Quick Editing Checklist for Non Editors

Some of us are writers, some of us are editors and some of us are neither - very few are both. I have to admit to being a terrible editor, (fortunately I am married to a wonderful one).

If you don’t have the good fortune to know a great editor first hand, here’s a great little checklist.

Step One . Use your word processing software’s grammar and spell-check. I even use my email spell-check - I’m a good speller but not such a great typist. The grammar and spell-check function often catches incomplete sentences, confusing sentences, bad punctuation and of course misspelled words. It doesn’t however catch those pesky words which sound alike but are spelled differently.

Step Two. Use your "Find and Replace" feature and search for all of the Your and You’re words to make sure they’re correct. Search for the It’s and its to make sure they’re correct. Search for There, their, they’re and so on. The "Find and Replace" feature makes the job a quick and reliable one - you won’t miss a single word.

Step Three. Read it aloud. This process forces you to actually read your content rather than to skim it with your eyes. It forces you to be thorough. Quite often this is where you will catch the sentences which just don’t make sense and the other minor errors your word processing tools don’t catch. For example, I often repeat words in in a sentence. Spell-check won’t catch that but reading it aloud does.

Step Four. Macro Editing. Up to this point you’ve really been searching for the small stuff. Now it’s time to take one last glance at your content and make sure you have a beginning paragraph which introduces your topic, a body paragraph with at least three points to support your beginning paragraph statement and a summary or conclusion paragraph which wraps it all up. Kind of brings you back to your old Literature and writing classes doesn’t it?

Step Five. Double check formatting consistency. Make sure all your subheadings are formatted the same - if you’ve been bolding some and underlining others, make them consistent. Make sure all of your links work, all of your bullets or numbered lists have the same margins and so on. Polish the formatting so your content is easy to read and professional.

Take these five steps to keep your writing error free, polished, and professional. Happy writing!

A little bit of word fun

I recently stumbled upon a project where someone had used the word "stick-to-itiveness". Most of us know what the word means, tenacity, and believe it or not it’s actually in the dictionary.

Would ‘tenacity’ have worked just as well in place of "stick-to-itiveness" in the content? Probably. Would it have been as much fun? Maybe not.

When appropriate, a little word fun can liven up your content. Blog posts may be the most appropriate place for ‘made up’ words because they tend to be lighter and more personal.

Take care when using made up words to use them sparingly, one per post, and make sure the meaning is clearly understood within the context of the sentence. If it isn’t or you’re unsure, don’t use the word or find a way to incorporate the definition without pulling the plug on the fun.

For example,

Charlie really has stick-to-itiveness. His tenacity has taken him far.

Here’s a great site with an abundance of made up words. Best of all, they’re organized by category! http://www.unwords.com /

Here are a few favorites:

Cinemuck - the sticky stuff on the floor of movie theaters.

Blurple - a color that is the mix of blue and purple.

Smuffy - Used to describe weather that is foggy, cloudy, smoggy, and other forms all combined yet with no precipitation despite the fact that it looks like it will rain at any moment. Often this weather form makes it hard to breath.

At our house we’ve made up a few including:

Confuzzled - Somewhere between confused and befuddled.

If you have any great made up words, share her and/or post them on Unwords.com.

Three steps to a great “How To” article.

Ask any internet marketer what type of article works best and many will recommend the "How To" article. You know, the:

• How to train your dog to stop jumping
• How to set the perfect table
• How to write a great article

and so on.

"How To" articles work very well because they offer an easily digestible benefit to the reader. However writing an easily digestible "how to" article can be difficult - they can get away from you faster than a wet cat.

Here’s an excellent three step process to make sure everything makes sense from beginning to end.

Step One: Tell them what you’re going to tell them

Step Two: Tell them

Step Three: Tell them what you told them - and why.

Let me explain!

Introduce your "how to" article with a brief paragraph which explains your topic, its importance or how the information benefits them, and what points you’re going to cover.

Use the body of the article to cover those points.

Wrap up the article summarizing the points you’ve made and remind your reader how they can apply what they’ve just learned to benefit their lives.

That’s it. A self contained recipe for a clear and concise "How to" article.

Happy writing!

Enthusiasm versus Joy versus Acceptance - How your attitude affects the quality of your content.

