Business Writing & Copywriting Blog

Where do you draw the line regarding being polite to your clients?

Dec 11, 2008 1 Comment »

Being polite is good in general. One should always be polite. Politeness can be an invaluable asset to you if you work as a freelancer. But where do you draw the line? There is a big difference between being polite and being obsequious.

Just refunded a client’s advance because he wouldn’t listen to reason. I had sent him a document yesterday; today he replied that he could have done a better job himself. He said the writing was mediocre, it didn’t make sense and it was needlessly complicated. This happens when you don’t have anything to say and you just want to write the 300 words you have promised. I quickly went through the document to check what he was talking about.

Let us assume that I have crossed the threshold of writing faulty language. Assuming there are no errors in grammar or otherwise here is how you would say that a document communicates what it needs to communicate:

• The headline that captures the attention of the visitor by offering exactly what he or she is looking for.
• Quickly explaining in the first paragraph how your service can make a big difference and help your client tremendously improve his or her business (or whatever you intend to improve).
• In the second paragraph you briefly talk about your team, the individual experiences and qualifications of your team members and their levels of motivation and commitment.
• In the third paragraph maybe you explain the tools that you have to carry out the service and your total command over those tools.
• In the fourth paragraph you normally talk about the work you have done so far.

This is the basic information you give when writing about a service. You can write it boringly, you can write it interestingly, or you can do the simple plain talk. I kept the language simple (I usually avoid clichés and jargons), to-the-point, and focused to the need of the client’s prospective clients. My main concern was to keep the message simple and captivating for the layman.

Anyway, upon receiving the client’s response I quickly wrote to him and offered as many re-writes as required to make the content acceptable to him. After a couple of minutes, he said he had no time to explain and he needed me to refund. I immediately refunded without further explanation.

Should I have tried to reason out? After all we started on a good note and he wanted my services on an ongoing basis. My experience says I shouldn’t have tried to explain further because such clients are normally quite impatient, they don’t respect your time and effort, they are quite unpredictable, and they have no clue what exactly they want and I think this is the basic problem with them. Besides, whether they are happy or not, they never provide you regular work simply because they themselves never get regular work due to the way they treat their work and their own clients.

If you want me to work for you the least you can do is clearly define your requirement. You must know what you want to convey and who are your target audience?

Now, you may argue that what is the use of me being a copywriter if I cannot make out how you want to convey your message and I will totally agree with your argument. If you think that I am a capable copywriter then you should leave it up to me how your message should be conveyed and if somewhere we disagree then there should be enough scope for alterations and further discussions. You hired me because somewhere you felt I can provide you what you are looking for. In case I don’t then there must be some communication gap, either from my side or from your side. All I can suggest to you is, let us fill the gap and see the completion of the project.

If a client is not satisfied I don’t offer excuses; I simply offer a rewrite and if I cannot figure out why the client doesn’t like the work I try to get more information. I try to do it as politely as possible even when the client is not polite. But even after that if the client shows a negative attitude I have no choice but to fire that client.

Writing website copy for a web design and marketing company

Dec 10, 2008 2 Comments »

From now onwards I will be regularly discussing the online copywriting and content writing projects I am currently working on. No, I’m not going to divulge the details of the client unless he or she desires to do so. So if you are my present client or my prospective client you need not worry. I will simply share with you the things that I am experiencing and learning while writing.

I have written for many web design and marketing companies so it is becoming kind of a repetitive job. There is a great temptation to open pre-existing documents and simply rehash the material, but that won’t be ethical and it also won’t be good for my self-esteem as a writer. Even if I have written 20 times for the same sort of business I start from scratch whenever am writing for a new client. Of course the things are the same and they are offering the same service. So how do you differentiate?

That is a challenge as a writer. Writing for a web design and marketing company mainly involves writing on three themes:

• Web designing
• Web development
• Internet marketing/SEO

To describe and sell these services one uses almost the same language and the same pitch. In order to come up with unique content I try to imagine myself being a part of the team. Every team is unique, that much I really understand and agree to. Every business team has a unique message to convey. There is something that motivates us. I try to catch that feeling. Now you may wonder why get involved so much if a company is paying you just $90 to do three pages? Well, it is not about those three pages and those $90, it is about getting involved with your work. Anyway, I am digressing.

