Archive for the ‘Offline Copywriting’ category

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.

1 comment »

Posted in General, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

Tags: copywriter Leeds SEO Copywriting Triple M Triple M Copywriting

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.

———————————————————————————————————————————

This post comes from Michelle at Triple M Copywriting, based in Leeds, West Yorkshire who provides copywriting for businesses and charities.
Call (0113) 289 2208 if you need engaging copy to lead more customers to you.

———————————————————————————————————————————

2 comments »

Posted in Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting

Tags: copywriter Leeds SEO Copywriting Triple M

Good Call! Part 2

January 10th, 2011

Whether you’re writing copy for online and SEO purposes, or for print, the ‘Call to Action’ is equally important.

The ‘Call to Action’ is exactly what it says it is – leading your customer /reader / prospect towards a sale by inviting them to make the next move.

In Good Call! Part 1, I covered the things not to do. Here in Part 2, you’ll see below some suggestions of different wording aimed at getting the reader to take the next step.

‘To find out more, click here‘ is the most obvious call to action, but it isn’t very imaginative.

‘Call now‘ can be used on or off line with multitudes of variations, such as ‘ To find out more about the new gizmo, call now‘. Make sure you include the contact details and if the caller knows who is going to be at the end of the phone line, even better for starting to develop a relationship with the prospect. So, what about ‘Don’t wait any longer, pick up the phone now and ask Michelle Marks for help with SEO Copywriting‘.

Look around for calls to action whenever you read a blog, a website or an advert. Then decide for yourself whether you think they’ll work or not.

Keep coming back here for more copywriting tips and updates, whether you need them for SEO purposes and online copy, or for printed materials. See you soon!

No comments »

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

Tags: copywriter Leeds Expert Copywriting Services UK Michelle Marks SEO Copywriting

Less is More – Especially When Copywriting

November 30th, 2010

It’s very easy to fall into the trap of writing too much, or going off topic. This post is going to be a short one, with a simple message.

At a recent meeting, one of the speakers, Steve Kennell of Digital Junkie reminded the audience to keep websites trim and review whether all your pages are necessary.

This is also the case when writing blogs and other marketing material, including offline copy such as brochures and advertisments. Too many words can result in losing the message (and the customer). So keep it concise, sticking to the objective set for the piece. Communicating your theme in just a few words which make sense is a skill.

It’s been on my ‘to do’ list for a while, so this came as a welcome nudge to me to review the Triple M Copywriting website. Take a quick look at it and see for yourself whether you think I’ve trimmed it or not yet.

No comments »

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

Tags: copywriter Leeds Copywriter Yorkshire Expert Copywriting Services UK Leeds copywriter Michelle Marks seo copywriter SEO Copywriting Triple M Copywriting

Press Releases and Articles – What’s the Difference?

November 8th, 2010

“Semantics” someone says.

“Absolutely not!” I respond.

Let me explain briefly. Press releases and articles are two very different things, useful for varying situations.

Press Releases are sent out to various media to inform the reader – be that an editor, correspondent or end user – of a specific event. This may be a new product launch, exhibition, appointment of a member of the board, to suggest just a few examples. Writing is factual and formulaic.

A press release has a quantifiable objective, which is to gain the attention of the recipient. In the case of the editor or correspondent, the aim is to get the story published in their newspapaer, magazine or online information pages. When it is released directly to the public, the writer often wants the reader to take action, for example, attend an event.

An Article, on the other hand is more like, well, er, the finished article. It is often more descriptive and whilst the facts must be correct, will probably include personal experiences and anecdotes to make it a captivating read. Inclusion of idioms and emotions may be relevant and the word count could run into the hundreds. Here, the author is sharing the experience in an interesting way.

When choosing whether to write an article or a press release, you should consider whether the editor has initiated the piece or if you are trying to catch his/her eye. Also be aware of the format expected for a press release. If you need any help, contact Michelle at Triple M Copywriting.

No comments »

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

Tags: copywriter Leeds Expert Copywriting Services UK Michelle Marks SEO Copywriting Triple M Copywriting

Good Call! Part 1

October 6th, 2010

Lots of websites I look at miss a key element – The Call to Action.

That’s the bit where the words on the website tell the reader where they can go to next, for example, to the contact page, to make a phonecall or to a linked website, such as go to the Triple M Copywriting website!

Recently, a client commented that she recognised it was my skill, as copywriter, to include calls to action without sounding too pushy or repetitive. So I began thinking of how many different ways you can call on your reader to act and some of the pitfalls.

Keep reading here to see 3 things NOT to do when writing your calls to action. I’ll write another post with some examples of different calls to action which are worth including in your website or printed material.

1. Not too Repetitive
Using the same call to action, for example ‘Click Here’ throughout can make the reader feel the copy is flat, and not really communicating with them. They may think they are being ‘talked at’, and not ‘talked to’.

2. Not too Pushy
This is possibly where Engish and American websites differ. In the UK, readers like to be led to the next stage rather than oversold. If your website is for informing customers about your product or service with a view to encouraging enquiries, wording like ‘for more information call blah blah’ is more subtle than ‘to purchase our services dial 0207 …’

3. Assume the Reader Knows What to do Next
Your prospect is looking at your website or brochure for a reason. If they want your services, they also want to know that you want their business – so lead them to the next stage by providing a phone number and email address and tell them to get in touch.

As I mentioned above, look out for the next post which will have some different calls to action.

No comments »

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

Tags: copywriter Leeds Expert Copywriting Services UK Leeds copywriter seo copywriter SEO Copywriting Triple M Copywriting

The Green Cost of Copywriting; Part I

August 17th, 2010

Copywriting is a vital part of marketing and marketing is necessary in a variety of forms for a company to survive.

As an avid advocate of green issues, the impact of creating copy is an important matter to me. This is something which I will continue to re-visit in this blog.

I will be researching the impact of creating copy both on and offline, providing you, the reader, with information about the effect of both printed material and virtual copy on the environment.

It is fairly obvious that printed material should be targetted so as to minimise waste. In future posts, I will give you examples of how to achieve this, whilst still ensuring objectives are met. You can read more about making direct mailings and brochures or leaflets cost effective and therefore better for the planet if you click on the highlighted words.

However, it is less well know that each search in Google or other search engines uses a lot energy. The more searches you perform, the greater the carbon footprint. It’s important to get your keywords right, so your potential visitor finds you with as few clicks as possible. Find out more about SEO copywriting at the relevant page on Triple M Copywriting’s website.

Come and visit this blog again soon to get useful updates on the topic of green copywriting or add a comment which I will reply to as soon as I see it.

No comments »

Posted in General, Offline Copywriting, SEO Copywriting, The Green Copywriter

Tags: Environmental copywriting Green Copy Michelle Marks SEO Copywriting Triple M Copywriting Yorkshire Copywriter