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Adding Value With Good Copywriting

February 15th, 2012

You’re nearly there.

The design for your new brochure is complete or the site functionality of your new website has just been tested.

Now what?

Now the copywriting.

Why?

Let;s face it, it’s the words which add value.  What’s the point of investing in fabulous photography or SEO which puts your website on the first page of search, when the words let you down?

Put it in a more positive way – what do you consider to be the value of each customer who sends an email or picks up the phone to you? Multiply that by however many prospects you’d like to take action, then you get an idea of what good copy is worth to your business.

Decide Whether to Write it Yourself
- Or Delegate

It happens so often, that the website is left incomplete or the mailing has been set up but isn’t sent, because it needs the right words.
If you know how to write it well yourself, make sure you allocate enough of your time to put your message over effectively.

If not, call a copywriter, like this one based in Leeds, West Yorkshire (who works for anyone in the UK). Either way, don’t miss out on an opportunity to talk to your contacts; get it done!

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Posted in General, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

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Copywriting Within a Team

January 24th, 2012

Include the Copywriter at the Start of the Project

For some reason, copywriting often gets overlooked until the client realises towards the end of the project that they are not sure how to convey their message in words. Text can be added at any stage of development but do consider thinking about the wording earlier rather than later.

Including copywriting services during the planning stages has a mulitude of advantages such as;

  • The project is a complete entity, rather than having the writing fixed in at the end.
  • Launching a brochure or website within deadline is more realistic if the copy, design and technical stages are developed simultaneously.
  • If local, the copywriter can meet up with the rest of the team. I am based in Leeds and frequently travel all around Yorkshire.
  • Keeping to the budget is easier if the copywriter is employed at the start, rather than an additional element later on.

With this in mind, I have started working with a designer/photographer with a view to propose ways forward for complete projects at inception.

Winning Formula for Clients

As I am a freelance copywriter and the designer is also independent, ‘my team’ minimised the overheads and eliminates expensive agency fees.

Working with printers and webdesigners completes the picture. For SEO purposes, working as a team greatly aids inclusion of relevant keywords.

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Posted in General, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

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Short Catchy Straplines

January 19th, 2012

Your Business in 30 … 10 … 3

Previously, I wrote about summarising your business in 30 words, giving the example of my Leeds based copywriting services. Then I showed you how to hone it down to just 10. Even for a copywriter, it’s a worthwhile exercise, to make you focus on what you actually do. A strap line is a catchy hook, which memorably describes your business in just three to six words.

Get it right and a small thing like strapline can greatly enhance your business.

See how some well know companies get you to remember who they are and what they do.

Take the Strapline Quiz

Test your knowledge of these well know three word strap lines. It’s probably the easiest quiz you’ll do this year, which emphasises the positive effect of a well chosen strapline.

  1. Every little helps
  2. I’m lovin’ it
  3. We try harder
  4. Finger lickin’ good
  5. Just do it
  6. Vorsprung Durch Technik (How good is that? Most of us don’t even know what it means!)
  7. Snap, Crackle, Pop!
  8. Sense and Simplicity
  9. Always low prices
  10. Believe in better

One Step Better

Not another three word strapline, but a thought about how to create an even better strapline; include the company name:

  • The Future’s Bright, the future’s Orange
  • Maybe she’s born with it, Maybe it’s Maybelline
  • Beanz Meanz Heinz
  • It’s a Skoda, Honest
  • Happiness is a cigar called Hamlet.

Two Steps Better

This company even has the brand name in the strapline twice:

  • Cats like Felix, like Felix

7 Tips for Creating a Great Strapline

    1. Keep it short. Make it catchy.
      Between three to six words seems most effective. Triple M Copywriting’s strapline is “Making Every Word Count”. You are very welcome to comment on how appropriate you think this is, while noting it is made up of four words.
    2. Think about the audience.
      Your choice of words for a mature target group is different to a bunch of teenagers.
    3. Make it relevant and make it memorable.
      If you can use a play on words, or re-write a well known idiom, the chances of it being recollected are much higher.
    4. Don’t ..
      fall into the trap of using cliches. “New Year, New Car” or “New Part, Same Old Service” or “Committed to Serving You”. They are boring and lazy, so they don’t sell you in a unique light.
    5. Test It
      Remember, you may love it, but your customers and employees may not. Create a list of potential phrases and ask people what they think of them. Be honest with yourself. If it’s not going to work, let go of it.
    6. Check it out
      I recently thought of an amazing play-on-words, three-word-strapline for a client. Then I thought, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. When I tested it to see if it was already being used, sure enough, someone else had come up with it already. Disappointing, but not worth litigation.
    7. If you are still not sure what will work or want an independent list of fresh ideas – Ask a copywriter!

