My one-year-old Airedale Terrier knows how to get to the point. She’s much better at it than most people I know running businesses, teaching classes, or even some people who write for a living.

If she wants you to do something, she has a way of telling you. If she wants the door opened, she lets you know by hammering on it. If she wants some of your lunch, she gives you the big brown eye treatment. You’re not left in any doubt.

She doesn’t get bogged down in corporate jargon. She doesn’t think you have to use “sophisticated business language” to impress people. She doesn’t try to hide a simple idea behind pompous academic nonsense.

A quick bark, she picks up the tennis ball, gives you a glance and invites you to play.

She knows a lot more about effective communication than most people in business. And just about everyone in academia.

She knows how to tempt you into playing ball.

She can persuade you to rub her belly just by rolling on her back and offering it to you.

And she even knows that it’s not all about her. She has to give something back. She has learnt that the humans have to enjoy the game too, or they won’t play next time. She has learnt not to bite your hand, or there won’t be any food offered in future.

It’s a pity a few more companies couldn’t learn that lesson: don’t bite your customers for the sake of an easy biscuit because they won’t come back - and you could be hungry by meal time.

And if you want someone to play ball - show them the ball.

A simple idea. A simple message. Perhaps that’s one reason dogs are so much more popular than business people.

Experienced professional writers won’t need to read this post. All the advice here will be second nature to them.

However, if you’re new to publishing your writing, these simple tips could help you look less like an amateur and more like a pro.

Especially number one. And five. And six. But seven is the most important.

1. Never use exclamation marks
Don’t use them. Just never use them. Using an exclamation mark makes you look like an amateur (unless you can get away with doing it ‘ironically,’ which is mighty tricky). Using more than one exclamation mark at time makes you look like a complete and utter idiot. Don’t do it!!!!

2. Don’t publish or send straight away
Always try to review or edit what you’ve written at a different time, when you are in a different mood. How does it sound now?

3. Break out of formal structure
At school and college people learn to structure essays with introductions and conclusions. There’s nothing wrong with this but there are lots of other ways to structure a piece of writing (including the inverted triangle used in journalism). However, even if you do stick to the introduction-argument-conclusion structure, you don’t have to be so lame as to highlight it in your subheads. Honestly, I have received articles for inclusion in a business magazine where the author had included ‘introduction’ and ‘conclusion’ as sub-headlines. What’s wrong with that? It’s boring and unimaginative, that’s what.

4. Use short words
Don’t try to sound clever by using long words for the sake of it. It actually has the opposite effect.

5. Edit
Cut out as much as possible, eliminating redundant words. Always edit your work as thoroughly as time allows.

6. Be clear
Remember that it is your job, as the writer, to communicate effectively. If the reader doesn’t get it, it’s your fault.

7. Say something interesting
Presenting a balanced point of view is all well and good - but it gets dull after a while. Be passionate about your subject. Be audacious. Project your personality.

If you enjoyed this post, please consider helping me promote it through whatever social media you use (Digg, StumbleUpon etc). Or link to it from your own blog. Or make a comment. Or tell people about it, in person or by email. Thanks for your help.

So you’ve written an advert, a direct marketing piece, a sales spiel. How good is it? Will it work? These are seven questions to ask before you show it to the client or publish it:

1. Is it on strategy?
It may be brilliantly creative, it might be downright clever, but is your advert or marketing copy communicating the right messages?

2. Does it talk to the right people?
Who is the audience for the product (or service)? You did know this before you started work, right? Now, is it clear that you are talking to these people? Does the copy get this across, does it haul them in?

3. Is it compelling?
Is the idea interesting enough? Is the copy? Or is it, in truth, just a bit dull? Be ruthless with your own work.

4. Is it instant?
People don’t linger long over adverts, so you’d better get your idea and message across pretty fast. Remember that if the headline doesn’t grab them, then they will never read that finely crafted body copy.

5. Is it credible?
Are you making claims that people will believe? If they don’t believe you, they are unlikely to buy from you. It’s always tempting to make promises about the huge benefits a product will deliver. But simply changing your underarm deodorant won’t really make you irresistible to beautiful young women. It won’t really turn them into slavering sex slaves. And deep down, everyone knows it.

