Copywriting is one of those things that should definitely be hired out if you can`t do an excellent job yourself. The fact is, this isn`t an area to mess around with. If you aren`t going to be able to turn out amazing copy for your business, get someone who can.

When it comes to sales copy for your business, you need writing that works. Professional copywriters know just how to phrase things to get people in the right mindset to buy.

That being said, many small business owners have learned to do copywriting on their own and are quite good at it. It is possible to learn, but you do need to consider the time cost involved. Do you have time to learn a completely new skill set? Is it worth your time to learn? For those who have more time than money, it`s probably a good move to learn copywriting. However, not everyone will find this works for them.

Hiring someone else to do your copywriting for you is a great way to ensure that your website and materials turn out just the way you intended . . . as conversion tools.

The one way you can strengthen you sales copy right now without changing your message is to go back through and change all of your verbs to action verbs. This one technique will strengthen every sales page you write by at least 100%.

Whether you are writing web pages or company brochures, your sale copy is the most important copy that you will write. You can’t afford to take it lightly. It should sell. Verbs are the words that sell your products and services. Instead of filling your sales copy with weak, passive verbs, try changing those verbs to strong action verbs. Here are a few examples of strong action verbs and their weak counterparts:

• to be a runner (weak) ——> Run, Forest, Run!
• his lawn was mowed (weak) ——-> He mowed his lawn
• if you’d like to own this (weak) ——–> Purchase right now

An action verb tells your reader that something is going on. There is movement. There is action. Take a look at those weak verbs again. They are all passive. They all have something happening to something or someone else. The action verbs have an object that performs the action. Forest runs. “He” mowed. (You) purchase - right now!

Make your reader feel the action and you’ll snag her. She’ll rip out her wallet faster than a chef reaches for his meat cleaver. Make it strong. Verbs sell.

by Diane Autey

One of the most effective marketing tools for speakers, authors and service providers is a 1-2 page “sell sheet” or “one-sheet.” Printed in full-color on 8 ½” x 11” coated paper, it stands out in pocket folders and at trade shows and professional association meetings. It’s a great conversation-starter when you hand it out in person or at networking events.

The Trick? Say it Quick
It is best to write in “sound bites” – brief statements and lists of key benefits. Direct your messages to your target audience. Tell them, “What’s in it for me?” Include a combination of paragraphs, statements, bulleted lists and credibility-building testimonials and/or credentials.

Well-written sell sheets include:

• Attention-grabbing headline
• Company logo and name
• List of services or key features
• Client testimonials with company logos
• Photos and graphics
• Biography or company description
• Contact information

If you’re an author, include your book cover(s). If you’ve been published, include a list of publications, article titles and dates. If you’re a speaker, list the topics you address.

Have it Professionally Designed
Effective use of graphics, text, images and colors will make it or break it. Graphic designers think visually and can make your words come to life. A professional, graphically appealing presentation is well worth the investment.

Print it Digitally
If you’re printing less than 1,000, digital is the way to go. The quality of digital printing is so good nowadays that only the experts can tell if a piece is printed digitally or conventionally. Unless they’re in the industry, your customer’s can’t. The price has also become quite reasonable as the technology has improved.

Use your Sell Sheet to Open Doors
The sell sheet won’t make the sale for you, but it’s a powerful door-opener and conversation starter. It boosts your professionalism and credibility in the eyes of your prospects. Along with your business card, use it at every opportunity and you will generate more business.

Diane Autey, President of Projects Done Write, specializes in projects with depth and complexity that impact a company’s bottom line. Diane can be reached at diane@projectsdonewrite.com or 612-716-7642.

Copywriters do more than just sell and put pretty words on a page (or website). In one very important sense, they also save you time.

If you run a business then you know how important time is. You can never get everything done that you need to get done in the amount of time that you have to do it. Maybe you’re trying to do too much.

Many literate and savvy business people are perfectly capable of writing their own copy. But once they find themselves achieving a certain level of success in their business, they find that they have less and less time to do some of the mechanics of the business. That’s why they hire people to help. A part of running a business successfully is knowing who you need to hire and what positions you need to fill within the company to leverage your time effectively.

A copywriter might be one of those positions you choose to fill outside of your company because it’s a highly specialized skill that requires a certain type of knowledge or personality. You can do it yourself, but should you?

If you want to grow your company and take on new challenges then you have to be willing to let some of the work go. Even if you can do it yourself. That means giving up some control in lieu of new ideas. A copywriter can help you with that. Not only do they write the copy, but many copywriters are also good at coming up with ideas. If you empower people to help you grow and develop your business then you can achieve a lot more than if you direct them from the top down. Let your creative people use their imaginations and you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Don’t just think about copywriting as an expense. Think of it as an investment. When you put resources into this important aspect of your business, you should see a return and that return is more than just dollars and sense. If it leverages your time then it is paying off.

When it comes to copywriting, are you closing the sale? Most people never close the sale because they fail to do one thing. It’s the one thing you can do for your copy that will increase your sales even if you don’t change anything else. Do you know what that is?

