I’m tempted to not mention this (thereby increasing the odds I’ll win) but the notebookism blog is hosting a notebook giveaway, and all you have to do is guess a number between 1 and 5,000.
It’s so easy, even a freelance writer could do it. But hurry – don’t wait or all the good numbers will be gone.
[tags]notebook, notebookism, contest[/tags]
If I convince my readers of anything, it’s that the copywriters who add value beyond the words set themselves apart from the herd.
Part of adding value means staying current, and intelligently applying new marketing developments to your clients’ situation.
For example, John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing posted a note about a hosted “click-to-call” service for small business from Jaduka.
“Click to call” has been a staple contact point on the Web sites of larger companies for some time.
A customer clicks, their phone rings, and they’re talking to a service representative.
It’s an impressively seamless customer engagement point, and – until now – it’s been the province of larger companies.
Now anyone can add “click-to-call” to their Web site or other online contact point – even Google listings.
Jaduka even offers a free account.
I don’t know if it’s a useful tool for sole proprietors. But for a business of any size, it’s a great example of the Internet leveling the playing field.
And an excellent demonstration of yet another way to add value to your copywriting relationships.
[tags]duct tape marketing, click-to-call, click-and-connect, jaduka, copywriter, [/tags]
Last Friday I posted about feeling tired and ready for a break from writing, and what form that break might take.
Well, here it is Friday again, and I feel like I’ve been gently massaged by a dozen baseball bat-wielding youth. And I think it’s time to kill off all this “head off, recharge my batteries and refresh my muse” crap. It’s time to go nuclear.
Why waste time hiking in the wilderness or sitting on cheap lawn furniture when you can relax, watch your waterproof LCD television and get bubbled half to death?
More on this from that zany bunch at Sci-fi Tech:
The Cosmo Hydromassage Television Bathtub not only comes with said LCD screen, but also has all sorts of jets and bubbles and such to massage your tired muscles while you watch Oprah and eat bon-bons.
Think of the improvements to productivity. Think of the words you’ll produce after just 45 minutes in this baby.
Can you not afford to buy one right now? Is this the ultimate writer productivity tool?
I didn’t think so either. And never fear. I’ve got a couple copywriting-related posts coming your way. Enjoy your Friday!
[tags]writing, copywriting, Fridays[/tags]
Chief Marketer magazine just published an article predicting the hottest trends in brand marketing for 2007 . (I blogged it on my Engagement Principles marketing blog.)
The #1 trend? The growth of Engagement Marketing. That’s great news for smart, value-added copywriters.
What’s engagement marketing? The current definition is “…turning on a prospect to a brand idea enhanced by the surrounding context.”
It’s an awkward way to describe engaging with customers rather than pummelling them with traditional sales techniques.
An excellent small-business example is Tim Jackson’s Masiguy blog. It engages road cyclists in the day-to-day life of a true cycling geek working at Masi bicycles.
Little product information. No features. No benefits. Just connection.
Does engagement work? It’s credited with helping double the company’s sales each of the last two years.
Why Is That Good For Writers?
While engagement marketing takes many forms, small and medium sized business will likely test the waters with a blog. And those blogs will need content.
Which is where you come in.
The strongest engagement occurs when a company demonstrates that its passions align with those of their customers. So a bike company blog would be written by a cyclist.
And a book publisher’s blog would be written by an avid reader.
What do you love to do? Where does your expertise and passion lie?
Make Your Passions Pay.
Here’s a plan: Pick a dozen companies you want to work for – companies whose products and services are near and dear to your heart.
Contact them, get to their marketing director, and ask if they’re planning a blog. If not, use the information you find here, on The Engagement Principles and elsewhere on the Internet to pitch them one.
Another option is to locate PR firms serving markets that interest you (PR firms often specialize).
It’s likely that PR firms will be among the first to offer blogs to their clients. Yet they won’t have the bandwidth to populate them with content.
Engagement marketing requires a steady of flow of relevant, passionate content. Unlike so many other marketing projects, blogs generate steady revenues for copywriters willing to make the commitment.
I’ll post more on this in the near future.
In the meantime, build your engagement marketing credentials. It’s a part of the industry destined to grow quickly. And it represents the kind of better-paying, long-term projects that boost your revenues and smooth out your revenue highs and lows.
Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
[tags]marketing, engagement, chief marketer, blog, blogging, copy, copywriter, masiguy, engagement principles, copywriter underground[/tags]
I spend a lot of hours at the keyboard, so it’s a happy moment when “big think” time rolls around and I can put pen to paper.
The notebookism blog seems to appreciate that fact, focusing almost entirely on interesting notebooks.
I particularly like their listing of a year’s worth of notebooks in one sweet bundle.
Worth a visit.
Michael Stelzner’s Writing White Papers blog is craftily holding a “Top 10 Writer’s Blogs” contest, a brilliant maneuver in terms of traffic and recognition, but a little akin to picking your favorite child.