6. Is it striking?
Has your idea and copy got punch and pizzazz? Is it unexpected? Does it stand out from the ads and marketing of the competition? If not, then it isn”t really good enough, is it?

7. Have your proved your sales argument?
You are trying to persuade someone to part with their hard-earned. You have made big claims for your product. Have you convinced them? Is there any proof? Or will they be left feeling flat at the end of it, still unsure? If that’s the case, you still have more work to do.

Providing your copy passes these seven tests, then using these criteria can be a good way of defending your work when you have to show it to clients or account executive types, designers and so on.

It shows that you are not just being creative for the sake of it, but that you are working hard, and thinking clearly. That there is method to your creative madness.

These seven rules of effective copy were adapted from the book The craft of copywriting: How to write great copy that sells by Alastair Crompton. It’s highly recommended (although somewhat hard to get hold of, these days).

As a copywriter, I usually ask a client to give me as much information as possible. If I have to write something for them about a product or service, I want to know everything.

Of course, that usually brings an information dump. It’s not just what they tell you. In this day and age, they don’t sift the information, they just email you every document they can find. PDFs, Word files, PowerPoint presentations, even spreadsheets. And they refer you to websites, with comments such as: “You’ll find more information here.”

Yes, but where, exactly? Continue reading →

Do you know the most important word in any piece of copywriting?

You probably use this word all the time anyway, perhaps without even realising it. In which case, you can make your writing all the more effective by using it more, and using it with purpose.

Do you know what the word is yet?

You do?

Good, because it really is a magical kind of word for a copywriter, one that you really can’t use too often. The really wonderful thing about the word ‘you’ is the way it makes you change the way you write. And it changes what you write about.

Instead of writing “I” this, “we” that, with the focus on yourself, your company, your product or service, it forces you to start writing about the reader, about the customer and what they might be interested in.

It makes you write about the benefits of a product or service (”this is what it can do for you,”) rather then the features. (”Our company does this. Our product does that.”)

As a blogger, it makes you focus on what your readership can take from a piece, the value you can give them. It makes you think about how your readers can act on the information you are giving them.

So next time you’re struggling with how to write something, try using the word ‘you’ as often as possible. It really does sprinkle a little magic on everything you write.

Editing is a core skill for a writer. It isn’t hard to learn but it does require a little time and patience (qualities that are so frequently in short supply….)

Even when deadlines are pressing, you should get into the practice of giving your copy a good edit before releasing it into the wild. Here are some basic editing tips:

Does it read well?
Regardless of what it has to say, does it make a good read? Does it flow?

Step back
Try to read it as though someone else wrote it. Forget that it’s your copy. Try to be objective Continue reading →

For just about every kind of writing, it pays to absorb as many facts as possible before you start to write. This means doing your research.

When writing advertising copy, for example, you need to know everything you can about the product before you try to write or even start to have ideas.

Doing the reading and research is time consuming, and can seem like an arduous task. On the other hand, it’s something you can do even when you’re not feeling creative or in the writing ‘zone.’

You’ll probably find the copy writing itself.

And doing your research, getting all the facts uploaded into your mind, is one of the best ways to get into the writing zone in the first place. Continue reading →

Whether your reader is in bed with you, engrossed in your novel, or hunched across the office desk looking over your website, you need to be considerate of their needs and desires. Here’s a few tips.

(This post is a response to the Cosmo headline challenge issue by Brian Clark at Copyblogger. That’s why it’s a bit over the top in places…. It’s all meant in good fun.)

1. Seduction at the start
Whatever you’re writing, be it a blog, novel or love letter, you need to tempt your reader in. Grab their attention and let them know there’s a good thing here, something hot, something they’re really going to get their teeth into.

2. Passion all the way
Write about things you care about. If you’re bored by the subject, it’ll come across.

3. Sensuality
Your writing needs to appeal to all the senses. Paint a picture they can see in their minds. Touch their feelings. Let them hear your words in their head, describe the scents and smells of the world you create.

4. Staying power
Great headlines and intro paragraphs are all well and good but you need to keep your reader hooked all the way to the end. No flagging.

5. Laughter
Use as much humour in your writing as you can, depending of course on the subject and the audience.

6. Excitement
You need to build excitement, and in longer forms of writing you need to pace it as well.

7. Sweet surrender
If you’re writing sales copy, you need to close the deal.

8. A well-toned middle
Cut the flab from the middle of your writing. So many novels, for example, start to stray after a powerful beginning.

