Do you know where thousands of marketers fail? In the tone of their conversation.
Somehow, somewhere along the line, somebody convinced them that they needed to sound “professional.” And that’s a shame, because they’re spending thousands of dollars to reach an audience filled with people who won’t read what they write.
And if they do read part of it, they’ll get the wrong impression.
For instance, a fund-raising letter I wrote a few months ago was subjected to “review” by the entire board of directors of the non-profit. And one of the members – who claimed to have a lot of writing experience – was adamant that we not use words like doesn’t, can’t, won’t, and it’s. Those words needed to be spelled out into do not, can not, will not, and it is.
Try doing that to a sentence you’ve written and see how it changes the tone. In that particular letter, it changed “friendly” to “hostile” in many of the sentences.
So don’t fall for it. Write in the same conversational tone that you’d use if you were speaking to your prospects in person. Be yourself.
The other night on Twitter I read a line so good that I had to copy it to tell to you:
It was from CopywriterX – who said “Writing Copy Is Nothing More Than Writing Down The Normal Conversation Of A True Advocate For Your Product.”
Think about that. Think about yourself, when you’re telling a friend about some new product or service that really excites you. One thing you don’t sound is “Professional.”
Instead you sound excited, enthused, and eager to share all the good features and benefits of your find.
I think that’s one reason why most people need a copywriter. And not just “a copywriter,” but one who is enthused about their offering.
It’s also the reason why sometimes a copywriter needs a copywriter.
Along with that bad advice about sounding professional, we’ve all gotten plenty of advice about not tooting our own horns, not bragging, not showing off, and on and on. For some of us (like me) that teaching is so ingrained that it’s more than just a little difficult to write about our own products and services.
Get over that. Either force yourself to show your excitement, or call on me. I’ll get excited for you and tell the world.
Here’s to success,
Marte
P.S. This is not a good programming day for me. First I struggled with my web pages, and now I can’t make a space come between my paragraphs. Sure hope my efforts to change that don’t result in 16 spaces between them!
