Essay Online

You visit a car dealership. Not more than three steps inside the door, a smiling guy in a suit gets in your face. He is using every hard closing sales tactic in the book, relentlessly pursuing you around the showroom and the lot.

This guy could not be more clear, he wants to sell you a car, and he does not mind you knowing it. And yet, we hate this guy. We want people to put our needs and comfort levels first, and those who do are the people we reward with the sale.

Are those friendly people any less interested in making the sale than the obnoxious car salesman? Or are they just less transparent about how they go about it? Do we care if they are being genuine, or do we just need to feel as if they are?

Picture this: You are introduced to some loud-mouthed young marketing consultant at a party. He is half-tanked, cursing like a sailor, and insulting every third person who passes by, all while trying to convince you to hire him. He even insults you and your wife a couple of times in lame attempts at humor. Is he not just keeping it real?

On the other hand, I once read a story about a businessman who everyone loved. This guy kept everyone in stitches with his jokes, and yet he always took the time to listen attentively when others spoke. In short, he made everyone feel good, and he was hugely successful in business because of it.

The story was told by a close friend of his, who revealed that the guy actually had no sense of humor at all. He just repeated jokes that he heard others tell, even though he did not get why they were funny. Further, the mans compassionate listening abilities were simply a learned behavior. He knew how to make people feel good, but he never cared at all what people said or thought. He just wanted to be viewed as a person who cared, because it was good for business.

When it comes to copywriting and conversational marketing, it is all about how you say it, combined with a strategic decision as to what to say so that you can meet your goals. You are trying to create an experience that others respond to favorably, just like you would in person. Think about the last great conversation you had with an engaging person. How did it make you feel?

Where do we draw the line with transparency and authenticity? What if no one likes the real you?

For more details and my inspiration for this article you can visit my site mentioned in the Author field.

Almost every week I see brochures, websites, advertisements and newsletters that have been poorly written. Either the spelling is weak, or the sentences are badly constructed, or the key message is buried somewhere in the middle. Sometimes the message isn’t even clear. What these pieces lack is good copywriting.

Most of what I see has been written by highly competent professionals who are expert in their field. But not in writing. They imagine that because they are smart chief executives, or clever IT specialists or skilful consultants that they can also turn their hand to copywriting. Often they cannot. The net result is that what they write diminishes their message and damages their reputation.

Whereas poor writing will sabotage a good reputation, excellent copywriting will enhance it. Indeed really good copywriting can sometimes create a reputation where none existed before. So for example, a well turned-out brochure, crisply written and beautifully designed can help an organisation craft a completely new image. Similarly, a radically new website which has an eye-catching design, a clear structure and copy that is easy to read and convincing, can make a dramatic difference to an organisation. Good copywriting gets noticed and that’s good news for the business that the copywriting is supporting.

Good copywriting not only gains the attention of the reader, it convinces as well. That is so important. The writing needs to be attractive, friendly and jargon-free, but it will fail if its underlying message is not made strongly enough. An interesting example is the writing of a case study for a company magazine or sales brochure. Unless the case study contains clear and objective arguments to show why a product or service was a success, it won’t convince the reader.

Copywriting a case study sounds easy, given what I’ve just said. But it is not. You have to strike a balance between giving too much information to the reader and too little, and between inflating the reasons for success and under-selling them. Most important of all you have to remember all the time who your audience will be.

Understanding your audience is absolutely key to good copywriting. That’s where the value of good copywriting lies. A skilled copywriter will start by thinking about who they are writing for, what they want to say and the best way of putting that message across. It should be lucid, inviting and interesting. To me that’s good copywriting.

their services.

SEO Copywriting or in other words Search Engine Optimization copywriting is the name given to the art or technique of writing search engine friendly content. The technique adopted by SEO Copywriters involves writing certain text made viewable on any web page that is not only interesting to go through but also incorporates specific search terms called keywords or key phrases based on which that web page could be searched on various search engines. SEO Copywriting can be done or various elements of a web page in order to make the page most search engine friendly. These elements include title, alt text, main description as well as keyword tags.

Importance of SEO Copywriting.

The main idea behind writing SEO copy or Copywriting is to enable to boost the ranking or positioning of the website based on targeted search items for which it has been written for on leading search engines. Search Engines are always on a look out for fresh and genuine content pages. So, if your website has genuine content pages incorporated with competitive keywords or phrases in the right position, then your website has a better chance of being positioned in a search engine as well as detected if a search is performed based on those keywords or phrases.

