client and Our Web Writing Prowess Both!

Thursday, July 28, 2011 by Sharon Long
website copywriterWatching a project go live is often like waiting for the birth of a baby, especially because content is usually first. That means us freelance copywriters and content providers are done with a project and moved on to something new before our content is ever laid out in print or html. And then we're busy and forget to find out later how everything turned out!

So it's a treat when a client comes back and says, "Hey, check it out, it's done!" because it reminds me to go take a look and see our copywriting prowess in action.

Today's treat came from Graphic Solutions. Graphic Solutions is an integrated marketing company with a lot to say. We had a blast as the website copywriter helping them hone their message and making all of their integrated solutions make sense.

Still for us, it's just words, and we're not sure how much sense we've made until we see a website go live, start clicking through, and realize,  yes! We did a good job! :-) 

Take a look at their site. It's a great example of making a variety of services easy to access and understand.

And if you need a website copywriter, you know where to go!

0 Comments »

The Power of Words...Demonstrated in a Most Moving Way. Don't Miss This...

Wednesday, April 6, 2011 by Sharon Long
Don't believe words really matter all that much? Well, if your content marketing agency can't convince you, your copywriter can't convince you, and even your mother can't convince you, watch this moving video by online content provider Purple Feather. 

A blind man begging for coins on a busy city sidewalk hears many more coins dropping onto his cardboard mat after a woman changes the words on his sign. The woman is no doubt a copywriter! She changes his straightforward message to one with an emotional appeal...and the people react. 

The pen is mightier than the sword...and the keyboard mightier still. If you're using any kind of creative content marketing to promote your business, or working with a freelance copywriter, never, ever estimate the real power of words. Let your content marketing services provider or copywriter take you that one extra step toward the authentic, the real, the emotional. Be willing to be different, to stand out. Change your straightforward message to one with an emotional appeal. 

And you might hear more coins dropping in front of you too. 
0 Comments »

Stop Talking About Yourself. Now. Pleeeeaaase. (And please make it stop raining...)

Thursday, March 31, 2011 by Sharon Long
When one blogs as a means to market onself and/or one's business, one should not blog:

a) After 9:00 at night.
b) After drinking.
c) When in a pissy mood because it has been raining nonstop since who knows when and one is sick of the rain, mud and wet.

Please realize that you are reading a blog written under condition "c." Yes, I am violating my own, self-imposed rule. But I have been a freelance copywriter for over 10 years and I am tired of seeing the following mindset be so pervasive among marketers. CEOs, yes. Sales teams, sure. But marketers need to know better! 

What prompted my pissy reaction? I just responded to a question on a message board. The question was about what types of content to produce to market to a B2B audience. Fair enough. But the poster said the goal is to "provide thought leadership on key issues affecting business leaders by helping them understand the role that our technology and services can provide." (Emphasis mine.)

This, my marketing friends (and fellow pissy mood people, if you're in western Washington), is what is wrong with marketing today. Still. This is why I talk about marketing is like dating. The problem for this company isn't the kinds of content they are producing. The problem is they are focused on what they are selling, not on what the customer is buying.

They shouldn't be trying to help business leaders understand the role of "our" technology and services. They should be addressing the problems of the B2B audience they are trying to reach!! (Excuse the exclamation points. The more it rains, the more I punctuate.) 

If marketing is like dating, this is akin to the guy going out to a bar to meet women...and only talking about himself. Which plenty of guys do.

One reason I love content marketing is because I am so hopeful that it will finally make marketers switch their mindsets from talking at customers to talking to them. You talk to someone when you make it about them, when you relate and listen. Do you know how many dates I've been on where the guy told his stories, talked incessantly about himself and/or talked the whole time period? Plenty. Those are the worst dates to be on. And that's your typical marketer, folks. As the post I just responded to implies.

Oh, please, content marketing gods, let the dawn of content marketing truly result in engaging, useful content and no more ego-centric "all about me" copy! 

And please, content marketing gods, can you make it stop raining too? 
0 Comments »

What Are Content Marketing Services Anyway?

Thursday, March 24, 2011 by Sharon Long

content marketing servicesI was updating the We Know Words website and realized we didn't have a clear explanation of our content marketing services. I remedied that just now on the website and below!

When it comes to content marketing services, we offer everything from the plan to putting it into practice.

Content Marketing Plan
We assess what you’re currently doing, get clear on your goals, learn about your audience and their goals, then develop a plan just for you that includes the steps to create, implement and track your Content Marketing Plan. Once you have the plan, you can run with it, or stick with We Know Words for help implementing it.