This is something that always works: I forget about all the work I have done so far for similar clients. For instance, while working on this present content writing project I’m not thinking about the other similar projects I have worked upon (besides, there is always an interval of 2-3 months so there is also the possibility of forgetting what you have previously written). I consider it my first most assignment for a web design and online marketing client. Of course I utilize the experience, but that’s it.

SEO tips you should know as an online copywriter

Oct 16, 2008 No Comments »

As an online copywriter you not only have to write well you also have to write search engine friendly content because the search engine crawlers are as important as human visitors for every website and blog. You have to make sure that your content is easily accessible to the search engine crawlers and most of your pages are index and ranked for the right keywords.

This can be really difficult if you have no clue about what sort of search terms users are using to find the website or blog you are writing for. You can use your common sense, advice from your visitors and friends and keyword analysis tools like WordTracker and AdWords to find out all keyword combinations and phrases that you may prefer to optimize your content for.

Once you have made a list of relevant keywords and key phrases you start building your content around them and this is where SEO tips can come handy for you as an online copywriter. Here are a few things you can take care of while generating content for your website or blog:

Create highly relevant content

It is a misconception that if you use your keywords in your copy again and again it will fetch you higher search engine rankings. Of course the keywords and key phrases must be present on the page in order to get some ranking for that page but they don’t have to occur needlessly. As an online copywriter you should know how to creatively use keywords and key phrases to come up with compelling and interesting copy. Stick to the topic, don’t write less and don’t write more than required and stick to the subject; this is very important for SEO. Nothing compares to relevance.

Use keywords and key phrases in the title

The title is a unique identity for your webpage; it tells both your human visitors and the search engines what sort of information that page gives. By merely looking at the title people should be able to make out whether they want to read your webpage or not. The title of your webpage also appears wherever its link appears; for instance, if somebody sees your link on the search engine result page he or she will see that link with your page title as the hyperlink. And they are more prone to clicking the link if they see the expression they have just used do conduct the search.

Even if some other blogger or website publisher links to that page there is a great possibility that he or she will use your title as the hyperlink. So you can easily make out how important it is to have a unique page title for every page on your website.

Use headings, subheadings and bullets to organize your content

Headings, subheadings and bullets help you organize your content logically and it is easier to quickly go through your webpage both for human visitors and search engine crawlers. When a particular webpage is being crawled your headings, subheadings and bullets are closely considered and checked for relevant keywords and key phrases. They basically sum up the entire message of your webpage and in fact a person should be able to make out 50% of your message by simply going through your headings, subheadings and bullets.

Focus on the main points in the beginning itself

People are in a great hurry on the Internet. They don’t want to read the entire page in order to make out what you intend to say. They would rather read the first headline or the first paragraph and if they cannot make out what the page represents they quickly leave to explore other websites. Hence it is extremely important that you come to the main point as early as possible and most preferably in the first paragraph. This also gives you a chance to use your important keywords and key phrases in the beginning of the webpage without sounding spammy. Webpage crawlers generally don’t go through the entire page; they read the first 250-300 words and then move on to the next page. So the expression "save the best for last" doesn’t hold good for an online copywriter who intends to write SEO content.

Do lots of interlinking

This doesn’t come under the realm of copywriting but wherever possible link to other pages under the same domain because it helps the search engine crawlers find other pages easily. A network of interlinking makes every page under your website or blog indexable.

SEO is not merely an online copywriter’ job because it also involves tweaking the source code and including the necessary meta tags. But as an aware online copywriter with little study and learning you can provide complete SEO services to your clients besides writing content for them.

Empathy is the key when you are writing copy

Sep 30, 2008 No Comments »

In this Copyblogger post James has written how important it is to empathize with your readers. I think this is the most important aspect of your entire copywriting activity.  Empathizing with your readers means knowing exactly what they are feeling and what they are looking for. If you are busy blowing your own horn you are never going to understand what your readers really want from you.

Although he has pondered over many other points but this is the most important point because everybody wants to hear or read about himself or herself.  If I visit a website or a blog I’m not doing the website owner or the blog a favor; I go there because I want to go there, I need to derive something from there, and if I find something totally contrary and totally unwanted I leave immediately to seek the thing that I want from another source.

That is why whenever I am interacting with a client before starting work on his or her copy I make it clear that we have to talk to the reader in an interactive manner.  We have to understand why the reader is there in the first place. And then immediately attend to his or her requirement or necessity.

