Archive for Writing Great Copy – Page 7

On Writing: Stephen King’s Advice Extended for the Web

Onwriting
Here’s a nugget gleaned from 37 Signals’ Signal vs Noise blog about writing advice given by master story teller Stephen King in his book On Writing:

"Formula for success: 2nd Draft = 1st Draft – 10%…"

I’m one of those  picky writers who  trained as an editor in an earlier life, so I even reread my emails before sending. I hate typos and errors and excess words. And I commit these faults frequently.

That is why I recommend rereading everything before sending or publishing. If you’re a writer of anything on the Web, you owe it to yourself to become nit-picky. Or get a professional editor or even a friend to review before you publish.

True, much of what is written in blogs is rife with errors, and some younger writers seem to not care so much about form as content. But the rules of grammar and spelling weren’t invented by anal-retentive professors bent on slapping knuckles. They are there for good reason: to avoid ambiguousness and confusion.

And there is an additional reason this is important when you are writing for the web:

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Skimmers Need Subheadings and Lists

Making_notes  Michael Stelzner asks How Do You Capture Skimmers over on his Writing White Papers blog today, and it got me thinking. It’s true, everyone’s busy, and admit it, we don’t read things carefully, we skim. So what’s a writer to do?

Michael suggests using lots of good subheadings and short paragraphs. I’ll add this:

Use Bulleted Lists

Make a list. Bulleted lists, either numbered or not, make it easy for skimmers to read your paper, ezine, blog post. Case in point, here’s how you format for skimmers:

  • Break up your writing with subheadings
  • Break up your paragraphs into shorter ones
  • Use lists whenever you have more than three items
  • Be sure to identify your list with a subheading

Here’s another tip: I’ve seen writers put the number of words at the top of an article along with the minutes it takes to read it:

Writing for Skimmers
(c)2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D.
163 words, reading time: 1 minute

This reassures people in a hurry that they have time to skim your work. What do you think about this technique?

Writing Better- Lessons from Tennis

Nadal Yesterday I was a few minutes late to our Mentor class call. My trusty partner Denise asked what happened. My only excuse was watching Rafael Nadal play tennis on TV over at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells. A poor excuse, I admit, but look at it this way: you can learn a lot about writing for your blog, articles, and white papers from the game of tennis.

  1. Keep your eye on the ball. "See" the lines, the net and your opponent, but always keep your eye focused on the ball. When writing you must "see" your outline, your stories, and your structure, but keep your focus on the purpose of your writing project.
  2. Serve with force into the server box. If your serve is superior in speed, power, and accuracy, you won’t have to worry about your ground strokes. The same goes for writing a strong headline. If you craft a powerful compelling headline, you don’t have to struggle so much with the content.
  3. Hit the ball to where they are not. If the opponent comes to net, lob the ball high and deep. Or, make them run from side to side. Same with content: keep them guessing, use variety, and give them information or a perspective they don’t already have.
  4. In tennis, he who hits the ball within the lines last wins the point. That’s it. It doesn’t have to be pretty. You just have to outlast the opponent. In copywriting, it is often he who gets the most clicks or responses from the reader. That’s it, results count. Your writing doesn’t have to be pretty, just effective. Persist.
  5. Follow through with your strokes. Forehand or backhand, that usually means from low to high. In writing for the web, you also need to follow up with people who respond. In blogs, thank them for participating in the conversation. For sales copy, make sure your autoresponder confirmation is personable and clear about next steps. Follow through with subsequent messages to ask for feedback.

I could go on and on, but I’d like you to have a try at this fun game. How is writing like…[your favorite sport]?

Headline Makeovers with Wizard Clark

More headline wizardry from Copyblogger Brian Clark. If you’re like me, you learn a lot when people explain the options and decisions. I picked up a couple of tips on writing stronger headlines by using more powerful words.

1. The Secret Selling Power of Color
Original Headline: Colors for Marketing

Reasoning: In this case, the original headline communicated what the post was about, but I thought it could use a bit of jazzing up. I went with the old stand-by “The Secret of…” format since this information is not generally well known, and employed more vivid wording. While you want to avoid hyperbole, understatement is often not the most effective approach.

Lessons I learned: Think jazzy, vivid wording, avoid hype yet do not understate.

2. Discover New Music That’s Perfect for You
Original Headline: Discovering Music That You Like

Reasoning: It’s hard to go wrong when you start a headline with the word “discover,” but discovering is a bit too unassertive here. Also, while “new” is implied, the headline gains a bit of momentum by its express inclusion. Finally, music that you “like” seems less than earth shattering. Speaking to the individual tastes and preferences of the reader in a general sense seems to be the best approach given that we don’t know what those tastes and preferences are.

Lessons I learned: avoid non-assertive words, go for earth shattering.

If you missed lesson one, go here and to Brian’s original post here.

Info Products: Why People Fail

I got an email this morning from marketer Bob Serling. He says that a survey of people who have taken info product development courses reveals a surprising fact on why people fail.

I would have guessed inadequate marketing, a badly put together product, inability to set up a merchant account or shopping cart system, or a number of other reasons. It turns out that while those are important, they aren’t what really stops people from being successful.