I’m going to end with a couple of questions. Are you happy that your current strapline superbly represents your company? If you’re not, what are you going to do about it?

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Posted in Copywriting Tips, General, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

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Marketing Alcohol

September 28th, 2011

I’m currently writing the copy for a website for a Leeds company which buys distressed pubs around the north of England, refurbishes them and makes them successful again. So I thought I should be upto date with the ASA guidelines for marketing alcohol.

The fundamental statement the ASA promotes is that all marketing should be ‘legal, decent, honest and truthful’.

But when looking at the issues of alcohol promotion, there are some specific additional guidelines.
According to the BCAP Rules June 2005, the following tough directives apply;

  • Alcohol and sex should not be linked
  • Advertising should not appeal to under 18s
  • Alcohol should be handled responsibly by the consumer
  • Alcohol should also be served responsibly

Additionally, adults should not be shown acting in a juvenile way in ads.
To take this a little further, ads should not reflect youth culture. There are several elements to the ad which this covers, including teen fashion, music and dance and general themes associated with youth culture.

When promoting alcohol, there must not be a disregard for authority and social norms within the ad. Practical jokes and other sorts of adolscent behaviour are also not permitted.

Whilst these are BCAP rules, it would be pertinent to assume that all marketing material, including online offerings should adopt the same standards.

All these elements are not just relevant to the copywriting when promoting alcohol, but also to the design, choice of music, placement of the advert, to name but a few.

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Posted in Copywriting Tips, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

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8 Practical Tips For Writing for a Poster

June 27th, 2011

If you are exhibiting at a conference, you’ll want to create eyecatching posters for your stand. Or you may need a roll poster to promote your business when making a presentation. For both, the same rules apply.

I recently worked on a set of posters for the Yorkshire Mafia Conference in Leeds, promoting five businesses, including Triple M Copywriting. This got me thinking that it could be useful to share the process with you.

In short, you want your message to be seen and to communicate positively with the reader.
Keep it brief, choosing just one key theme you want the reader to take with them.

Here’s a check list for creating a poster with impact.

  1. Design and copy should compliment each other
  2. Incorporate the company’s branding to aid future recognition/recall
  3. Keep it simple – avoid making it look busy and cluttered
  4. Less is more; Stick to the point with the copywriting
  5. Use a font with large inner spaces (letters like o and d) such as Ariel, Verdana, Georgia and Helvetica
  6. For titles, sans serif is ok, but for body copy use a font with a serif.
  7. Text should be 24 point min, 36 for titles – at least 5cm tall; Readers should be able to see titles upto 6 metres away and body copy 3 metres away.
  8. Include the company’s contact details. If the stand is busy, delegates may decide to get in touch by phone or email later – make this easy for them.

That’s it – my top eight tips for writing a poster. If you want someone to help you out, call me for a chat.

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Leeds Copywriter at Yorkshire Mafia Conference

March 10th, 2011

You can find me, the Leeds Copywriter

at The Yorkshire Mafia Conference

It’s at The Royal Armouries, Leeds          15th March 2011  9am – 4.30pm

Stand 57 – The Business and Profit Improvement Group

Come and see me on the stand of this prestigious yet FREE event.
The Yorkshire Mafia conference could be the most important expo you attend this year. As well as a variety of exhibitors, there are also worthwhile seminars you can attend. Make sure you book today.

The Business and Profit Improvement Group, who are on Stand 57, comprises five of Yorkshire’s most effective business support service professionals. We aim to help develop both established and new businesses throughout the region. Each member of the Group offers professional expertise in different areas of business proficiency. Here’s how what we do can help your business…

Bringing Business to Life
The group was organised by Keith Williams, entrerpeneur, successful business professional, mentor and coach. He shares the lessons and secrets of his 37 years of experience with other entreprenuers, owners and managers.
Keith@keith-willliams.co.uk     01977 619 998

Triple M Copywriting …that’s me!
Michelle Marks creates distinctive words to inform you customers why they need you. Michelle is an experienced marketing manager who knows the precise words to make prospective clients take notice.
michelle@tripleMcopywriting.co.uk 0113 289 2208

Benchmark Marketing
For more than 20 years, owner of Benchmark, Margaret Hartley has been working with Yorkshire businesses, creating sales and training professionals.
margaret@benchmark-marketing.co.uk      07803 022423

Outside in Management Ltd
Headed by Peter Cruikshanks, qualified engineer and chartered accountant with many years experience of managing organisations of all sizes.
Through systemisation, Outside in Management helps businesses to increase productivity and staff engagement while reducing lead times and waste
peter@outsideinmanagement.co.uk    07790 615120

Saxton Partners – Executive Coaching
Saxtons has delivered Executive Coaching with specific results and a ‘money back guarantee’ for over a decade. It works with management teams who need to be emotionally resiliant, whatever the challenge.
helen@saxtonpartners.co.uk    0845 257 0036

I look forward to seeing you there on the day.