Setting my business goals regarding online copywriting

Sep 25, 2008 No Comments »

Of late I have been quickly getting rid of all the things that delay my working or make me work slow.  For instance I have changed lots of software tools recently, for example I have changed my word processor and I have also changed my spreadsheet application.  Oh yes, I use spreadsheets to keep track of my income and also the current projects I am handling.  Most of the bulkier Microsoft Office applications are out except for the windows live writer that I use to post blog posts. The moment I downloaded and installed Google Chrome it just took me a few minutes to decide that this was going to be my primary browser due to its minimalistic presentation.

I think undue distractions are one of the biggest hurdles in the way of achieving your business and personal goals so these days I have become extremely intolerant towards big and small distractions (but of course my daughter can distract me whenever she feels like).

Other than that I also changed my room because the previous room was quite noisy and full of activity (I was bang in front of the entrance so everybody was greeted by my cheerful or silly looking smile).  I shifted my working paraphernalia (just a plastic chair, a wooden table and my humble HP laptop) to my music room because it is the most isolated and peaceful place in the house.  I practice singing in the music room every morning before doing anything else.

This blog post at Zen Habits rightly says that too many goals are a sure shot way of achieving none.  There is no use going for bigger goals if the groundwork is not done.  The groundwork constitutes of smaller goals.  If I want to increase my business first of all I have to figure out what are the things that stop me from giving my best. Recognizing hurdles and obstructive habits is a smaller goal and is easily achievable.  Another goal could be taking quick decisions especially when those decisions are for the better.

You should also take smaller steps consistently without losing track of them.  Consistency is also something that I have been trying to achieve for a few months.  Consistency in performance, consistency in health related matters (because health eventually affects your performance and hence, business), and consistently in skills development.

There is an arena I have been ignoring so far: networking.  For a freelancer, the ability to network is of the same importance as the ability to successfully complete projects. Very few people know me and I too know very few people.  I am not implying that one should only network for the purpose of expanding business but greater business opportunities are just byproducts of a greater social circle.

Another small goal could be developing the habit of setting smaller goals and then achieving them.  I think this is the biggest challenge on the way of being successful no matter what you do.

Should I be charging by hour, by word or by page, for copywriting?

Sep 25, 2008 1 Comment »

As the number of quarries increases many clients ask me how I charge.  Till now I have been charging by pages and those pages contain particular number of words.  Beyond that word limit I charge extra for every extra bracket of hundred words.  Recently I charged by hour  and grossly miscalculated the number of hours required to accomplish the task.  I told my client that I could finish the document in five hours whereas it took me more than 15 hours.  That sucked big-time.

I charge differently for different content requirements but I mostly charge per page (assuming a page contains between 300 and 400 words).  Many people on various freelancing blogs suggest that one should charge by hours because this way you can charge a fixed rate no matter what the client wants you to do.  For me it doesn’t work because I want to provide a flexible quote to my clients.  Besides sometimes I also outsource my work and I am never sure how much time the writer is going to take.  It is better to pay him or her a fixed amount for a document of a particular size.

Anyway I am still in the process of deciding how I should charge but for the time being I am charging by page.  I have been charging like this for more than 3 years now.  Just because I have been charging this way for such a long time doesn’t necessarily make it right but my clients seem to prefer this. The method of payment should be useful both for my clients and myself.  What I mean is I would like to charge in a manner that my clients don’t have to overpay me and I don’t end up undercharging.

Do you need tools for online copywriting?

Sep 24, 2008 No Comments »

What sort of tools would you need as an online copywriter?  This post says that you need and HTML editor and a swipe file. Although I do agree with the swipe file thing but why on earth would you need and HTML editor for your online copywriting work?  HTML editors are needed for designing and developing websites and not for writing copy.  For writing online copy you need a decent word processor or at least a text editor. Many writers of late have started using simple text editors like DarkRoom (I find it a bit claustrophobic) and Text Pad because there are no distractions while you’re typing.

I prefer my word processor.  As I recently wrote I have just started using Atlantis as my primary word processor because it is very light and it has all the features I require to write.

Other than a writing software I don’t thing you need anything else.  Fine, there are many tools that can improve your efficiency such as EverNote and FreeMind but they are organizational tools and not writing tools. Just wondering.