First, I want to thank Mila for inviting me to contribute to such a fantastic blog. The information and knowledge shared here is superior and I’m honored to become part of such a fantastic group.

I’d like to pose a question.

How do you feel when you create content? It doesn’t matter if it’s newsletter or ezine content, blog content, or social marketing content - how do you feel about creating it?

Typically there are four responses:

• “I dread/procrastinate creating content.”
• “I accept that it’s part of what is required to be successful.”
• “I enjoy writing content, but it’s not my passion.”
• “I LOVE creating content and find great satisfaction in the act.”

The first response, while common, often results in content which shows the writer’s feelings about creating it - it lacks enthusiasm and passion for the subject matter.

The more enthusiastic you can be about writing your content, the better it will be. Your personality and enthusiasm will translate. If, as a business owner, you cannot muster even acceptance for the task of writing content - consider finding someone else to take over the responsibility.

One suggestion, if you find your joy or enthusiasm wavering…consider framing your content as a letter to a friend. What knowledge do you have which they will benefit from? What questions do your prospects or customers have (a quick survey will help you better understand your customers’ questions) which you can provide answers to. Often, when we truly feel as if we’re helping others, we find more joy in the act. The result, content which stands above your competition’s. Content which generates traffic and ultimately…profits.

How do you feel about writing content? What do you do to get yourself in the mood, so to speak?

How, and Why, to Avoid Sexist Language in Your Writing

We no longer live in a male dominated world. We haven’t for quite some time really. We’ve moved beyond seeking politically correct language and we just have all encompassing words now.

For example, for some time the term “Stewardess” was considered inappropriate and the word flight attendant replaced it. It took some time and a change of thought and culture, but now the term flight attendant feels appropriate and common enough that we likely rarely think about it.

There are other words that have been replaced in our society. A waitress or waiter has become a server. Actress has become actor, chairman has become chairperson, fireman - firefighter, weatherman - meteorologist, mailman - postal delivery person, and mankind has become humanity and so on.

When writing marketing copy of any kind, it is helpful to remember to write not only for your audience but to make sure you don’t offend your audience. Imagine reading a sales page for a book you’re interested in and every single word is masculine. “He said, he did, his, him, etc… Maybe you wouldn’t notice it consciously but subconsciously it very well may turn you completely off of the product. It is very easy, too easy, to slip into the masculine form and use the word “he” often without intending to offend or direct your copy toward a male reader.

Here are a few tips to help avoid sexist language in your copy.

1. After you’ve written your copy scan it for potentially sexist terms like mankind and replace them with a non-sexist synonym.

2. Scan your copy for “he” or “she” and rewrite the sentences to avoid reference to a gender. For example, instead of “the expert hosted a teleconference for his top buyers.” You could write “The expert invited top buyers to attend a teleconference.”

3. Use plurals instead of a male or female pronoun. For example, “The top seller receives an incentive for his profits.” Replace it with “The top sellers receive incentives for their profits.”

As you can see, it often takes a bit of simple creative restructuring to eliminate any potentially offensive or sexist language in your copy. What I often find is the best approach is to write the copy first and then do a global search to find any gender specific pronouns.

To eliminate those pesky sexist terms like “mailman,” it’s probably easiest to do a quick read through. In the end, your copy will read better and you won’t run the risk of unintentionally offending a prospective customer.

Creative Writing Tips You Can Use In Your Copy

If you’ve ever aspired to write fiction or creative non-fiction you’ll be happy to know there are several ‘rules’ of fiction that apply to effective copywriting technique as well.   

#1  Show Don’t Tell.  This is a hard and fast rule in creative writing. Here’s an example of what it means. 

Telling – Joe walked across the street. 

Showing – Stepping up to the curb, Joe squinted in the bright midday sun.  A dark blue van sped past leaving thick plumes of exhaust in its wake.  Overhead, the shrill ringing signaled it was safe to cross the street.   

With copywriting the technique is a touch different.  Telling in copywriting is listing features and showing is explaining a benefit.  

Telling – Brushed leather seats 

Showing – Easy to clean brushed leather seats are the perfect combination of luxury and convenience.   

Showing, both in creative writing and in copywriting are about creating an experience for your reader.  Who cares that Joe walked across the street and who cares about brushed leather seats?  You have to show the reader a reason to care; you have to give them an experience. 

