copywriting

Discovering Your Benefits

April 16, 2018 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

Thanks to the advent of the internet, it’s possible to find a blog post, video, or podcast that will tell you how to do pretty much anything, from making your own fireworks to cutting your own hair (I’m not endorsing either of these links, I’m just making a point).

With so much information available to anyone, it’s important now more than ever to know and advertise your benefits, not just your services. It’s not enough to tell your clients what you do – you need to tell them how you can make their lives easier and why hiring you will be better for their business. It’s not about your services, it’s about your benefits.

For example, I write and edit, but what benefits do I provide to my clients?

An outside perspective: Most business owners are so familiar with their industry that they use words and descriptions that make sense to them but might actually be confusing to others. I can help them avoid that confusion.
Targeting: Every industry has a different target audience – daycares will want to target parents while retirement communities will need to reach an older crowd – and there’s a different way to talk to each of those audiences. I can help tailor the language and the message for each unique audience.
Time savings: Business owners have better things to do with their time than write website pages, especially when it takes a week or two to find the time to write. Not only can I do the writing for them, but I can write it faster (because I do it every day!).

To figure out your benefits, ask yourself these questions:

How can I save my clients time?
How can I save them money?
How can I make their lives easier?
How can I help them meet deadlines?
How can I help them find clients?

Those are your benefits, and that’s what they want to know! Any electrician can rewire their houses – tell them why hiring you will make their lives better.

What benefits do you provide to your clients?

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5 Tips for Writing Better Promos

December 14, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

Good writers are readers.

When I started writing novels, every class and conference I attended offered that same encouragement. Read, read, read, they said. Don’t stick to your genre, read as much fiction as you can find. Why? Because you’ll start to recognize what works, what doesn’t, and how to apply it to your own writing.

The same goes for promotional writing.

The worst thing you can do as a promotional writer is to try to write something you’ve never read. Before you start writing your next press release, mailer, or blog post, do your research. Here are a few tips for finding good reading material.

Newspaper: Check your local paper’s community events section. Do you see articles without author bylines? Those are probably press releases. Read those, because they were written well enough that they earned a spot in the newspaper.
Mailbox: Have you ever wondered why you get so much junk mail? Because it works! Companies wouldn’t pay to send out so many generic mailers if they didn’t get a few customers. So walk past your recycle bin and hold on to that junk mail.
Spamfolder: Like the junk mail that arrives in your mail box, your spam folder is full of promotions and announcements. Watch out for viruses (of course), but pick a few pieces of spam to see what other people are writing.

If you’re anything like me, however, you receive DOZENS of spam emails and junk mailers each week, so how do you know which ones to read? How about a few more tips…

Pick promos from similar markets.If you’re in the financial industry, read credit card offers. Are you in the non-profit world? Read the letter from the Boys and Girls Club of America.
Read promos that grab your attention.There are several techniques for writing attention-grabbing copy. Read a variety of styles until you find one that appeals to you. Study the format – it will be easier to replicate the style if it’s something that captures your attention.

This is, of course, a very basic approach to copy writing, but it’s a start. Don’t just write something and hope it works. Do your homework, and read, read, read.

Cyber Monday Special: 25% Off Through December 31

November 27, 2017 by Karin Beery 1 Comment

What would the holiday season be without special savings? I’m a huge fan of Black Friday deals and saving money, so I thought I’d share my love (and excitement!) with you.

Do you need help with your website? A press release? A promotional brochure or white paper? I can help, and right now I can help you save 25%!

Let’s chat about how I can help you create more engaging content. Book my services between now and the end of the year, and you’ll receive 25% off (even if we don’t start your project until after the new year).

Contact me today for stronger, more effective copy tomorrow!

**Take 25% off the Better Bios Tool Kit or the Press Release Writing Tool Kit – use code HOLIDAY25 to get your discount!

Gearing Up for the Holiday – Writing Tips!

October 30, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

Ready or not, the holiday season is here! Regardless of how you feel about the upcoming holidays, now is the perfect time to take advantage of the season to promote you business and services. At GetElastic.com, Linda Bustos wrote a great piece about this very thing – “8 Sales-Boosting Holiday Copywriting Tips.”

The article (which is a collaboration) includes ideas like:

Featuring holiday benefits (do you know what yours are?)
Romancing your website
Adding a “thank you”

Check out the full article (and great tips!) here.

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What is Copywriting and How Can I Help?

October 9, 2017 by Karin Beery Leave a Comment

Imagine this: After a decade of owning her own store, a woman wants to change careers. She passed high school English with all A’s, so she decides to be a journalist. But instead of going to school to learn about journalism, she writes some stories and creates her own online news site. A year later, she can’t understand why the local newspaper’s website continues to have more readers than her website.

Can you figure out why?

Most people realize that journalists earn a specialized degree. They learn how to find stories, interview people, and report on them appropriately for their magazines and newspapers. That makes sense to us because we know that colleges offer degrees in journalism.

But did you know that copywriting – like journalism – requires special training? Passing high school (or even college!) English class is not enough. Here’s what you need to know about copywriting.

What is Copywriting?
First we need to define “copy.” Copy is any written content that tries to persuade people to do a specific action. For businesses, that means any content used to promote, advertise, or market your business, products, or services.

Basically, anything you write for your business – press releases, brochures, websites – is copy.

Copywriting is simply the writing of that copy.

Why Do I Need a Copywriter?
You may not need a copywriter, but you at least need to know the basics of writing copy for your business. Here are a few things to consider:

Are you a B2C or B2B company? Business-to-Client (B2C) companies sell their products or services to individual customers; restaurants and hair stylists operate B2C companies. Business-to-Business (B2B) companies, however, sell to other businesses; the company that make commercial kitchen appliances for restaurants is a B2B company. You need to know the differences. B2C copy will likely be more personable and relational; B2B copy can be more informational and statistical.
Who’s reading your content? Your press releases will be read by various media outlets. Your newsletter goes to people who’ve asked to hear from you. Your annual Christmas sale flier could be seen by people who’ve never even heard of you. Each of those groups of people should be addressed differently. Know how you want to talk to each group.
How’s your grammar? There, their, they’re. You’re and your. Do you know the difference between – and … (or what they mean)? At the very least, you need to make sure your copy is clean. If it’s confusing or unclear, people will throw it away or leave your website. Don’t give them a reason to do either! If you’re not confident in your grammar and punctuation, ask for help.
Have you invited your reader to do something? It doesn’t matter what you’re writing, make sure to include a CTA – Call to Action. In your press release, include a line that says, “For more information, call…” In your newsletter, make sure you have a link to your Facebook page or website. And don’t forget to tell people where and when they can take advantage of your sale/special when you mail out those postcards.

If you don’t have the time to investigate these topics, or if you don’t have anyone on staff who can do it for you, it might be time to consider a copywriter. Without one, you run the risk of your mailers getting tossed in the trash or your newsletter deleted from a client’s inbox. But making time to research and understand these topics will help you create better copy that gets better results.

Do you still have questions? Contact me! Let me know how I can help.

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