The Words You Choose

Quick Tips:  When writing content for any promotional piece remember to use words that

1.     Have a Benefit Orientation

2.     Are Positive

3.     Are Active as Opposed to Passive

4.     Are Clear

5.     Are Brief

6.     Have a Visceral effect

Writing copy (or content) is all about persuading and motivating your reader.  In order to persuade and motivate your reader you will need to break the process of writing into two sections – the first is prior to writing and the second is while you’re writing.

Prior to writing you need to analyze your service.  First, analyze your practice from both your perspective and your potential client’s.  Find those qualities about your service that you think will be of greatest interest to your target market.  Second, think about your position in the market place.  How and why is your practice and service superior to the competition?  Third, what are the tastes of your readers?  Are they executives, teenagers, housewives, attorneys, governments, etc.?  Alter the “tone” of your message depending on the personality and of the reader.  And fourth, does the copy you have in mind fit with your entire marketing concept?

While you’re writing it’s imperative not to lose sight of the objective: to establish your practice as credible, authoritation, and appropriate via writing something of value to the reader.

Remember to use words that persuade and motivate. 

Here are seven things to keep in mind while writing.

1.     Don’t overstate with too many words like fabulous and extraordinary.  They will destroy your credibility.

2.     Be accurate and truthful.

3.     Be specific.  Vague approximations leave the reader unsatisfied.

4.     Be organized.  Your message should progress logically from headline to clincher.

5.     Write for easy reading.  The style should suit your reader, but some rules apply to all content writing.  Seek to write smooth, uncluttered, involving and persuasive content.

6.     Don’t offend the reader.  Be careful using humor.

7.     Revise and edit – revise and edit – revise and edit.

Writing is a great way to educate your prospective about the industry, the processes, and you and your practice in specific.  But the most important thing about writing to sell is that the information benefits the reader.  Time is valuable.   Asking a prospect to spend their time reading your article, brochure, website, social media post or any other piece is asking them to invest in your information.  Make it worth their effort.