http://www.aarongerdes.com/articles/2006/06/12/7-quick-tips-for-writing-copy en-us 40 Strategy, design, and technology to stand out and win business. <p>Maybe you’re in a Do-It-Yourself mood, or maybe you owe your copywriter a draft and want to kick things off right. Here are some basic practices, best applied after the “brain-dump” initial draft.</p> <ul> <li><strong>Start with the prospect’s problem.</strong> Common-sense when writing your service explanations, but also applies to things like your company and process descriptions. Start each section from the problem your prospects are looking to overcome (that’s what they’re most concerned about, after all).</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Appeal to both the consequences of inaction and the benefits of solving the problem.</strong> Some people are motivated by negatives, some by positives. Make sure you don’t just focus on your own inclination.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Talk about benefits, not just features.</strong> A feature is a line item on a technical spec sheet. It requires some level of technical expertise to determine its value (if not expertise, at least thought — assume we’re lazy!). A benefit is what the product does for me or saves me from. I’m more interested in benefits.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Write as informally as suits your business.</strong> Think of a spectrum of obtuseness: Poetry – Prose – Persuasion.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Stories tell it best.</strong> Provide real-life examples of results your services delivered. Name names. Link to your case-studies and pepper service descriptions with mini-stories.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Include testimonials. Some people love ‘em, some people hate ‘em.</strong> The percentage of folks that love them may contain your biggest customer, so don’t write to yourself. Remember to tie them to a project and a person – anonymous testimonials have little impact for almost anyone.</li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Be concise.</strong></li> </ul> <ul> <li><strong>Close with a call to action.</strong> If you’ve done a good job, people will be ready to know more. A good write up on your services will end with a call to learn more. Several of my team members are excellent copywriters. If you’re getting too busy to write or would like to reap the results of a high response rate, let’s discuss your project. <a href="mailto:aarongerdes@gmail.com">Contact me</a>!</li> </ul> <p>This list isn’t exhaustive. Have more to add? Comments are welcome!</p> Mon, 12 Jun 2006 13:13:00 -0700 urn:uuid:3be27022-8af3-476f-acce-a806a144e3a5 aarongerdes@gmail.com (Aaron Gerdes) http://www.aarongerdes.com/articles/2006/06/12/7-quick-tips-for-writing-copy copywriting business web quicktips http://www.aarongerdes.com/articles/trackback/60