Good copy is communicative, and good communication happens when there’s a rapport between the communicators. You can build rapport with your readers by creating a cordial atmosphere.

Here’s how you can write copy and make friends:

- Have respect. Friends respect each other. Don’t patronise your reader, or try to hoodwink them. Give it to them straight.

- Remember your readers are human. Your reader is an individual, a human being just like you. So address them directly.

- Be nice. You might be selling enterprise communication solutions (WTF?) but you don’t have to spout jargon.

- Be helpful. How can you help your reader? What information might benefit them? What links could you offer them to make their life easier?

- Use nice, friendly words. ‘Killer’, ‘eliminate’ and ‘destroy’ may seem appropriate when describing Mrs Crumbles Kiddie Café, but there are probably nicer words you could use instead.

Drivvel.com, the website that gathers the best copy from around the world, needs your help.

Are you…

- a copywriter, a designer or someone who works with words?

- interested in creating a community?

- able to give a little time to the Drivvel project?

Drivvel needs:

- a few regular posters to add great copy that they find (or write)

- help spreading the word

In return for your support you will be able to influence the direction of Drivvel and feature prominently on the site as part of the team. If you’re interested, please email info@drivvel.com

Thanks!

Easy is an important word for copywriters. It’s a word we can use and it’s a word we can heed.

Be easy

Your readers are more likely to follow your instructions, or be tempted to buy or vote, if you make it easy for people to respond.

Your copy must be easy to read, easy to understand and easy to act on. As a copywriter you must work through the ramifications of your words. If you’re asking readers to enquire by email, are you making it easy for them to do so?

If you’re giving instructions, are they correct? Have you tried following your own instructions? Is every other part of the business and website correct, and as you describe?

Lead your reader down an easy path, free of obstacles.

Use ‘easy’

Easy is also a brilliant word to use. People love it! It’s short, optimistic and encouraging. So never shy away from this humble, yet powerful, word.

People are busy. So get to the point.

This advice is so obvious and so commonplace that I hesitated to include it in this series of blog posts.

BUT… I realised that people often lose sight of what is really meant by this advice, so here’s my view:

1. Great copy gets to the point immediately, not just ‘quickly’.
2. Great copy puts the point first, at the start of the first sentence.
3. Great copy doesn’t let you miss the point, or allow it to get buried in a deep sentence.
4. Great copy doesn’t waste words on welcomes, greetings or platitudes.
5. Great copy doesn’t state the obvious.

As all good journalists know, you should tell people what you’re going to tell them, and then tell them what you’re going to tell them in more detail. Begin with the big point, the sexy whizz-bang nugget of fun that your reader wants to hear about. And then explain why your thing is better than competitors’ things.

Copywriters easily get wrapped up in rules, and lose sight of a fundamental part of good writing: being interesting. It’s no good offering benefits, writing actively and compellingly, addressing the reader directly and appealing to their deep-seated desires if your words are boring.

‘Being interesting’ is a vague challenge. What is ‘interesting’ anyway? There’s no simple answer to that question, but I think interesting writing can be defined as:

• Energetic – free of tired clichés and full of the writer’s energy. If you feel flat and miserable writing about something, that mood may carry over into your copy. Sometimes using a slightly unusual word or a familiar phrase (a cliché!) is enough to make copy interesting
• Different – sometimes being weird is all you need
• Appealing – it’s easy to write interesting copy if your clients have interesting products
• Humorous – making your reader smile is a good thing, though it’s tricky to get right
• Resonant – chime with your reader’s experience to get them on your side
• Honest – bullshit-laden copy is rarely interesting
• Timely – give people the right information at the right time. The question of timing and ordering content is one of the trickiest bits of being a copywriter. What should you say first? And then…?
• Appropriate. Similar to being timely – make sure your copy is also relevant to your reader. Help your readers determine if your content is appropriate for them with clear signposts and labels.

This is a quick follow-up on my blog post, “Where do copywriters go for inspiration?“…

The website I had in mind when I wrote that post is up and running, and a few keen copywriters have been adding examples of copy.In a few weeks, once the big wrinkles have been ironed out, we’ll go public!

So what’s this website for?

• It’s a place for copywriters to share great copy. Scratch that. It’s a place for anyone to share great copy. Anyone interested in building a better web, or anyone interested in marketing and advertising, can share great examples of words in action.
• It’s a place for copywriters, web workers and marketing types to find inspiration
• It’s a place for copywriting to be discussed and considered
• It’s a place for copywriters to show off their own best work – and maybe even find clients

If you like the idea of having a dribbble for copywriters, send me your email address.

In this blog post series I consider some of the finer points of copywriting – the little things that make a big difference; the tricks and touches that lift copy and make it more persuasive, better at selling and more likely to create a good impression.

