writing

 Title:  The One Word Every Prospect Craves Word Count: 513 Summary: It’s arguably the most important word in the copywriter's arsenal. It ranks right at the top with words like "free," "new" and "savings." Do you know what it is? Keywords: copywriting, copy, you, free, new, savings, marketing, copywriter's, your, you'll, you've, yours Article Body: It’s arguably the most important word in the copywriter's arsenal. It ranks right at the top with words like "free," "new" and "savings." I’m talking about "you." "You" is the word that gets your prospect’s attention and keeps them involved. As Herschell Gordon Lewis says in <I>The Art of Writing Copy,</I> "Unless the reader regards himself as the target of your message, benefit can’t exist. Benefit demands a ‘We/You’ relationship." While the "We" in the "We/You" relationship is important, it’s better...

 Title:  Perfect Grammar Is for Sales Sissies Word Count: 658 Summary: If you’re like me, you’re not writing that banner ad, Web site, or landing page to make your English teacher proud. You’re writing to sell. Keywords: marketing, grammar, copywriter, copywriting, sales, copy, prospect, copywriters, direct response Article Body: If you’re like me, you’re not writing that banner ad, Web site, or landing page to make your English teacher proud. You’re writing to sell. If you get an “A” while you’re at it, great. But don’t count on it. To get prospects to click, call, or buy, you’ll need to take some liberties with the English language. As direct-response legend Herschell Gordon Lewis so aptly said, “Grammar is our weapon, not our god.” Although copywriting requires a different approach than Strunk and White would advocate, don’t burn your grammar books just yet. It’s important to know the rules before you break them. Following are some rules to keep and some rules to bend or br...

 Title: A Copywriting Lesson from Dr. Seuss Word Matter: 402 Recap: Looking for inspiration for your next marketing interaction? Try the children's bookshelf. Keywords: copywriting, marketing, interaction, writing, copy, Dr. Seuss Article Body: Looking for inspiration for your next marketing interaction? Try the children's bookshelf. Dr. Seuss has captivated young (and old) target markets for nearly half a century with titles such as The Feline in the Hat, Hop on Pop and Green Eggs and Pork. The reason his publications remain so popular says something about what makes permanently writing (and reading), regardless of that or where the target market is. Nouns and Verbs Absolutely nothing maintains visitors moving such as solid noun-verb mixes. If the sentence were a educate, nouns and verbs would certainly be the engine. Adjectives, adverbs and the various other components of speech make the educate much longer and slower. Dr. Seuss' sentences have solid engines drawing light...

 To write successful copy, you need to know as much as you can. It goes beyond reading background materials, reviewing old marketing pieces and doing some cursory research on the Web. You need to get inside peoples’ heads. Start with your clients. They know their business and their customers better than you do. (If they don’t, they should. You can help them learn more.) How? Use a marketing/creative brief to get the information you need to ace the copywriting (and marketing) assignment. (A marketing/creative brief is a tool used by ad agencies and corporate marketing and creative departments.) Following is a marketing/creative brief adapted from one I used during my stint at a Seattle ad agency. Even though I now work solo, I still use it today. (Begin form) Marketing/Creative Brief (Note: Designed for B2B; much of this brief is also applicable to B2C.) Good input is key to a successful project, campaign, or marketing program. This marketing/creative brief is designed to elicit goo...

 Nothing can turn strong copy into a 97-pound weakling faster than a flawed review process. The result is severely handicapped marketing efforts and, alas, fewer sales. How can you avoid this dire marketing situation? By having a smart and consistent review process that preserves the selling power of your marketing communications. Following are 7 essential tips for reviewing and approving copy. <B>1. Review the copy from the customers’ perspective.</B> On the first pass, read the copy (all of it) without your red pen in hand or editing hat on. That’s how your customers or audience will read it. Now, what do you think? Does the concept work? Did the headline grab your attention? How was the tone? Does the copy flow? If you begin by editing the first sentence or sweating the details, you will do your clients or customers a disservice. <B>2. Don’t get hung up on grammar and usage.</B> If you think the copywriter broke a writing rule, 9 times out of 10 there was...