SEO Copywriters experts are of the view that in order to make search engine friendly content on a website effective, targeted keyword or phrase should be mentioned once or twice. These keywords or phrases have to be strategically placed if it has to be detected easily by a search engine. The more number of words in the content the more number of times the key phrase has to be repeated. The ideal keyword density should always be around 3 to 4% otherwise search engines may discard the page altogether.

Effective SEO Copywriting usually works for a website to boost its ranking. If the keywords are strategically placed then the possibilities of having the site ranked further up the list is more on search engines. In case you require optimized pages for your website and are not sure about SEO content to be placed on it, then it is always better to consult an expert or an online company which offers copywriting services. Certain websites like .icopywriters.com offer a wide range of services to cater to the needs of clients and customers who seek effective SEO Copywriters for their website.

Search engines run on certain algorithms, which keep changing. If you have your website positioned well on certain search engines based on SEO content pages and wish to maintain its ranking there, then it is imperative for you to keep changing the content on your website as search engines are always on a look out for fresh and genuine content. In such circumstances again you would require the services of a professional company like .icopywriters.com. It’s a competition out there and the race to reach the top depends upon a number of factors. Effective SEO Copywriting forms an important and integral part of your online marketing. So, if your website does not have SEO friendly content then its high time that you should turn to a professional company which offers dependable copywriting services.

Copywriting is a career suitable for both the corporate and freelance worlds. So its an ideal resource for businesses &ndash from start-ups to restaurants, local shops, professional service providers and real estate agents &ndash to acquire the professional copywriting and editing they need. Hiring a freelance copywriter means you avoid hiring a permanent, full-time employee, paying for benefits, office space, a computer and equipment.

If you’re looking for as-needed copy writing or editing work for your next brochure, press release, advertisement, annual report, website, business proposal, article, technical manual, newsletter or other written piece, here’s are a few tips on finding the right one:

-Look on freelance job boards like Elance.com or Guru.com. You’ll find hundreds of providers with varying credentials and backgrounds. Providers earn feedback for their services, so you can see exactly what other clients have said.

-Check with any advertising or design agency. Typically these businesses either have copywriters on staff or work with freelancers on an as-needed basis. They should be able to recommend one or two.

-Expand your geographic view. Today, the Internet and email lets us work with service professionals at just about any locale. You might find a more qualified writer out of your geographic vicinity.

-You get what you pay for. Sure, you can probably find a writer in India offering $5 per page for writing services. But keep in mind, you do get what you pay for. Check credentials, background and previous writing samples. You could be sacrificing quality content, native language word use and familiarity with the American culture for price. You can also find yourself in a costly lawsuit should you find later that your published piece is plagiarized.

Realize you’re hiring a service provider and, as such, paying for someone’s time. So, like a plumber, lawyer or attorney, your responsible for payment whether or not you acquire the intended results. Review their previous writing samples carefully, ensure they have the background you need, then trust they’ll do the right job for your business.

Writing sales copy for a new or to-be-relaunched product takes a lot of energy and concentration. When you finish that first draft, take a rest. Then go back to what you’ve written with this sales copy checklist, which outlines the eight most frequent corrections and improvements I make on copy given to me by clients or students.

1. Pronouns. Do you have a preponderance of “we” or “I” and very little “you”? Wherever possible, change pronouns to “you,” which comes across as more captivating and relevant to the reader than “I” or “we.” In many cases, this seemingly mechanical rewording task forces you to ask yourself, “Why should the reader care about this?” or “What does this mean for customers?” That’s great, because shoppers and information seekers are looking for what’s meaningful to them, not for a monologue about the company.

2. Verb tense. Hunt for places where you used future-tense verbs (”will ____”) and change them wherever you can to present tense. This conveys more confidence and has a stronger impact. For example, change “Before leaving, we will check all pipe connections to make sure they are tight” to “Before leaving, we check all pipe connections and make sure they are tight” or even better, “Before leaving, we make sure all pipe connections are tight.”

3. Extra verbiage. Now find all the spots where your writing takes the long way around, and make your choice of words crisper and more direct. Get rid of the extra helper verb in “Together, we work to create reachable goals,” for instance, changing it to “Together, we create reachable goals.” Instead of “In almost every case, executives who have the intention of fostering teamwork do not know the best methods of getting optimal results,” write “Usually, executives who want to foster teamwork don’t know the most powerful techniques,” or even better, “Few executives know the most powerful teamwork techniques.”

