|
|
|
5 Steps in Writing & Selling Your First E-book
What is an e-book? An e-book is simply a digital file that contains content that entertains, enlightens or inspires your reader. It can be 5 pages long or 2500 pages long. It can be a complete book that uses all of the old fashioned elements of...
Creative Writing Tips - Have You Established Your Main Character At The Start?
In the beginning of your story you have to grab your readers’ interest and sustain it till the end. Our hook is our character. Readers keep on reading to find out more about the character. To see what he’ll do in the story; how he’ll solve his...
The Benefits of Journal Writing
Everyday we experience many different events. Some good, some bad, some memorable and some that can be forgotten the next day. For writers, these events of our lives are a treasure trove of material that could be very valuable to us. You just had...
Writing a Page Turner
What's going to happen next? You turn the pages as quickly as you can. Agitated, you read on, lured by the sense of dread that's pulsing through your veins. You don't realize it, but you're holding your breath. Something's going to happen....
Writing For Public Relations
So you're not sure how exactly to go about writing material for you public relations campaign, and maybe you're not even sure you want to. We're all busy people, right? One the of the best solutions for that is to just hire someone else to do the...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copywriting that Sells
The first thing I learnt after writing my first copy was – it all boils down to how much your copy sells. No matter how good it is, no matter if it beats Hemingway and Dickens in the efficient employment of language, if it does not sell, it is worthless.
Whenever you sit down to work on a new copy or edit an old one, just keep one thing in mind: how you can deliver “the message” in minimum words. Remember that literature written for the sake of promoting a product or a service needs to be succinct and direct, and above all, understandable. The average reader of your literature is a person who is in a hurry. He/she is bombarded with similar messages already (and he/she might be cynical).
Keep the end result in mind and create the copy around that. Relinquish your inherent proclivities and biases, and just focus on the message. Present the copy in a way that it is highly informative, convincing, and compelling. Before sitting down to write, think of your target readership. Are they children? Are they housewives? Are they teenagers? Are they hardcore technocrats and scientists? Formulate your language and presentation according to that.
A method I find useful is, make a list of all the words that can be associated with the current copywriting project. It is fun, and it helps you create supersets, sets and subsets of your project.
I have seen many copies where the creative writers lose focus, get carried away with their “creativity”, and end up creating a message that can win accolades as a piece of art, but makes no sale for the client. The way you present your message should not dominate the actual message. Your writing style should not impede the actual message and end up creating a distraction.
I myself am a writer. It is often extremely hard to resist the temptation of sprinkling the powder of my style on the copy, but I have to resist it for the sake of the message (and my income). I have learnt to become detached. I keep telling myself: it’s just a copy for my client for which I’m getting paid, and it is not a piece of literature that I’m creating to further the cause of my art.
This is the age of information. I don’t know if it is true or not, it used to take an entire life-time in the eighteenth century to process the amount of information we process in a single day. With so much information (most of it is junk, by the way) around, it becomes difficult both for the reader and the writer to pinpoint the right tone and pitch. With so much fraud around, it becomes difficult to establish credibility.
That’s
what differentiates you from the others. Project your message in a way that it immediately grabs attention.
In the morning I was watching “Meet Joe Black” on HBO, (today is Sunday) and there was one scene in the movie when Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt were walking down a busy street. There were scores of people around them; still, they both were prominently visible even from a distance. I noticed that only they were wearing dark clothes. Everybody in the crowd wore light shaded clothes. I found the scene very fascinating. This is how a focus should be created. Your message should be different from the rest of the crowd.
It should hit the right nerve instantly, from the first sentence itself. Your first sentence should make the reader think, “Ok, this is something worth taking note of.”
Without sounding melodramatic, make your message as moving as you can afford to. Don’t be too personal if you are not a known personality and the majority of your target audience is a stranger to you. Still, messages that address to individual readers are more appealing.
Try to start with a “You” or “Your” or “Yours?” Messages starting with a highlighted question also incite a response. Keep your sentences short, with lesser commas and semi-colons. If you have abundant space, use bullets to highlight major points – they are easy to read and are generally to the point. There are no strict rules for the sort of words you should use. Particular words should appeal to the particular target-segment. Mainly, keep things simple and to the point. Use dabs of humor wherever possible. Once I wrote a short story around the service of my client – they are a detective agency.