It’s called a Call To Action. By including a call to action in your copy - online or off line - you’ll increase your sales and conversions more than you will by doing any other one thing. It’s the one thing new copywriters fail to do the most and it’s the most important thing you can do in your copy. Fail to include a call to action and you’ll likely lose out on 50% of your sales. Include it and watch your income go up. This is no joke!

Copywriting = call to action. And don’t you forget it.

Whether you are writing a website or a print brochure, chances are you’re in need of graphics as well as copywriting. But could you live without one or the other?

It’s important to put things into their proper perspective. Know what the elements are capable of and how to make them work most effectively to meet your needs. Words sell. That’s what you need to know about copywriting. Graphics enhance. But what does that mean?

Try building a website without words. Could you just throw up a photo and expect to draw in customers? Would a photo sell your products alone? It could be the best photo in the world, but chances are no one is going to buy your product just on a photo and no sales copy. Whether it appears on a website, a blog, or in a print catalog, no one wants to look at a photo. They want to be sold on the benefits.

Words sell the benefits. Always have. Always will. You must infuse real solid benefits into your writing and enhance the sales content with the best graphics.

Graphics are important. Just because the words sell doesn’t mean you can’t use graphics. Sometimes, a properly placed graphic can get you more sales than your content alone would get. But graphics alone will likely not get you any sales whereas copywriting alone at least has the potential to close some. The bottom line is, both copywriting and graphics are important and you need to teach them how to work together to increase your sales, your ROI, and your overall marketing performance.

Whether you are writing web content, blog content, an article, or off line brochure and marketing copy, one of the most important aspects of your writing is the headline. Your headline should get people’s attention. It should make them want to click the link or read the copy to find out what it’s all about. The best headlines promise a benefit that you will deliver on in the body of your content.

The No. 1 job for every headline is this:

Get the reader to read.

That’s it. Whether the reader must click or take some other action in order to read what you offer or whether they just scan down the page to read, you want them to read your content. Otherwise, why write it?

Headlines can take on different structures. You can ask a question, which you answer in the body of your content, or you can make a bold statement that you follow up on in the body of your content. Promise a benefit then deliver in the body of your content. Some headlines use a catchy phrase followed by a colon followed by another bold statement that adds value to the first catchy phrase. Whatever structure you use for your headline, it must be written with one goal in mind - get the reader to read your content.

Find out more about great copywriting today.

Copywriting isn’t all about putting nouns and verbs together to form an opinion. There’s more to it than simply good grammar and spelling. Online, especially, copywriting is more about conveying information and developing relationships more than simply selling. Selling may be involved, but if you have your mind set on closing the sale with every exchange then your potential customers are going to see through that and eventually seek to avoid you. You have to build their trust before you can ask for their business and to build trust you have to have copy that lets them know who you are, what your values are, and how you conduct business. They want to trust you. It is up to you to give them the reasons to do so.

Website copywriting can come in different forms and tones. Personal writing is usually best because you can let a little bit of your personality shine through. People like that. They want some stuffy marketing copy that a guy in a white suit and black tie wrote for a paycheck. They want to know a little bit about you and your business values.

I’m not talking about adding pictures of your family around the kitchen table or a complete bio of you and your family. I am talking about keeping it real. You don’t have to put on airs. People know you’re human. If you have excellent copy on your website that lets people know who you are and what you can offer then you will go a long way to building the trust necessary to gain their business.

Copywriting can be hard. There´s a reason some writers specialize in this area, it isn´t an easy thing to do if you have no experience. But, that being said, you can certainly try it and by reading what others have written, you can often pick up some of the basics. There are a few copywriting mistakes that most amateurs make and by eliminating these, your copy will be far better.

1. Too many fonts. When you are doing your copywriting, try to stick with one or two fonts. Using more than this will make your copywriting look rather like a ransom note and very unprofessional.
2. Not writing with a narrow enough focus. Your target audience isn´t the world at large, or at least, it shouldn´t be. Figure out who you are targeting and write for them.
3. Overuse of capitalization. The careful use of capitals is fine in copywriting, but far too often, new copywriters will use All Caps to write their important phrases, which looks very amateurish.

Don´t make these copywriting mistakes and you´ll already be leaps and bounds ahead of many beginners. Apart from that you can learn a lot simply by reading copywriting that others have written.

Copywriting is a very important part of any business. If you have written materials, online or off, you will need some copywriting. Many small business owners attempt to do this themselves, but it´s not always a great idea.

Outsourcing your copywriting is a very good plan when you aren´t experienced in this area yourself. You´ll need to make sure that your business has the best possible representation available and sometimes that means hiring someone who is more experienced than you to do the job.

A good business owner knows what his or her strengths and weaknesses and focuses on the strengths while allowing others to deal with the weaknesses. This is something that you can do, as well and it will definitely help your business. Copywriting is just one area that can be outsourced, it might be worth taking a look at your business and deciding if you have other areas that could be outsourced as well.