R J Hembree - Writers' Village University

Recommendations

Info

52 To make a long story short, it’s been over four years since that first newsletter went out to 500 potential customers. I wrote a couple of brief articles on gardening, added an interesting fact about earthworms (did you know there are over 2,700 species of earthworms?) and introduced my new friend’s new business to her neighborhood. My first client has been phenomenally successful and she attributes much of her success to that newsletter, although I know she’s worked hard for her success and deserves every bit of it. I still write regular newsletters for her, because her clients ask for them and enjoy the read. Following that exhilarating start, it didn’t take long to find other people in similar situations; people who needed someone to write promotional copy for their new businesses. So, armed with a small but respectable portfolio and growing confidence in my abilities, my freelance copywriting business was on its way. SO MUCH ADVERTISING What exactly is promotional copywriting? To put it simply, promotional copywriting is writing that sells a service or product. Copywriting is edgier, more emotional and certainly more creative than regular business writing. A good copywriter has to be part psychologist, part creative writer and part marketing expert. And it doesn’t hurt to have some knowledge of and knack for graphic design so that you can visualize the finished product, because most advertising today is highly visual. Television commercials rely heavily on graphic imagery, and magazines and billboards use graphics to impart their messages. Yet, over 98% of all advertising uses the written word in some form as the basis of their message. Think of Mazda’s “Zoom Zoom” – only one word, used twice, but someone had to come up with it. When you consider that the average North American is bombarded by roughly 3,000 advertising messages every day, you can see why the demand for copywriters is so great. If you don’t believe you see this many advertisements each day, look at all the advertising in the newspapers and magazines you read, the television you watch, the radio stations you listen to, the websites you browse, the direct mail and the flyers that drop through your mailbox. Add to that all the messages to buy or use a product that are in every store, on every street corner, bus stop, commercial vehicle … you get the picture, right? There are thousands of writers who are successful at what they do, but there is a real demand for writers who understand how to sell a product or service. You only need to watch television commercials or listen to radio ads to know that some are so bad that they turn potential buyers off. On the other hand, how often have you felt the urge to pick up the phone and buy something on a whim when you see it advertised, or fill your virtual shopping cart on the Internet with things you don’t really need? What is it that makes people buy? It’s emotion, pure and simple, and is generated by the writer. Of course, delivery and presentation of the writer’s words
are important. You’ve only got to watch Billy Mays, advertising spokesperson extraordinaire, to understand how important presentation is. Billy Mays successfully persuades people like you and me that we can’t do without a certain product - brush, cloth or tool. However, even the great Billy Mays needs good copy to sell successfully. The next time he interrupts your television viewing, listen to the words he uses rather than his tone. You’ll catch the copywriter’s creed at work. This creed, AIDA (for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action) has been around almost as long as the opera of the same name. Hundreds of articles have been written on it. Google “AIDA copywriting” for all the information you need. Suffice it to say good copywriters know which emotional buttons to push to ensure the reader or viewer will re-act by writing a check or pulling out a credit card. Direct mail is another hugely successful form of copywriting and covers all the junk mail that hits your mailbox every day. It can be a postcard, a letter, a flyer, a catalogue or brochure. Every successful piece uses the AIDA creed. The next time you’re tempted to throw out your junk mail without reading it, don’t. Study each piece carefully to observe how the copywriter has used words to urge you to spend your money. Take note of the personal, one-on-one style of most direct mail. Sentences are short. Certain words appear over and over again. Look at how the writer grabs your attention, gains your interest, invokes desire and then encourages you to act – all with carefully chosen words that stir up emotion. Oh sure, you’re saying, I don’t fall for that. But if thousands, even millions, of people didn’t ‘fall for that’, direct mail marketing wouldn’t work. It does work. American Express, Publishers Clearing House, Book-of-the-Month Club are just three businesses that have used direct mail advertising successfully over the years – and have made a few copywriters extremely rich and given others an above average income. Now let’s look at the Internet. Each year, a growing number of people turn to the Internet for information, education, communication and shopping. In fact, more people now use the Internet as their primary area of research. This has opened a huge market for good copywriters. Why? Because just about every business, whether it’s a Fortune 500 company or the mom and pop store down the street, knows the value of a good website. Writing for the web takes a special kind of skill. The average person browsing the Internet takes less than seven seconds to judge a website. If the site doesn’t grab them immediately, they’ll hit the back button and go elsewhere. Sure, great graphics can make a website look interesting, but if someone has to plough through lengthy paragraphs and verbose sentences to find the information they’re looking for, they won’t hang around. Again, check out the websites of competing businesses and take note of those that work and those that don’t. You’ll find a pattern in the writing of the successful ones, and this pattern once again is emotion based. The writing appeals to you, the viewer, directly with short and simple words, sentences and paragraphs. It engages and involves you in the process, and it leads you to take 53
Page 2 and 3: RJ Hembree - Publisher & Editor-In-
Page 4 and 5: 4 She glides slowly at first, this
Page 7 and 8: I am trying to write, to work. I dr
Page 9 and 10: Chicano at a private school in New
Page 11 and 12: give a damn what anyone else thinks
Page 13 and 14: them to some internal revelation wh
Page 15 and 16: Sergio Troncoso, philosopher, econo
Page 17 and 18: ties years ago. It was a scandal, a
Page 19 and 20: disciplines. Do you feel it's a nat
Page 21 and 22: up.” “I’m cleaning! It’s sp
Page 23 and 24: “Have you been taking your medica
Page 25 and 26: was there? “You can’t live a no
Page 27 and 28: In his modest wooden stall Pir Gul
Page 29 and 30: When he was done with the vest, he
Page 31 and 32: On the outskirts of the farming vil
Page 33 and 34: down at him as he walked through th
Page 35 and 36: ight on you.” She still held his
Page 37 and 38: Dear M, I wanted to let you know I
Page 39 and 40: I hope you’re doing well. --K Dea
Page 41 and 42: Dad cried. He sat at his desk, crie
Page 43 and 44: of her jeans. She glanced at the be
Page 45 and 46: the lacquer finish dulled as the wa
Page 47 and 48: “Do you think it just gave up and
Page 49 and 50: “Unlock the doors,” Bill ordere
Page 51: When I was asked to write an articl
Page 55: If you want to earn some serious mo

R J Hembree - Writers' Village University

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?