Content Marketing Plan Implementation Ala Carte
After your Content Marketing Plan has been developed, we can help you implement it to whatever degree you want. We Know Words can manage any—or all—of the following tasks for you:

• Setting up a blog as the hub of your Content Marketing
• Keyword research for search engine optimization
• Facebook and Twitter integration
• Email messaging for soliciting content
• Setting up systems for tracking results
• Staff training on writing and sharing content
• Ongoing coaching
• Creating professional content such as whitepapers or articles
• Editing content your team creates
• Analyzing results and suggesting improvements
• Newsletter or press release template development
• Anything else that helps you make the most effective use of content to market your business!

If you have any questions at all about Content Marketing or how We Know Words can help, call 206.459.8225 or email info@weknowwords.com. But do it soon! Your competitors are marketing with content. Are you?


0 Comments »

Does Fear Keep Marketers From Content Marketing?

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 by Sharon Long
content marketing agencyI'm in love with the whole idea of content marketing because the premise is something I've pushed for for years. As a freelance copywriter, I have pushed people to be real and tell stories. I have pushed clients to get testimonials and find out their customers' stories. I have pushed for repurposing (now called reimagining) of content.

And why didn't clients listen to me before this whole notion of content marketing came along? I don't know. Maybe I'm simply not pushy enough. Maybe I wasn't secure enough because no one else was saying it so maybe my ideas weren't so great after all (or so said the little voice inside my copywriter head). Maybe I didn't explain it very well!

Today listening to a webinar on content marketing starring Chris Baggott, Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman...three of the biggest names in content marketing...I had a thought. What if it was fear?

I admit, it has been a battle at times to get the We Know Words copywriter clients to be real, to tell stories. "But what we do is proprietary." "But we need to sound like everyone else." "But we need to tell people about our widgets and gadgets." "But we can't sound that different." Those are the kinds of excuses I heard when clients wanted their freelance copywriter to create what I call "me too" copy rather than anything compelling and unique.

(And there was the time the landscaping firm had paid the PR firm tens of thousands of dollars and by golly, that was the messaging  they were going to use, no matter how irrelevant it was to their target market!)

As We Know Words morphs from copywriting agency to content marketing agency (which, of course, includes copywriting as a core offering), I sense I will still run into the same kinds of "buts" as before. And this idea of fear makes it all make sense.

Ever since the publication of Seth Godin's "Purple Cow," we've been called upon to be different, to stand out. As Seth said in his book, the risk isn't in being different, it's in being the same. And yet, maybe 20% of We Know Words clients over the past 10 years have embraced that concept.

It's scary to be real! It's scary to be different! It's scary to stand out! Not just for me and you as individuals, but for companies too. What if you're wrong? What if you fail? What if no one likes you? 

That's why we all dress pretty much the same and wear our hear pretty much the same and all that. And that's what most companies and brands do as well.

So as we move into thinking of what we do as content marketing, and we are called about to create, coordinate and distribute content that is real and engaging, as we work to convince those clients who hire us for content marketing services that yes, they do need customers telling stories and employees blogging, I suspect we will run into that same fear factor and bunch of "buts" that I've come up against before.

My job as the woman offering the content marketing services? Be more convincing.

It's a good thing I know words...

0 Comments »

Content Marketing Will Make Waves for Seafood Company

Friday, March 11, 2011 by Sharon Long

Content Marketing Will Make Waves for Seafood CompanyBelow is an email I sent to a seafood company looking to build a new B2C website as well as a Facebook presence. During my talk with the web designer, several things came up, so I emailed these thoughts to the client. They were so well received by him, I thought I'd share them here...

"They are for the most part what is now called Content Marketing, which means a more strategic use of the content you create or capture.

"And content is golden. Content is how you get found online by search engines. Content is what people share. Content is how you engage and build relationships. Content is a valuable commodity. The more good content you have, the better off you are.

"With a B2C company that is selling food—something consumers can really get into—you have some great opportunities to get your customers creating content for you. A possible scenario is this: You have a website, a blog, and a Facebook page, and maybe you’re doing email marketing too. Your blog content can come from anywhere. It’s not like you need some English major hidden away cranking out content about your seafood. Your blog content can be written by a freelancer or two, and/or by employees, and/or by customers. Every time you get a testimonial, that’s a blog post. A recipe is a blog post. A new product is a blog post. An employee talking about quality control and another talking about types of seafood and things to know…blog content. Talking about what’s going on elsewhere, like maybe on Chopped they had frozen shrimp as one of their ingredients…proper storing advice, party advice, side dish advice, busy family dinners advice… the possibilities for blog content are literally endless.