#2  Be descriptive.   In creative writing and copywriting some of the best descriptive tools are powerful verbs and adjectives.  Why say someone talked when you can say they shouted, whispered, or even muttered?  Why tell them the seats are leather when you can tell them they’re vintage Italian brushed leather?  Painting a vivid image creates powerful prose and powerful copy.  It moves your reader to not only continue reading; it motivates them to make a purchase. 

#3  Don’t be afraid to bend or even break grammar rules.  Commercial fiction is rife with bad grammar and it isn’t because the editors are lazy, it is because sometimes bad grammar just works better, particularly if you’re writing conversational copy. 

We don’t always speak in complete sentences and we sometimes end our sentences in prepositions or begin a sentence with AND, OR and BUT.  Conversational copy has been proven to work quite well at converting – go ahead and let a few strategically placed grammar errors by in the name of good copy. 

While not everyone aspires to write fiction, heck some don’t aspire to write copy either, it can be helpful to learn a few tricks of the trade because good writing and storytelling has universal appeal. 

Show your reader what’s in it for them, instead of telling them, be descriptive and paint a picture.  Let your reader imagine themselves using your product or service and being successful.  AND use words and grammar strategically to make your points.

5 Tips To Beat Writer’s Block

Writers block knocks even the most prolific of writers to their knees on occasion.  It seems to pop up during the most inconvenient times.  Your product is ready to launch and that sales page just isn’t working or your auto responder needs to go out and all you have written is “Lesson #1”  

Sound familiar?   Here are 5 tips to kick writer’s block out of the way and get down to work. 

#1  Change your topics into questions.  For example, if you’re writing an autoresponder mini course and your subject is organizing your home office you can turn it into a question to answer – “What is the best way to organize my home office?”  Or “How do I begin to organize my home office?” 

Answering a question is significantly easier than writing an essay on a topic.  This strategy works well if you’re writing a book or a report too.  Simply take your detailed table of contents and change each section into a question.  It will literally take you minutes to answer each question, your copy will be conversational, and it will flow better.  Try it! 

#2  Write without judgment.  One of the biggest hurdles to writing is our inner critic.  Silence your inner critic by declaring that “The first draft is going to be awful.”  Now all you have to do is sit down and write that awful first draft.  What does this accomplish?  You’re getting words down on paper.  Granted, they may not be the words you end up with but first drafts rarely are.  Their purpose is simply to get you started to get ideas and concepts down on paper.  When you get rid of your inner critic the copy, no matter how awful it is, will flow a little easier. 

#3  Break your task into smaller parts.  Writing a sales page can be an overwhelming task.  Instead of sitting down to write the entire page, break it up into manageable steps like writing the headline, writing the call to action, writing the first paragraph, writing the PS, writing the “proof.”  Not only will you have a sense of accomplishment after each section is completed, the smaller steps may inspire new ideas for your copy.   

#4  Use a blueprint.  One of the easiest ways to avoid getting stuck knee deep in writer’s block is to follow a proven structure.  AIDA, attention, interest, desire, and action work well for sales copy as does the 4 Ps, Picture, Promise, Prove, Push.   

#5  Write the easy stuff first.  Are headlines your nemesis?  Save them for last?  Is the call to action your easiest step?  Write it first. As you accomplish each section of writing, it will generate ideas and inspiration that will lead into the other areas of your copy. 

 Writer’s block doesn’t have to stop you.  Accept it, face it head on, and work through it using one of the five options suggested above.  If all else fails set your writing aside for a designated period of time with a promise that you’ll come back to it in a few minutes, an hour, or a day. 

What Is Your USP?

USP or Unique Selling Proposition is a term that was coined in the 1940s by Advertising Mogul Ted Bates of Bates and Reeves, one of the largest advertising agencies of its time, to explain the success of several advertising campaigns.  They defined USP as a statement that contained these three elements:

1. Each advertisement/statement must make a proposition to the consumer.
2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not offer. It must be unique–either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions.

USP has since been adopted by copywriting, branding, and marketing professionals to expand beyond an advertising claim to encompass a slogan or theme for a company.  Every company, brand, product, or service has something unique they can stake a claim to.  

 Here are some of the original superstars of USP 

Domino’s Pizza: “You get fresh, hot pizza delivered to your door in 30 minutes or less — or it’s free.”