How to write active copy

Great copy is active, not passive. Good copy is about doing things, and the strongest, clearest way to explain an action is to put the actor centre-stage.

Here are some examples of the passive voice getting in the way:

“There are first-class web design skills at Digital Solutions”

“More surfaces can be covered in less time with Whoople Paints”

“We were awarded the FML Award for 2011 by Spoxk Magazine”

Put the actor first, at the focal point of the action, to create sharper sentences. Here are the same sentences in the active voice:

“Digital Solutions offer first-class web design skills”

“Whoople Paints cover more surfaces in less time”

“Spoxk Magazine awarded us the 2011 FML Award”

Active vs passive

Writing in the passive voice isn’t always wrong, but the active voice can make your copy more direct and clear.

Groupon has a distinctive way of communicating. Their copy is often discussed in favourable terms and the business seems to be doing well. However, I think their copy could be better.

Here’s an email I received recently:

My main objection with Groupon’s attempts at humour is that (in addition to being lame) they get in the way of communication. A space that might have told me where the gym is, or what equipment they have, is given over to wordplay. A space that might have told me about the treatments offered by the spa is full of rambling nonsense.

Groupon’s copy is not copy, it’s a surreal dump of teenage wit. To find out the details on those deals you have to click the link and visit the website. But I shouldn’t have to – it could have all been there in my inbox.

Humour is welcome, but it should have some connection to the offer – and it should not take the place of informative content.

When writing copy for businesses, it can be difficult to get everyone to agree on what is ‘right’. As a copywriter, your words may be reviewed by several stakeholders, all with slightly different ideas of how their company communicates.

Copywriters can either muddle on, hoping to assuage multiple stakeholders and get their copy signed off after a bit of a slog, or you can unify your reviewers by getting them to agree a canonical tone of voice for their brand.

Bring together representatives from every department and get them talking about brand language. Get them to share their view of the company’s voice. And then write it all down, and get them to sign it off.

A short workshop can be enough to make everyone feel heard, and can be enough to produce a tone of voice document that everyone can agree to. Once the tone of voice is in black and white, and no longer an ephemeral mish-mash of beliefs, you can get writing. Not only will you encounter less resistance from your reviewers, but you will also have a framework to fall back on, should anyone challenge or question your copy.

Indeed, you’ll no longer be arguing about the tone of voice, though you may find yourself discussing whether your copy is in keeping with the documented brand voice – which is a far easier conversation to have!

When to use brand language or tone of voice workshops

Not every business needs to run a workshop. For small clients and startups it’s often quicker and easier (and cheaper for the client) to decide a tone of voice by simply talking about it.

However, brand language or tone of voice workshops are great for…

Companies that have grown

Many of my clients need help because they’ve grown from a small company doing one thing to a larger company doing several things, and during that growth they lose the ability to clearly explain what they do. Different ideas about the business compete for prominence, and often it’s easier for an external agency to bring some clarity.

Companies with several strong departments

Copy can easily become the battleground for corporate turf wars. Warring factions fight for control of areas of strategic importance (like the home page). Engender a spirit of cooperation and peace by bringing the warmongers together, and getting them to play nice.

If you’re interested to know how a brand language workshop could help your organisation speak with a clear, consistent voice, get in touch!

Copywriters have a job to do. We have to write the words that do the business. In this blog post series I’ll consider some of the finer points of copywriting – the little things that make a big difference; the tricks and touches that lift copy and make it more persuasive, better at selling and more likely to create a good impression.

Here’s the first part of this series:

Be positive and optimistic

Good copy carries energy and makes statements with positivity and certainty. Bad copy stumbles the reader over hiccups and hillocks, depositing turds of negativity along the way, subliminally suggesting disaster while promising unearthly delights.

Let’s look at some examples of how to fill your copy with energy.

Don’t write:

This training programme is designed to teach you everything you need to know about psychiatry. After three years of hard work you should be equipped to treat the worst conditions of the human mind. There’s no doubt that you will be able to command a killer salary after completing this training.

The example above contains hesitancy (designed, should) and negative words (hard, worst, doubt, killer) which, when assembled together, leave the reader with a vague feeling of failure. Even when the overall message is positive, these bitter tastes of negativity remain. So when you want to sell something, and create a positive feeling in your reader, chose your words carefully.

Do write:

This training programme teaches you everything you need to know about psychiatry. Completing this course will qualify you to treat a wide variety of psychological conditions.

You’ll also notice that replacing ‘designed to teach’ with ‘teaches’ creates a much more compact and direct sentence. As a writer you should be on guard for phrases like ‘designed to’ or ‘gives you the ability to’ because there’s a good chance they are slowing down your sentences and dulling your copy.