"Then it’s really easy to share blog posts with Facebook and Twitter. You simply click on a link and voila, it’s shared. So you’ve taken the same content, but made that many more people aware of it and given them a chance to comment on it, like it or share it.

"It goes the other way too. I just heard about a company that makes gluten-free baked goods posted a request for favorite gluten-free Thanksgiving recipes on their Facebook page and got over 200 recipes. If the company puts all those recipes into blog posts, guess what? That’s over 200 blog posts…that are naturally keyword rich. Plus they will be permanent content, unlike Facebook content that has a very short lifespan.

"Which is the other side of this: All online content has the potential for helping your search rankings. And organic search is still the way to go. Just this morning, I read eMarketer’s article on how organic search still trounces paid search. People trust the organic results. And if you can “organically” create that kind of keyword-rich content…and have people sharing it and spreading the word for you, you’ll get a lot more bang for your marketing buck. Or should I say Content Marketing buck?

"You can add in email marketing, with links to pages on your Facebook page…and those email messages can be repurposed as blog posts. You also can have recipe contests or even a food photo contest. If you wanted, you could pull together recipes and make an ebook…promote it by email, in the blog on Facebook…I hope I’m painting a picture here for you."

That was the bulk of the email I sent the client. I hope that gets your brain churning the way it did mine...and the client's! 

0 Comments »

Proof That Strategic Content Marketing Gets You the SEO That Gets You Noticed

Thursday, March 10, 2011 by Sharon Long
content marketing panel at MarketMix 2011Experts have been saying for some time that people tend to disregard paid search results because they are much more trusting of the organic search results. Yesterday's eMarketer article on search behavior tells us this is still true. I quote: "research indicates that most search users overlook search ads almost entirely."

And you know what marketers overlook almost entirely? How easy it is to compete for organic search results.

Yesterday at MarketMix in Seattle, I moderated a panel on Content Marketing with two highly respected experts as my brainy and bold panelists: Chris Baggott of Compendium and Russell Sparkman of FusionSpark Media. If you were to attend that panel and read the eMarketer article, a lightbulb should go off in your head: content can be easy to create, it will be effective when used effectively, and it can be used to get you found in search engines...which is a better way to get found than by search ads...if you want to get noticed.

And you win searches by having more content to be found by the search engines. If it's quality, relevant content, it's going to have the kinds of long tail keywords people are searching on, so you won't have to spend time plugging in keywords.

Using content marketing for SEO is not hard, it's easy. Here are three examples of ways to do it that are easy, easy, easy: 

1) Publish an email newsletter monthly, archive each issue on your website, and then summarize it in your blog and link to the archive. SEO benefit? More organic content to be crawled and indexed. You've gone from one email to two pieces of web content.

2) Write a whitepaper or tip sheet or something else relevant and useful to your audience. Summarize it online. Write an article about it in your email newsletter. And wash, rinse, repeat...or in other words, do the steps in number 1 above again.

3) Get your employees blogging. They will write about what they care about, and they will naturally use keywords relevant to the searcher.

Organic search is going to continue to be the preferred way to find results if you're a consumer searching online. Content marketing can help you be there on those first search results pages.

And maybe you'll save enough time and money doing your online content marketing that you'll have time and money left over for paid search! :-)

If you need or want some help coming up with simple content marketing strategy, email info@weknowwords.com.



0 Comments »

Freelance Copywriter Says Content Marketing Takes Style

Thursday, February 17, 2011 by Sharon Long
freelance copywriter says content marketing demands styleTwice in the last couple of weeks, I have had copywriting clients comment on how much they like my style.

They're not talking about my clothes, trust me. They are talking about my approach to their content as a freelance copywriter. And I find that funny, because I don't think I have a style. As a freelance copywriter, I mean. I know I have a style as a writer, and I love to entertain my family and friends with my writing when it's personal. But I think of myself as a professional copywriter who shouldn't have a style because I should simply be adapting to the client's voice and brand.

But then I realized, I can and do adapt when necessary. But clients like these, who just complimented my style, fit with my natural writing style. They probably like me as their freelance copywriter because I write naturally in a way that meshes with their brand. I am free to write like me when I write for them.

