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!

Read on and I will tell you about a new service which competes with Groupon fairly.

Granted as far as Groupon is concerned, it’s ‘caveat emptor’ – buyer beware – and the retailers should do their sums before dealing with this organisation. But I think it’s fair to say that not everyone is marketing savvy. Believe me, with my copywriting hat on, I see plenty of business owners who have limited marketing experience.

I’m guessing it’s these people that Groupon often reins in. The deals may be great for the consumer and for Groupon, but for the product or service provider, they are often crippling. I’ve heard of one retailer earning less than 10% of their usual fee by the time Groupon has taken their cut.

Now there’s a new service, which has just been launched in the UK called GBDeals. The web designer involved is based in Leeds but it’s nationwide, not just a service in Yorkshire.

The advantages;

• GBDeals reportedly takes a cut of around 10%, leaving the provider with the majority.
• It’s UK based so the money it does earn is subject to the UK tax system, not the US
• The service should help UK based companies to thrive in a competitive market place.

For this new UK venture to be a success, we need to use it as consumers and as service provider. It’s up to us to make it work.

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.

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. 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?

Three Reasons to Use Quotes

To give your copywriting a lift and add colour, the inclusion of a short quote can have a powerful effect.

1. By incorporating some humour, the whole of the text can be made more interesting, especially when included (with caution) at the end of a complex passage, for example in a training manual.
2. Inspirational quotes can summarise a point and give it depth.
3. Quotes can give the reader cause to return if they want to memorise them and reuse them.

It’s Almost Christmas!

As we’re well into December, a few humourous Santa and Christmas quotes would be relevant. Relevance is key. If the pearls of wisdom or the amusing moment are not connected to the rest of the words, they become a distraction from the point you are making and as I have commented previously, sticking to the point is imperative.

Here’s some of my favourites.

“Santa Claus has the right idea – visit people only once a year.” ~Victor Borge

“I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not include.” ~ Bernard Manning

“No matter how carefully you stored the lights last year, they will be snarled again this Christmas.” ~Robert Kirby

“Handmade presents are scary because they reveal that you have too much free time.” ~ Doug Coupland

For my favourite quote, ‘like’ the Triple M Copywriting Facebook page and you’ll see it there.

It makes very interesting reading for anyone who wants to improve their business performance. The nub of the narrative is that extreme traditional intellegence is not the key criteria for success. Various elements of emotional intellegence include empathy, self discipline and motivation and it is the ability to apply these which enables individuals to shine.

As a copywriter, part of me feels that this is stating the obvious. Perhaps this is something I do naturally. Sometimes I talk to people who completely lack empathy, unable to see the point of their products from the customers viewpoint. I take pride in spending time communicating with my clients to understand the nature of their business, which in turn enables creation of copy reflecting the individuality of their organisation.

As I read on, I’m hoping to learn more ways of utilising emotional intellegence to improve my copywriting and my service. I strongly recommend this read to you too. Let me know what you think of it!

The majority of my copywriting clients – although not all – are from Yorkshire. This reduces costs of meeting them, which is sometimes not possible if they are too far away. I find face to face meetings much more personable than over the phone, which does help with understanding the businesses I am writing about.

A new discussion on Brand Yorkshire’s linked in group on the value of the use of the word Yorkshire brought generally positive response to the concept of using a local area to attract clients.

To add a new dimension to using place names, Google now helps with targetting locally. SEO companies such as Need More Clicks offer services to make the most of this opportunity.

That’s not to say that if your company is outside Yorkshire, I don’t want to hear from you. I do provide copywriting services for anyone in the UK!

Getting ready for a great evening is a process which you follow the achieve a great result.
Think about the stages.

• To start, you put on your make up and do your hair, so that it looks really attractive and you feel good about yourself.

• Then you pick out your underwear, because, as we ladies all know, the foundation of the final outfit falling perfectly is well chosen lingerie.

• Next you dress yourself fashionably, in something suitable for the evening’s dress code. Maybe a cocktail dress, or trousers with matching top, or a mini skirt – whatever you’re wearing you’ll want to fit in with the rest of the crowd.

• And finally, what should you put on your feet?

Well, you’ve spent an hour or so getting prepared, which is enough, don’t you think? You planned on buying some new shoes, but didn’t get around to it. It’s time to get going and the taxi is waiting, so you grab your comfy slippers as you dash out of the door…

Result!

You wouldn’t would you?

In case you haven’t guessed the analogy, the senario is about creating a faboulous new website, with SEO in place, perfectly designed, but as the budget is tight, you’ve decided to scrimp on the final stage, the bit that pulls it all together and write the copy yourself. It’s not really your area of expertise, but no-one will notice, will they?

If you went out with your slippers on, you probably would get noticed – for the wrong reasons. When you’re are wearing a well balanced pair of heels which set the rest of the outfit off, people may not realise the job the shoes are doing, but they will appreciate the overall effect.

The same goes when creating a website for encouraging new business. Why write the copy yourself, when you’ve invested in a web designer, SEO technician and a photographer?

At last week’s Brand Yorkshire event in Leeds United’s function suites, I attended a talk about social media. Things are changing so rapidly that it’s always good to find out what’s new, especially in the business of copywriting.

The presentation started with a slide showing a cave painting of animals, used to demonstrate that social communication has been around as long as humans. Early copywriters were a lot hairier than me! The means may be different now, but the objective is unchanged – to tell people what YOU are doing.

The delegates fell broadly into two camps. Sure, there were those who use LinkedIn and Twitter successfully to drive more business – many of whom are the companies promoting ‘How-to-get-the-most-out-of-social-media’ Services. The others, possibly the majority either haven’t got LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Business accounts, or if they have, can’t quite see how to get business from them.

Two Costs of Social Media

Talking to other small business owners, the general consensus appears to be that there are two costs to persuing a social media strategy. They are money and time. With marketing budgets squeezed, SME owners are choosing to write their own blogs and newsletters, but making the time for Twitter updates or Facebook posts is largely considered unproductive unless you have been enlightened.

Find Free Advice

It’s out there! Sign up for newsletters with tips, attend seminars and networking meetings which focus on social media. Look on YouTube for pointers from gurus like Will Kintish. He maintains that social media only works as an extension of real live meetings. Social media according to Will Kintish is about learning about your contacts, liking, then trusting them, which can ultimately only be achieved if you have a face-to-face at some point.

I’ve just requested to join a group on LinkedIn called Reach Further, where advice is promised. Quite a few of the contacts in my network who I trust are already members of this group, so it appears credible.

Part of The Plan

There’s no getting away from it. If you want to find more business from social media contacts, some level of investment in terms of time and money is required. To become a worthwhile excercise, social media needs to be part of the overall plan with an allocation for time and spend, rather than a hopeful dabble in the dark.

For a low cost option, invest in setting up your social media package, ensuring all the elements are interlinked. For example, this blog post will automatically appear on Triple M Copywriting’s Twitter page and Michelle Marks’ Linked In Profile.  The next item on my agenda is to link my Facebook for Business page up too.

If you want blog posts or newsletters written regularly, but don’t have the time or inclination, you can find a fair priced copywriter to write for you, with the key objectives of  keeping your name and brand out there as well as enhancing your SEO.

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.