9. A climax at the end
Whether you’re writing a novel or a sales letter, you need to build the excitement until it becomes unbearable and the reader is screaming for more. You need a fantastic ending. Now, if I could just think of one….

10. And a quick cuddle
Don’t forget, in all the excitement, to wrap up the loose ends. In a novel, the reader wants to know what happens to all the characters they have come to care about. And every sales letter needs a strong PS (or three). But don’t take too long about it. That just becomes an anti-climax.

For those of you who have read my post on writing in a conversational style, and the follow-ups, and the comments, many of which seem to disagree with me, I’d now like to refer you a higher authority. There’s a post on Copyblogger along the same sort of lines which you may find interesting.

Copywriting advice on the web tends to focus on direct selling. But that’s only one part of copywriting.

It’s understandable why this should be the case. The web is a place where a lot of direct selling takes place. It’s a technique that a lot or people are interested in because they have products they want to sell on websites.

But a lot of copywriting isn’t about getting people to click on a buy button. It isn’t just about getting people to ‘buy now.’ Continue reading →

If you’re paying a copywriter to do a job, you may not care about keeping them happy. On the other hand, if they are happy, they’ll do a better job and work more efficiently, which will help keep the price down.

So how can you help your copywriter to produce excellent work and keep them happy into the bargain?

Continue reading →

I’m sure there are hundreds of different ways of defining the ‘golden rules of copywriting’ - but here’s one ways, for starters:

1. What’s your proposition? You need to know the key messages.

2. Who are you talking to? You need to understand your audience, what they’re interested in, and what motivates them.

3. How are you communicating? You need to know the media. Is it print, the web, TV etc. The messages and execution will need to be adapted to suit the media.

4. Marshall your thoughts, make notes, have a plan. Structure your story or argument.

5. Create a hook. This is a theme or concept that brings the message alive.

6. Write clearly, so people understand and want to read on. Get to the point, and stick to the point. Use short sentences with active language and a conversational tone.

7. Don’t forget to sell.

OK, that last one is a bit of a tease. It’s a subject of its own. Hey, it’s probably a lifetime’s study. But it’s something some copywriters seem to forget. Everyone’s selling something, even if you just want people to subscribe to your RSS feed (mine’s up the top there, by the way), or come back to your website for another look sometime.

A great headline needs to do four keys things:

• Attract attention – you clearly need to get noticed – but you also to need to…
• Select the right audience – by telling the reader who should be interested. This way you get the right people reading – potential customers. Otherwise, you could just try shock tactics to get everyone reading - but you are unlikely to win their trust having attempted a “bait and switch”.
• Deliver a compelling sales message – and ideally encapsulate the whole story
• Drag the reader, kicking and screaming if necessary, into the body copy.

There’s a plague of these kinds of headlines on website articles.

These are some techniques that have been shown to work. There are many other around, but this may help you when you get stuck:

1) Tell it like is. Just say what needs to be said, simply and clearly:
• Half price booze
• 30% off print supplies
• Save money on accountancy fees

2) Make it newsy. Find a news angle for your headline
• Revealed: the truth behind poor dentures
• 70% of business pay too much for legal insurance, says survey
• Breakthrough in paper feed design, say researchers

3) Use the ‘How to’ promise. Using the ‘How to…’ headline should instantly highlight the main benefit:
• How to save money on your car insurance
• How to cut operation waiting times
• How to earn a living from home

4) Ask questions which go to the heart of the matter, such as:
• Are you ashamed of your English?
• Can’t get into your jeans?
• Do you want to be more confident?

5) Urge action. Be immediate and direct, by urging the reader to achieve their goal:
• Write for a living
• Be an astronaut
• Get the lifestyle you’ve dreamed of

6) Offer information. There’s a plague of these kinds of headlines on website articles. Nonetheless, the technique is still valuable:
• The ten secrets to killer copywriting
• Seven sure fire ways to get a pay rise
• The six instinctive techniques used by successful people
• Make yourself more effective in a week

7) Use testimonials, if you have them:
“I lost weight with the tapeworm diet”
“This is the best software I’ve ever used.”
“I saved £200 on my car insurance.”