And I think style is something we're going to want a lot more of as Content Marketing becomes the norm! As we're creating more content, more whitepapers, more web writing, more blogs as marketing tools, we're also setting ourselves up to get lost in the whirl of words that will be swirling all around our prospects as they attempt to navigate all this "stuff" we're putting out there and online.

Just like the woman who walks into the bar dressed with style will shine compared to any plain Jane counterparts, so will the content with style outshine the drab and dull.

Style, huh? Well, yay for that! This freelance copywriter is going to consider that a plus to be exploited, not a minus to be escaped!

0 Comments »

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 copywriterReading 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. :-)

0 Comments »

Grip Rite Semi Shows Freelance Copywriters the Right Approach

Wednesday, February 2, 2011 by Sharon Long
Grip Rite shows freelance copywriter how it's doneWhoever designed the advertising for the side of the Grip Rite semi I just saw is a savvy marketer. Instead of pictures of products, the whole side of the truck trailer was plastered with photos of the products being used with captions that said what the product was being used for. Rather than a Grip Rite doohickey pictured on the side of the truck, with claims of faster, stronger, better, cheaper...or whatever claims Grip Rite might make, the photos were captioned with things like "Fencing" and "Molding and Trim." And the photos showed the product being used.

They are showing the solution!! They are showing customers the problems they solve! Now I don't know anything about Grip Rite, but I'm assuming people don't sit around thinking "I need a faster, stronger, cheaper fastener." They probably think "I need a good way to get this molding up." 

And Grip Rite is showing them!

This is what freelance copywriters must do. It can be hard for clients, I know, trust me I know! They want to talk all about product. They live, eat, think, breathe, sleep product. But the best copywriter is going to be the one who can get the client thinking about problems and solutions like their customers do! 

Then the freelance copywriter must translate that messaging into the copy.

Grip Rite's truck is simple in appearance yet perfect as a marketing tool. Freelance copywriters must emulate those trucks!

0 Comments »

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

Monday, January 31, 2011 by Sharon Long
freelance copywriterThis 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.



0 Comments »

Content Marketing Best Practices: We Know Words Was Ahead of the Game!

Monday, January 24, 2011 by Sharon Long
freelance copywriterI admit it: I haven't blogged for six months. Why? Watching and waiting...

Things are changing for us freelance copywriters. The demand is different. There's still some demand for the kind of qualified freelance copywriter who can whip out a dynamic ad or compelling brochure. But now we have Content Marketing. And it's not the same as freelance copywriting. Where a copywriter might be hired to provide quality, Content Marketing has a bit more to do with quantity...but one must not ever lose sight of the quality, no matter how much content you're charged with creating for your company's Content Marketing program! 

So I've been watching and waiting the Content Marketing discussion evolve, and determining how to keep We Know Words relevant with this hugely fundamental shift from copywriting to content creation.

As part of that, I've been reviewing the We Know Words website and was pleasantly surprised to realize I have been ahead of my time! Below is content drawn from our Approach page, written several years ago. It describes how we approach messaging (my preferred word over copywriting) and you can apply these exact same principles and standards to Content Marketing best practices! 
  • Being customer-centric (putting your customer first, not you)
  • Giving your business a distinct voice
  • Telling your story: What makes you remarkable?
  • Speaking directly to your target market(s)
  • Developing messages and marketing methods that are sustainable
  • Considering all three types of customers: potential, present and past
  • Knowing when to integrate different marketing methods
  • Being consistent in all messaging across every channel
  • Delivering the message in a form appropriate for your audience
A clearcut definition of Content Marketing is yet to be agreed upon as I write this blog. But certainly the best practices We Know Words has adhered to since its founding in 2000 ring true as Content Marketing best practices too! 

So maybe I didn't need to spend so much time watching and waiting. Maybe We Know Words never stopped being relevant...maybe we were really ahead of the game! 
0 Comments »

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! 


0 Comments »

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?

 


0 Comments »

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! 
 
0 Comments »

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? 
0 Comments »

Website copywriting project goes live at last!

Friday, February 12, 2010 by Sharon Long
Seems like being a web site copywriter means working in a time warp sometimes. I get my part done, but then development still takes a while. I guess that means being a freelance copywriter makes me good at delayed gratification! Since I have to wait to see the fruits of my labors! 

