Marketing and copywriting go hand in hand. You need to write copy for your website, your social media profiles, your sales materials.
Not only that, but it needs to be done well. Copywriting is an extremely important communications tool that directly affect how people perceive and feel about your small business.
It can be a daunting task – use these 9 tips to make things a little easier on your small business…
- If you suck at or severely dislike writing, don’t. Hire a copywriter. An important productivity (and happiness) rule is to do and focus on what you love and what you are good at. Outsource the rest.
- Write a draft and then hire a copywriter. You can cut copywriting costs by providing a draft – it turns the project into a polishing/editing endeavour, vs content creation from scratch. This is especially important if your spelling/grammar are poor and/or you need help with readability and flow.
- Don’t be stuffy and boring. Write in a conversational way. Many businesses make the mistake of being too professional sounding in their copy, trying to communicate credibility. It only just frustrates readers, especially if there is any industry jargon involved. Make your copy readable by writing like you talk.
- Talk to your audience. Use their language. Create a connection through the words and tone you use. If you’re hiring a copywriter, give them a list of adjectives that would describe your target audience.
- Break it up. Bullets. Headings. Bolding. This helps to make your copy easy to scan and digest.
- Use a thesaurus. Avoid repeating words. It breaks up the flow of your copy and is not very interesting to read. If you’re stuck, a thesaurus can be a really big help!
- Write a no-holds barred first draft. I personally like by starting with a copy free flow session. I just let all my ideas flow out and I get them ALL down. Afterwards I’ll pick through and find the gems.
- Don’t go to print (or publish) until you’ve had a proof read. Your brain sometimes sees not what is written but the message that you have in your head. Especially when you’ve been working with a piece of copy for quite some time. You simply won’t see the mistakes. Getting someone else, whether a pro or one of your staff, to give the copy a reread is very important.
- Have fun! Don’t take language too seriously. Think of it as a creative art. Use your imagination. Don’t be afraid to change things up.
Do you have any other copywriting tips to share? Would love to hear them in the comments!
Comments, likes and tweets are always appreciated! Did I mention that I LOVE your feedback?
Image source: healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
My name is Martina and I’m a 
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
A lot of people think they are saving money by doing their copywriting themselves. But if they agonise over it for ages, and if it then ends up not being particularly well written, it’s false economy.
Think of it like this – spend 10 hours of your own time at, say $75/hour to do something that’s not your thing, or spend 10 hours doing your thing (and getting paid for it) and pay a copywriter for two hours work (cos it’s their thing, so it will take them much less time) at $75/hr!
I learned this lesson the hard way by doing my own website 🙂
Cheers
Nicole
So true Nicole! Thanks for sharing the financial analysis – many small business owners don’t stop to think how doing everything themselves can actually cost them money in the end. Appreciate you sharing your experience 🙂
Hi Martina,
just wanted to let you know that I liked this post and will mention it in my March 2012 newsletter, with a link to this page of course 😉
Sarah
Thanks so much Sarah! I really appreciate that 🙂
This is something that I have been struggling with myself lateley Martina.
I have been scanning the experts sites and taking it all in but sales copywriting and videos for that are a lot harder than you think.
I taught myself SEO, WordPress, PHP, HTML, CSS and quite a bit more over the last few years but sales copy has been the hardest by far.
Martina, I notice we are in a related niche. There’s a little invite for you below.
I realise that apart from a couple of comments, you don’t know me and if I were you that might raise some concerns. It’s a genuine offer. If you have questions please feel free to contact me via either of my blogs.
Steve Hippel recently posted..SEO Is Important No Matter How Much Traffic You Have
Hi Steve. Yes, copy is definitely something that many struggle with. It takes time and practice to improve, just like with any other skill. And if it just isn’t something you enjoy or are good at, a smart option is to just hire someone to do it for you. That way you can focus on your strengths. Thanks for sharing the link. I’ll check it out. Cheers!
Hi Martina,
I worked with lots of writers in the past 3 years, innitially I relied on their skills but I found out that doing the draft yourself helps a lot more in the process as well. Thanks!
Jim Anderson recently posted..35 Killer Web Copywriting Tips
Hi Jim,
Appreciate you sharing your experience. A lot of my clients provide drafts for me to then wordsmith and I find that this process works really well. Definitely helps to streamline things and eliminate some of the back and forth. Thanks for checking out the post!