And yes, I’ve been nominated by Carson at Content Done Better, but if you feel so moved to add a little love to the Copywriter Underground pile, I won’t flame you via e-mail later. Honest.
Right now it’s a runaway for Deborah Ng’s Freelance Job listings, which suggests a hugely successful Get Out the Vote campaign for the younger writers, though I’m shocked to see Brian Clark’s Copyblogger hasn’t made the list.
In fact – with only a few exceptions – the blogs aimed at copywriters or more advanced writers aren’t featuring much, suggesting an audience psychographic I’d suspected, but hadn’t confirmed. (Is there a poll in this blog’s future? Damn straight.)
Also coming soon to the Underground; some new biz ideas, and even a thought or two on writing killer copy. Keep writing, Tom Chandler.
[tags] writing, copywriter, blog, writing blogs, writer[/tags]
Over the last couple months, two of my steadiest clients were acquired by larger competitors, spelling doom for the freelance talent.
It typically plays out this way, and I can’t say I was wholly surprised. But now I find myself in business development mode – the part of the freelance gig I like the least.
The silver lining in this cloud becomes apparent when you land a cool new client – a person (and company) with a lot of energy, a great attitude, and a strong desire to hear your recommendations.
I think I landed one last week.
And yes, I love the smell of a new value-added client (it’s better than a new car).
What do you bring to the table that others don’t?
The value-added copywriter goes client hunting with a big advantage. Good writers are everywhere, and (as I’m suddenly aware) many are willing to work cheap.
Most want to write copy and ship it. That’s fine. But it offers a client little reason to prefer one writer over another.
Unless, of course, one of the writers adds value.
In my case, that means playing the role of marketing consultant. Instead of simply slinging words, I suggest messaging. I point out missed marketing opportunities that could pay big dividends.
And I keep my clients current on the newest media channels and marketing opportunities.
One of my writer friends adds value through his superb, never-late, always-upbeat customer service. Yet another lifts his clients’ burden with turnkey service on white papers and case studies.
The client gives him a contact, and a little while later he’s reading a completed draft, including interview transcripts.
Your Free Bonus
Here’s an added bonus: value-added copywriters typically attract value-added clients, not bargain hunters.
Bargain hunters are often bad news. Clients looking for value are great news.
They’re willing to let you do more. Which means that – working together – you accomplish more.
You get paid for additional projects. You become indispensable. You help your clients succeed.
Which – if you think about it – is the best value you can add.
[tags]copy, copywriter, value-added copywriter, client, marketing, freelance copywriter[/tags]
Blog schizophrenia. It’s nasty business, and I’m just saying no.
The Copywriter Underground was orginally fashioned to be my contact with other copywriters (none of whom live in my particular chunk of nowhere – 14,162′ Mt. Shasta).
But my interest in Engagement Marketing kept cropping up. Half the time I was talking to copywriters. The other half I was writing posts better suited to businesses looking to succeed online.
I know better.
Announcing The Engagement Principles – my new marketing blog. Engagement marketing is destined for big things, and it’s a natural extension of my interest in blogging, social media and the value-added copywriter’s role in it.
Intelligently practiced, I believe engagement marketing offers small and medium-sized businesses the ability to out-compete much larger companies online.
It taps into the passion that’s far more evident at small companies than big organizations.
It’s cost-effective. It’s nimble. And – unlike those expensive print ads so many companies buy – your customers can talk back to your blog. (A community based on shared passions and values is a hell of a competitive advantage.)
I could rant on for a long time. But I won’t. But give The Engagement Principles blog a visit. Add it to your RSS feed. Read the short white paper referenced in the sidebar.
And don’t be afraid to comment. Write well, Tom Chandler.
I’m staring at three half-written blog posts about Important Copywriter Topics, but can’t quite bring myself to finish them.
It’s been a tough couple of weeks, the brain feels like it’s stuffed with cotton balls, and I’m yawning uncontrollably.
It’s time for the Friday Face Plant.
Ironically, the concept of writer’s block has generated more words than all other subjects save love, politics and fly fishing, yet little has been written about Weary Writer Syndrome – the fugue state where you look and act like a functioning human being, but can barely tie your own shoes without assistance.
Combine Weary Writer with Writer’s Guilt – where you feign hyper-productivity to escape the accusation that you basically lie around the house all day in filthy pajamas – and the results are horrifying: split infinitives, passive voice, obsessive blog entries, and run-on sentences a tripping acid/meth freak would enjoy.
Eventually, you abandon all pretense of erudition, brain function slows, intelligence fades, and you come to a couple weeks later having just written (on spec) a user guide for a piece of software released a decade ago.
Resistance is Futile. Or is it?
I write for a living, and while it’s hard to imagine a better job, some days it’s also hard to imagine writing another word.
If that happens on a Friday, I take the afternoon off. Sometimes I fly fish (hence my Trout Underground fly fishing blog), sometimes I hike, and sometimes I get horizontal on the couch.
So it’s Friday. Chandler says it’s OK to take the afternoon off. What do you do?
