Guest Post: Newspapers Might be Dead, but Good Copy Isn't

Today’s guest blogger is Andy Hayes. Andy and I are tweet buddies and we love to talk writing among other things. He is that travel guy from Edinburgh, Scotland. Stay tuned to this post if you want a chance to win a copy of Andy’s eBook.

Newspapers Might be Dead, but Good Copy Isn’t by Andy Hayes

Most mainstream media would lead you to believe that the newspapers will soon be dead, or at least reborn into something new. Entrepreneurs have long known the value of giving their customers great content via flashy websites, interesting blogs, and catchy newsletters. But are you writing content that sells, or are you headed the way of the newspaper?  Double check your copy against these five tips and tweaks.
Write for Somebody. Everybody Isn’t Interested. There is a classic copywriting technique that has been around for ages, yet businesses and writers fail to take advantage of it:  write as if your customer were sitting next to you, listening in. If you write for the masses, they’ll tune out, because they’re not interested. Now if you’re talking directly to someone, perhaps they’ll be more curious in what you have to say. Test it out: how does it read if you add a “Dear John,” or “Hello Susie,” to the top of that sales copy?
Headlines: They’re Really Important. We’re living in an age of information overload, without a doubt. I tried to find a whimsical quote to insert here about the number of blogs being written, but it seems we stopped counting because it’s growing too fast, which I suppose is a whimsical quote in itself. If you don’t write snappy, catchy, interesting, and relevant headlines, nobody is going to read the rest of your words. You really need to work on these; don’t be afraid to go back and change if something isn’t working.
Are You a Real Person?  Show It! Bland, boring, tight-lipped corporate copy has gone out the window — and I say good riddance to it. Welcome to today’s marketing copy: warm, friendly but not too friendly, and full of personality. If your business was a person, who would it be like?  (If you’re a one-person business, I hope the answer is you.) Your sales copy should talk like that person.  Keep in mind your ideal customer; maybe they’re nerds who respect and understand your technical jargon, or maybe they’re scared and need handholding from a motherly figure. Now having a personality doesn’t mean it gets personal; make it professional and clean up those typos. Otherwise, relax and just write like you talk.
Ask Them To Do Something. People are lazy. That’s not a revelation by any means, but when it comes to online sales, people are really lazy.  You need to give people directions — very explicit, clear instructions. If your sales process has multiple steps, tell people what to do each stage of the way. Look at it this way:  the last thing on every page of your website (besides that copyright stuff in the footer) should be the answer to this question: “What do I do now?”
Quality over Quantity. When they say less is more, they mean it. As mentioned above, we’ve hit maximum information overload. When you can say it with less words, with less bullet points, with an image instead of text, do it.
About the Author: Andy Hayes is a professional writer and published author. He is the managing director of Travel Online Partners (TOP), the go-to resource for small businesses in travel and tourism for help with online technology. For more tips and tricks, have a look at TOP’s online writing guide, Write Right Online, the perfect cure for any lifeless sales copy.
Win: To win a copy of Write Right Online ebook, please leave a comment at least 50 words about your favorite writing tip or book. You have until 11:59pm on December 7, 2009 to qualify for the drawing. The unbiased and robotic Random.org has the honor of picking the winner.