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Posted in Diary Of a Copywriter, General, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

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Use the Right Font for the Writing Media

February 18th, 2011

When creating copy for different media, the choice of font is very important. We’re all seen menus and flyers with swirly hand writing stylised lettering, which looks effective, but in reality is impossible to read.

Serif or Sans Serif

Choice of font for printed media or for writing on the web is different. One of the main factors, as well as the obvious one of clarity is whether to use a serif or sans serif font. Let me explain.

Individual letters with serifs have little protrusions at the top or bottom, depending on the shape of the letter. Times Roman is the most well known of these. Fonts with serifs subliminally create an incomplete line which guides the eyes over reading printed copy.

Sans Serif fonts, such as Verdana, Calibri and Helvetica, as well as the traditional Arial do not have these little additional tags. When writing a piece for on a screen, it’s better to choose a font without serifs. Tahoma is one of my favourites.

Script and Dingbats

Script fonts, such as Bush Script and Blackadder have their place in things like invitations but reading a lot of copy written in these can be difficult and offputting to the reader.

Dingbats, including Wingdings and Marlett are generally not readable fonts as they are made up of symbols. They’re not something I have ever used in since I began my Leeds based copywriting service!

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Posted in Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting, Uncategorized

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Who Needs A Copywriter?

February 7th, 2011

If you’re writing text for any promotional material for the web or for print you may be considering whether to do it yourself or if you need the services of an expert freelance copywriter. In these challenging times, you may be able to save a little but would that just be wasting what you’ve spent on design?

Here’s a few questions to help you decide whether you have the skills to create great copy which will sell your product or service.

  • Can you define your goal in words and write it down?
  • Do you know which details NOT to include, as well as which ones you should write about?
  • Does writing copy in plain English come easily, or is grammatically correct, succinct language an enigma to you?
  • Are you aware of how copy and SEO are inter-related?
  • How good is your ability to persuade your reader to take the next step?
  • Have you been putting it off and is the lack of copy holding up the launch of your website, brochure or advert?

Answering these questions should help clarify whether or not you need someone who is practiced and experienced at communicating messages in print or online.

When you ask yourself whether to outsource this process or save the cost by writing the piece yourself, all I urge is that you answer honestly.  If you’re sure you can do a good job, that’s great – just do it! But if you’re not so sure, ask a copywriter – when you look at the returns, you feel it was money well spent.

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Copywriting Explained in Just 10 Words

January 26th, 2011

In my last post, I summarised Triple M Copywriting in 30 words and suggested you do the same for your business.

Just as a chef reduces the sauce to intensify the flavour, I am going to ask you to concentrate your mind and take this exercise a step further. Try to explain your business writing around only ten words (not including your business name in the word count).

For my Leeds based copywriting business, I have come up with a couple of short lines.

“Triple M Copywriting: Creates distinctive words to explain why customers need you”

or alternatively

“Triple M Copywriting: Providing words with impact to gain and retain customers”

Have a go at this yourself. It’s not always that easy to use just a few words to get your message across, but the fewer words you include, the greater the impact. If  your use keywords for SEO purposes in the description, all the better. Of course, if you get stuck stringing the right words together, you can always contact an expert who can help you with the copywriting.

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Writing Your Business Summary in 30 Words

January 19th, 2011

I’ve been asked to summarise Triple M Copywriting in just 30 words. This is to describe what my company does for delegates at the Yorkshire Mafia event taking place in Leeds on March 15th 2011. I’m sharing a stand with some other freelancers, so if you’re going to be there, come and see me.

Writing down what your business does is a useful excercise which makes you think and re-focus on what your core offering really is.

Here’s what I came up with:

“Good copywriting enables you to gain and retain clients – not lose them to competition.

Triple M Copywriting provides distinctive wording explaining your products and encouraging customers to buy from you”

With only thirty words to play with, I didn’t get the chance to include things like the fact that I write SEO copy for the web as well as for printed material. That’s ok, because invariably the first question I am asked face to face is what sort of copy do I write. If I’d answered this in my summary, the opening would be lost, along with the opportunity to talk about my work as a copywriter.

Have a go a writing your thirty word summary and post it in comments.

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Posted in Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

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