[tags]writing, copywriting[/tags]
I’ve been in the business since typewriters were the tool of choice. And I’m pretty damned happy those days are gone.
But a few habits have hung on from the good old days.
For example, I’m on my fourth copy of The Elements of Style. What a book. I don’t look to it for instant inspiration, but use it for the occasional tune-up.
There are several other books that have stayed on my bookshelf over the years, but this one has been a constant companion.
And while I write everything on my computer, I still do a lot of concept level work on paper. But I don’t use ballpoint or rollerball pens; I hate the idea of disposable things.
Instead, I use pencils and fountain pens with converters. As long as they keep making lead and bottled ink, I can keep using the instrument. That’s appealing.
Memories
I’m a terribly forgetful person. So I keep a small notebook in reach. The kind pictured is handy and cheap, though the binding goes quickly and you’re smart to add some packing tape to the spine.
My ideas get scribbled there (including the idea for this post).
One of the handiest tricks I ever learned is to use the full-sized “composition” version of the little notebook. In it goes everything you write – interviews, client calls, new biz calls, etc.
That way, you never scour your desk for that number you scirbbled on a piece of paper. Or go digging through a couple folders looking for a quote from that customer you interviewed.
It’s all in the composition book.
You’re might not be entirely sure exactly where in the book, but at least it’s in one place. That’s a lifesaver.
Some people love the Moleskine notebooks – and I own a couple – but can’t get past the expense of something I can fill up in a couple weeks. Call me cheap.
Your Turn
I have a lot of other books in my bookcase, and use an ever-increasing pile of software. But I’m interested in the “holdout” stuff other writers do, and why.
My wife thinks my dislike for disposable pens is a little odd.
Any odd stuff in your writer’s life? Holdouts from the past? Quirks?
[tags]writer, copywriter, copywriting writing, moleskine, fountain pen, pencil, elements of style[/tags]
Stick your fingers in the left hand pocket of any of my jackets, and you’ll notice a gritty feeling.
It’s not dirt. It’s not sand.
Instead, it’s a reminder that you’re better off using a carrot than a stick.
I carry dog biscuits for Wally the Wonderdog in my left pocket.
He’s our Lab/Basset mix (that’s not a typo), and because he mixes a Lab’s energy with a Basset’s stubbornness, it’s a lot easier to get what you want by bribing him than forcing him.
Like most of our customers, Wally the Wonderdog responds better to bribes than beatings.
To him, a biscuit is a benefit. And a scolding is a negative.
It’s a good lesson for copywriters. (Wally the Wonderdog is available for copywriter training sessions every afternoon.)
Good Stuff Beats Bad Stuff
I recently received an inquiry about writing a sales Web site, but the “sample” copy used by the prospective client was so busy beating up competitors there was little room to sell the service.
I’m no stranger to fear appeals, and know they’re effective. They grab attention. And start a conversation.
One of my most effective sales letters featured a fear appeal that went something like this:
“The Gartner Group says 80% of existing IVR systems will suffer a Y2K failure. Will yours be one of them?”
Of course, to sell anything, you need to go positive (except in political advertising).
Benefits sell, and the above sales letter quickly moved to another question – one that asked “why fix an aging IVR system when you could replace it with a modern solution – and enjoy benefits like screen pop?”
From there, the benefits fell like rain. And the letter pulled like crazy.
Focus on Benefits. And Positives.
Benefits. They’re they key. But even the words wrapped around the benefits should be positive.
One of my biggest weaknesses as copywriter was my tendency to go negative. For example, I’d write “don’t let this [bad thing] happen” instead of “enjoy this [good thing] more often.”
Writing negative is an easy trap to tumble into. And a hard one to dig out of.
Fight it.
Don’t be saccharine or sugary. Be clear and positive.
When you’re using a fear appeal, make it a strong one. But then move on to the good stuff.
Feed your reader the biscuits instead of yelling at them.
Wally the Wonderdog would be proud.
[tags]wally the wonderdog, copy, fear appeal, benefits, marketing, copywriter[/tags]
Good news for writers. Especially the value-added sort (that’s us).
The Online Publishers Association conducted a survey which confirms that original, branded content generates more customers – and more revenue per customer – than generic stuff.
Simply put, the relevant, targeted, quality copy we write means higher sales for branded sites (wedding.com, etc) as opposed to user-generated content.
Online businesses wanted user-generated content to solve all their content problems, and cheaply too. Why pay a writer to when users will fill the space for you, and for free?
Here’s why:
On OPA content sites, visitors were found to research more, buy more, engage in more transactions and spend more money. The study found that across a range of verticals consumers purchased products both related and unrelated to the vertical they were visiting.
I have some questions about accuracy of some of the conclusions drawn in the story – and it’s clearly aimed at driving advertising to OPA Member sites – but it’s worth tagging for later use.
Remember, the value-added copywriter brings things to the table that others don’t, one of which is information.
Write smart. Add value.
[tags]copy, copywriting, branded content, OPA[/tags]
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