Creating an engaging sales letter

Sep 24, 2008 No Comments »

Writing sales letters is a big part of being a copywriter.  You are always writing stuff to help your clients sell products and services.  Some sales letter are long and some are short; it all depends on what your client wants to say or rather what you want to say on behalf of your client.  Your sales letter, in order to be a successful sales letter, needs to accomplish the following:

• Once people start reading your sales letter they should read it completely
• Your sales letter should prompt the readers to take the action desired by your client or by you

Yes, just two things but they are the most important things/actions your sales letter needs to perform. How do you achieve this.  You can try the following:

Grab the attention

The Internet is full of distractions; and people on the Internet are not particularly the patient types.  This is not a fault, it’s just that there is so much choice on the Internet, easily available choice, that a person doesn’t even think twice before heading to another website. What do you do to avoid it? You grab the attention from the very first line.  How do you do that?  There are many ways you can grab the attention immediately:

• Offer something irresistible in the beginning itself using a headline
• Ask a question that elicits some kind of a natural response
• Use a graphic or a video that grabs attention (this goes beyond the realm of copywriting, of course)
• Shock the reader (the shock must be relevant to the topic of your sales letter)
• Promise something exceptional
• Be witty

Here the main purpose is to encourage your readers to read further.  A good way of writing is to prompt the readers to read further after every sentence.  After every sentence the readers should want to read the next sentence and this should go on and on. It is often said that the purpose of every sentence is to prepare the ground for the next sentence.

Use action words

This may sound clichéd (because you find this suggestion on practically every article on copywriting), but it is the best way of encouraging people to indulge in an action of your desire.  If you want them to subscribe to your newsletter then ask them to do so.  If you want them to purchase your e-book or subscribe to your service, ask them to do so.  It doesn’t mean that after every second word you prompt them.  Use the action words where you feel that they would be emotionally ready to perform that action.

For instance you have just explained a great benefit of your product or service.  In fact the benefit is so overwhelming that if a person can make use of it, it can really turn things around.  Take my copywriting services.  After explaining in a paragraph how exceptionally I can help you improve your bottom line (explained logically, not just claims) I can ask you to contact me.  Here my main purposes to encourage you to establish a communication channel.  In fact I have done this on my homepage — I prompt the reader to contact me after every one or two paragraphs.

Repeat some of your most powerful expressions

Repetition doesn’t make a lie truth, but if there is something that can really make an impact you should repeat it often on your page but just make sure that you don’t put people off.  Don’t blow your horn if that’s what you plan to do in the repetition process.  You can repeat action words at appropriate places.

Show empathy and converse with your readers

Talk to people, not at them. You cannot simply command people to buy from you.  You need to empathize with them; they have a requirement and you politely inform them that you can meet the requirement and even exceed their expectations. For that you have to understand what their problem is, what nags them, what troubles them. If a person doesn’t get good search engine rankings he or she doesn’t want to see his or her link among the first 10 results just for an ego boost (ego boost is fine for the initial couple of times), he or she wants some good traffic so that he or she can increase his or her business so that he or  she can make more money.  So if a person wants higher search engine rankings than that person is actually looking to increase his or her business prospects.  You have to cater to that desire in actuality.

You need to sound concerned and encouraging at the same time.  If all you can do is paint a depressing picture of the current scenario and then offer your search engine optimization services then it is not going to make much impact. Instead, sound encouraging.  Explain to your reader how things can be turned for the better and how he or she can use your services to increase his or her business.

Create a sense of urgency

I never believe in creating a false sense of urgency, but it really works sometimes.  Make an offer that holds only for a particular period of time.  For instance you can offer a 50% discount to the first hundred buyers of your e-book and you can display the number of remaining people (descending fast) who can avail this discount. Or if you are offering a treatment then you can list a few, true, dangers of not treating the ailment on time.

Highlight the main points

You can do this by using headlines on headings or whatever you may call them.  These are one of those bold, enlarged portions that you can quickly go through without having to read the fine print.  Headlines make it easier for the reader to quickly skim through your text and decide whether he or she wants to read further or not.  Highlighting also highlights your main points so there is no chance of missing them.  Don’t highlight every second paragraph.  Use highlighting only when it is absolutely necessary otherwise it becomes noisy and people leave your website, totally irritated.

I find writing sales letters far more challenging than writing the regular articles and blog posts because most of this work involves direct response and your client immediately gets to know how well or badly you have done your job.  This also means that you can charge more for writing sales letters compared to the regular stuff.

Does it require lots of training, writing sales letters? I don’t think so.  You need some common sense, you need conviction, you need to be able to articulate well of course, and you should be able to empathize with your readers.  If you can do that you can surely write a productive, engaging sales letter.