Today a website copywriting project when live, and it's once again for me a delight to see my words at work. The K & H Print website was a great copywriting project for several reasons. Jay, the CEO, really pushed me in a way most clients don't. :-) For which I am grateful because I had to dig a little deeper and it was character building! My suggestion that they use video to tell their wonderful story was not only accepted, but embraced, and my colleague Mavis Lamb made that all come together for them. I got to work with Adhost, a favorite company of mine. And I got to really delve into this 101 year old company and what makes them tick.

This was a somewhat intensive website copywriting project, even though SEO wasn't part of it. And I enjoyed every minute of it, and I'm very proud of the results.

Take a look, click through, enjoy. Especially the home page. That's where the CEO really pushed me and I'm glad. I'm proud of the result.
0 Comments »

Dating sites posting to a freelance copywriter's blog? Lessons learned...

Friday, February 5, 2010 by Sharon Long
I am slowly, ever so slowly, pulling together my "marketing is like dating book." The irony of being a freelance copywriter is you spend all your time writing for other people and don't seem to find time to do your own writing! 

But I've said enough in this copywriter blog about marketing is like dating to have, of all things, dating websites find it and post comments to it trying to get links back to their own sites. OK, this makes me laugh, but also draw two lessons from it:

My freelance work often involves website copywriting using keywords for SEO, but I know that's only one part of getting your website indexed and ranked by search engines. Links into your site are the other. So going out looking for blogs to post comments on to link back to your website is one way to do that. But, and this is a big but, you have to make sure you're posting in an appropriate place! 

Obviously anyone who things a link to a dating website is appropriate for this professional copywriter's blog didn't read the blog. Dumb.

The other lesson, well, it's not really a lesson, is something I hadn't considered: Here I've come up with 9 ways to improve your copywriting based on the idea that marketing is like dating, and people are coming to me via my freelance copywriter blog saying dating is like marketing. LOL! Yep. It sure is! 

I'll make sure to make that part of the book...when I get enough free time away from web copywriting and email copywriting to work on it...
1 Comments »

Bowled over by Bowl decision: this freelance copywriter says kudos for Pepsi

Friday, February 5, 2010 by Sharon Long
As a copy writer, I try to be and push authentic. By push, I mean encouraging those clients hiring me as their content copywriter to tell a true story. I also try to push delivering the message the right way. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you say as a freelance copywriter if you say it via a channel or at a time unappealing to your audience.

So Pepsi just got kudos from me on two counts by announcing they're skipping the Super Bowl ad frenzy this year. And they give two reasons that make perfect sense to me as a professional copywriter who preaches talk to your customer not at them: 

1) They are spending $20M on social causes. They would be hypocrites to spend another $12M on Super Bowl ads. That is authentic.

2) They recognize what they would be marketing, this from-the-ground-up campaign of Pepsi Refresh, wouldn't fit with the spirit of the typical Super Bowl ad. (And they could fall flat on their face as a result.) That is about delivering the message the right way...and the Super Bowl ain't it, not for this message.

I'm just a lowly freelance copy writer trying to stay true to her principles as I do my work. How validating to have a company like Pepsi validate two of those principles in such a public way! 
0 Comments »

Your copywriting should be like a big dog

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 by Sharon Long
Three days ago, a dog named Bear joined our family. Animals now outnumber people by 5 to 1 (not counting squirrels).

Being a professional copywriter who wants to relate everything back to marketing and copywriting, I was thinking about Bear, and how he sleeps on my daughter's bed and is so protective of us. And boy, does he look protective when he's laying there sleeping next to her! They're the same size! 

Thinking how to relate this to my job as a freelance copywriter, I kept coming back to the idea of peace of mind and security. Having Bear around means feeling safer, even if he might turn out to be a big huge chicken, more than a big huge dog.

But it's the idea of security that matters here, the comfort my daughter feels with that big lug sleeping next to her, and the peace of mind I feel when he raises his head and gives a soft bark just in case. It feels good in a world that quite often doesn't.

Does your marketing offer a feeling of security? Does your web site copywriting make people feel safe buying from you? How about your printed collateral, has your freelance copywriter conveyed your marketing message in a believable way? 

I think about Bear, and even the warm fuzzies I feel as he dozes at my feet while I type, and I think, "This feels good. I want to feel more of this."

I'm not alone. Your prospects and customers want to feel more of that too. Work with your best copywriter and make that happen, make those words on the page or the screen convey that you can be trusted, buying from you is safe, that you really do have that customer's best interests at heart, as Bear does mine.

Be like the big dog.
0 Comments »