What is really the number one reason why so many people fail, according to Bob? Quite simply, it’s:

The failure to ever create their information product.

Ouch! You can’t get to first base unless you pick up the bat and swing.

We’ll be discussing info products Thursday morning on the Blogging and Beyond radio show, www.VoiceAmerica.com, at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT with Paulette Ensign. For info on the show, visit www.BloggingandBeyond.com.

Headlines: Extreme Makeovers From Brian Clark, The Copyblogger Master

Daily_times May the Headline Gods bless Brian Clark: he’s undertaken a Herculean task of rewriting headlines for over 100 people who submitted their samples to him.

He calls it March Madness, and I at first thought it would be more like Headline Hell. But wait, no, these sample headlines were actually good to start with.

Master that he is, he’s managed to turn good headlines into great. Here are some samples from the first round:

1. Here’s How You Improved My Blog
Original headline: How My Readers Helped Improve My Blog

2. Passion or the Illusion of Job Security?
Original headline: Non-Existence of Job Security

3. Why the Next Web Will Be Smarter Than You
Original headline: The Web Next Revolution

4. Six Reasons Why You Might Want to Avoid the Tracks GTD Software
Original headline: Digital GTD: A Review of the ‘Tracks’ Software

5. How to Transform Your Boring Bedroom Into a “Boudoir”
Original headline: Transforming Your Space… Can You Say Boudoir?

You can read Brian’s reasoning for making these changes at the Copyblogger blog post here.

Headlines: More Tips from Clayton Makepeace

Daily_times Denise shares these great headline tips over on BizTipsBlog: In a recent newsletter from copywriter Bob Bly, he posted a 7-point checklist for writing stronger headlines..

Clayton Makepeace, arguably the most successful freelance copywriter on the planet, suggests asking these 7 questions about the headline you’ve just written:

1. Does your headline touch a nerve?

2. Does it make a unique claim or statement?

3. Does it provoke curiosity?

4. Is it credible?

5. It is specific?

6. Does it have a news element?

7. Does it offer a compelling benefit for reading?

Source: Clayton Makepeace teleconference, 12/20/06.

A headline can be for a sales letter, a blog post, or an email message.

Related posts:
Recipe for an Ezine: Email Subject Lines

Marketing with Articles: Each Article is a Sales Agent for Your Business

Ezinearticles_platinum_grey I know many people struggle with writing an article. Then, when they learn that you really need 25 articles, or 50, or 100 submissions before you can get marketing juice from article directories…well, it’s daunting to say the least!

The key to writing numerous articles and making them work for marketing your business is to look at each one as a sales agent. Write short articles, introduce a common challenge or problem your clients have, reveal a solution, and then give people a reason to click through to your site for more solutions, more information.

Chris Knight is the founder of EzineArticles.com who awards the Platinum Ezine Articles Expert badge to professionals with numerous quality articles. He will reveal more tips on how to use your articles as sales agents on our Internet radio show Blogging and Beyond, Thursday March 1, at 8 a.m. PST (11 a.m. EST) on VoiceAmerica.com.

You can get more of his article marketing strategies here:

Articleproductionstrategiescknight_3 http://www.drivetrafficwitharticles.com/

Here’re some more good tips about writing articles for syndication from Chris, and why it is important to create a "mental separation" between yourself and your articles:

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Marketing with Articles: Chris Knight on Blogging and Beyond Radio

Blogging and Beyond: Episode 8
March 1, 2007, 8:00 a.m. PT (11 a.m. ET) on VoiceAmerica

Articleproductionstrategiescknight_2 Blogging and Beyond with The Blog Squad, Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D., and Denise Wakeman
With Guest Expert: Christopher Knight of
www.EzineArticles.com   

"Marketing Your Business with Articles"

Writing and submitting articles to directories is a key strategy for smart marketing online. It’s all about driving traffic to your blog or website. Christopher Knight has been at the forefront of this article syndication model with EzineArticles.com, a leading directory with over 2 million visitors each month. He shares best practices for article marketing with The Blog Squad.

In the second half of the show, Ideal Client Erik Feder shares his progress on his blog and website.

Chris Knight is also the author of Article Production Strategies. If you have questions you would like us to ask Chris, use this link to submit your question.  We’ll do our best to get them answered during the show..

Writing Articles + Article Directories = Smart Marketing

In preparation for our Blogging and Beyond radio show Thursday, March 1, when The Blog Squad is interviewing Christopher Knight of EzineArticles.com, I’m reviewing key points about using articles to market your business.

Sign_up_1 Smart Marketing with Articles
©2007 Patsi Krakoff, Psy.D. & Denise Wakeman, The Blog Squadtm

You’ve probably heard about article marketing and how important it is for getting exposure for your ideas and expertise on the Web.

In the consulting work we do with professionals who want to get known and get found on the Web, we recommend writing articles and submitting them to directories as a key strategy.

Submitting short articles to directories that demonstrate your knowledge helps in a number of ways:

1. Drives targeted traffic to your blog or website.
2. Builds your credibility with prospects looking for the type of services you provide.

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