Copywriting is all about sincerity. You’ll sound monotonous and clichéd if you are not sure of the motive of your copy. To sound credible, you should believe in the authentic intentions of your client. Never write for a product/service that is intended to cause harm to your readers.
In the end, practice and study. After all, copywriting is a profession, so it has its no’s and yeses. Be observant. Study everything around you, and read the copies of other writers carefully. Always keep notes of things you can use. And…write a lot.
About the Author
Amrit Hallan is a freelance copywriter, copy editor and a writer.
He also optimizes web page content for higher Search Engine
ranking.
Read his weekly essays and articles by subscribing to
amritscolumn-subscribe@topica.com
For Copywriting and Copy Editing Services, visit:
http://www.amrithallan.com
|
|
|
|
|
| Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction ... |
| An online community dedicated to fostering writing skills. With a free membership anyone may read, write, rate, and review works. |
| www.writing.com |
|
| Welcome to Writing-World.com! |
| Writing articles and resources. Tips about how to become a better writer, get published and find writing markets. From Moira Allen. |
| www.writing-world.com |
|
| Guide to Grammar and Writing |
| The Guide to Grammar and Writing contains scores of digital handouts on grammar and English usage, over 170 computer-graded quizzes, recommendations on ... |
| grammar.ccc.commnet.edu |
|
| Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - The OWL Family of Sites |
| Writing lab and resources. Email newsletter available. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| OWL at Purdue University: General Writing Concerns Handouts |
| This page contains important links to the writing: planning/writing/revising aspects of the OWL website. |
| owl.english.purdue.edu |
|
| Writing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| The original Mesopotamian writing system was initially derived from a system of ... If it is deemed to be a written language, writing in China will predate ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
|
| Writing.org - Advice for Freelance Writers |
| Articles to help you launch a freelance writing career, from a former literary agent and PLAYBOY editor. |
| www.writing.org |
|
| Writing HTML |
| More than just an HTML reference, this is a structured approach for learning how to create web pages, designed by specialists in learning at the Maricopa ... |
| www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu |
|
| National Novel Writing Month - National Novel Writing Month |
| NaNoWriMo is an annual (November) novel writing project that brings together professional and amateur writers from all over the world. |
| www.nanowrimo.org |
|
| Poynter Online |
| Apply by Dec. 11 Reporting and Writing the Untold Stories Apply by Dec. 11 ... Reporting & Writing for Multi-Platform Newsrooms. Apply by Jan. 10 ... |
| www.poynter.org |
|
| Pages tagged with "writing" on del.icio.us |
| This short online course provides a practical introduction to writing fiction. During the course you will be expected to write two short pieces for ... |
| del.icio.us |
|
| BBC Get Writing |
| The BBC's online resource for writing drama and comedy for television, radio and film. |
| www.bbc.co.uk |
|
| TOC About Writing |
| Menu of articles on writing written by professional SF/F writers. |
| www.sfwa.org |
|
| 11 Rules of Writing -- a concise guide to important grammar ... |
| A concise guide to some of the most frequently violated rules of writing, punctuation, and grammar. |
| www.junketstudies.com |
|
| NAEP Writing Subject Area |
| NAEP assesses student performance in writing periodically in grades 4, 8, and 12 for the nation, and in grades 4 and 8 for the states. |
| nces.ed.gov |
|
| Writing: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
| See all blog posts tagged with writing on Technorati. |
| www.technorati.com |
|
| IPL Teenspace: A+ Research & Writing |
| Includes step-by-step instructions on researching and writing, how to find information online and offline, as well as links to useful resources. |
| www.ipl.org |
|
| Dictionary.com: Writing Resources |
| Free online English dictionary and reference guide. List of sites writers can use. |
| dictionary.reference.com |
|
| WritingFix: Home of Interactive Writing Prompts and 6 Trait ... |
| Daily and interactive writing prompts. |
| www.writingfix.com |
|
| Advice on Academic Writing |
| Includes articles on critical reading, planning, researching, style and editing, grammar and punctuation. |
| www.utoronto.ca |
|
|