4. Unnecessary sentiments. Wherever you said things like “It goes without saying that…” or “When we say X, it’s not just words,” either express the idea in a stronger, more interesting way or leave it out. Remember: If it truly goes without saying, then don’t say it!

5. Sentence variety. Look at the length and types of sentences in your copy. Do they mostly have a simple, short “subject, verb, object” pattern? If so, combine some sentences and sprinkle in longer sentences starting with a subordinating word like “when,” “because” or “through.” Are most of your sentences long and complicated? If so, make some of them short and stark: “This works.” “Not any longer.” “Benefits sell.” By helping the copy to flow, sentence variety keeps the reader reading.

6. Bulleted lists. Bullets organize points for fast, easy skimming. You can make bullets even easier to read quickly by adding short, boldface headers to the beginning of the bullets. The same goes for numbered lists &ndash as in this article, where each point starts with a summary of the topic in one to three words.

7. Company focus. Never assume that you can say something once and have the reader keep it constantly in mind! Suppose the copy you’ve written describes a service for chefs. Although many companies provide this service, only this company specializes in providing this service for chefs. Instead of making this point just once, drive it home repeatedly by adding the word “chefs” again and again throughout the copy: “For chefs…”; “When chefs…”; “Chefs find that…”; and so on. This drumbeat of specialization also helps attract search engine traffic.

8. Call to action. Most copywriters know that you need to ask for a response to get a response, by ending any piece of copy with a call to action, such as “Call today to start a free, no-obligation discussion of your needs” or “Order your Wonder Widget now.” But on a multi-page web site, I usually see a call to action missing on most of the pages. Probably people are thinking that visitors take a certain sequenced path through the site, getting eventually to the page where they’ve placed the call to action. That’s not how people engage with web sites, though. To prompt action, end every page on a web site with a call to action.

Although many other factors also contribute to the power and success of copy, the neglected ones above have a surprisingly strong impact on readers when consistently applied. They create lean, lively, relevant writing. Practice these techniques and enjoy a more vigorous response!

Optional Description: Once you become busy as a freelance copywriter, you can’t afford to answer the phone every time it rings. And if you’re not yet loaded with projects, you’d be better to pretend you are. Otherwise, copywriting prospects may think you are desperate for work, and talk you down in your fees. At the same time it’s important to have open communication with those clients who are paying you money to write copy. Here’s my unique solution gleaned from too much time as a child, watching Batman.

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I recently installed a “Bat Phone.”

Remember the old campy Adam West Batman series? Whenever Commissioner Gordon called, a red phone in Wayne Manor’s library would start flashing.

Alfred would come along, pick it up, and say in that servile English-butler voice, “Yes?… One moment, please.”

Then he’d go grab Bruce who’d be doing something heroic like teaching Dick how to bake no-fat brownies. They both race to the phone to find out which felon had broken out of Gotham City’s Prison.

To the bat poles!

Well, I have two paying copywriting clients who sometimes need to get hold of me ASAP. Often three or four times a week. I’ve not only been writing copy for their businesses but guiding their marketing.

At the same time I don’t want to have to pick up the phone every time it rings — for anybody. It just becomes too disruptive. I don’t even want to have to go and check the call display. Either my wife or my assistant can handle enquiries.

Simply put, I don’t want to talk to anybody who isn’t paying me money for my time and expertise.

I’m also finished with free consultations. Works for some copywriters, doesn’t work for me.

So, I called up the phone company and asked if they could activate an Ident-A-Call number. That way, when one of my copywriting clients calls, the ringer will sound different and I’d know it’s them.

The neat thing was that my area code just introduced a new three digit prefix. I was one of the first phone numbers to use it, allowing me to select the last four digits myself.

Well, going with the Bat Phone theme, I thought (298) 398-BATP would be easy for my clients to remember.

I almost went through with it, until I read it out to the telecom lady…

“Is B-A-T-P available?”

Silence.

“Bat pee?” she asked.

No, that won’t work. Call 398-Bat-Pee!

I ended up settling with (298) 398-HELP* which isn’t as original, but easy enough to remember.

(*That’s not the real number, of course. I’m not revealing the Bat Number in a public email).

Anyway, my clients are glad I got it (as well as my wife) as I tend to only check email and voicemail only once a day. It makes them feel that they are getting their money’s worth and raises my perceived value at the same time.

I’d encourage any copywriter to do the same… or to erect some other barrier around you and your time. If you don’t respect it, nobody will. Let ‘em suck up your time and they’ll suck up the dollars you could have been earning with it.