 FedEx: “Your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight”M&M’s: “The milk chocolate melts in your mouth, not in your hand”  

What makes your company, product or service unique?  What is your competitive advantage?  Here are a few questions to ask yourself: 

·         What differentiates your product or service?  Amazon.com claims to be the “World’s Biggest Bookstore.”   

·         Fill in the rest of this sentence – Unlike most of my competitors I _________________________. 

·         What are the benefits of using your product or service?  Now which of those benefits are unique to your product or service? 

·         What weaknesses can you take advantage of?  Avis uses the USP “We’re Number 2.  We try harder.”

 Spend some time brainstorming a USP if you don’t have one already.  It will help you build and strengthen your brand, it will help potential customers remember you when they need your product or service and like the compelling USPs of old, a strong USP will sell your product or service. 

 

 

Is Your Call To Action Working?

Your call to action or CTA is one of the critical elements of any sales piece.  Whether you’re writing an auto responder, a banner ad, or a long copy sales page it is critical to your conversion rate to include this final element. 

If it is left out, readers will not know what to do next, they actually need to be told how to proceed.  It doesn’t mean we’ll do it yet if there are no final directions like “Click here to buy now,” then we certainly won’t.   

Here are a few call to action possibilities to get your gears spinning: 

·         Visit our website at www.calltoaction.com·         Download your free report now·         Call today to reserve your time.  Appointments are limited.·         Click on the download button to start your free trial.·         Simply type your name and email address in the form, hit send, and check your email for your free ebook·         Order now 

Now these calls to action can work independently, however they tend to work better if there is a sense of urgency attached to them or some sort of extra incentive. 

Take a look at this example from Michel Fortin’s Success Doctor,  

Get your initial copy assessment and quote today. This free initial consultation is a $95.00 value. This estimate is guaranteed for 30 days only. Right now, our schedule is booked up for the next few months (some spaces are still left). So we encourage you to act quickly.Here’s another example from www.internetbasedfamily.com, Try our 10-day free website builder trial and see just how easy it is to build a feature-rich site that looks like it was designed by a professional designer. There’s never any purchase necessary, so give the site builder a whirl!-> Start Your 10-day free trial now. Pricing starts at just $17 / month.*Here’s to quickly creating a great website you can be proud of!A solid call to action combined with a sense of urgency and a reminder of a few selling points is a sure way to make sure readers not only know what to do next, they actually do it!  If you aren’t sure your call to action is working add a sense of urgency to it and test conversion rates.   

 

How To Change Your Sales Copy From Rational To Emotional

We buy for emotional reasons, not rational ones.  Sure maybe you need a new car so the purpose behind your purchase is rational however the car you buy and the features it has are purely emotional.  Heated seats, sun roofs, 300 horsepower not one of those features will get you to the grocery store but they’re all features of a car that speak to your emotions.   

Here’s how to make sure your copy hits those emotional buttons. 

Write your sales letter first.  Don’t worry about whether you’ve chosen the correct word just yet.  Get the main structure of your letter on paper.  Once that is accomplished go back and clean it up.  Add your psychological motivators. Begin formatting it so the sentences you really want to stand out are highlighted and given room to shine.  Now you’re ready to transform your copy from rational or left brained to emotional or right brained. 

Left brained words are words that speak to the logical side or rational and structured side of our thoughts.  Words like ·         Inform·         Wealthy·         Tardy·         Reply·         Learn 

Words that are right brained or emotional words speak to our emotions, intuition, and imagination.  For example·         Tell·         Rich·         Late·         Answer·         Find out 

Examine the sentences in your copy and consider whether they are logical left brained words or right brained words.  There are lists available online however many times the replacement words are pretty obvious.  Here’s William Zinsser’s advice in his classic book, On Writing Well: “Beware, then, of the long word that is no better than the short word: ‘numerous’ (many), ‘facilitate’ (ease), ‘individual’ (man or woman), ‘remainder’ (rest), ‘initial’ (first), ‘implement’ (do), ‘sufficient’ (enough), ‘attempt’ (try), ‘referred to as’ (called), and hundreds more.”

Last but not least, a quick and easy way to see how many left brained words are on your website home page is to take advantage of a CGI script written by Paul Galloway.  Visit this link http://www.paulgalloway.com/cgi-bin/emotional_words.cgi and type in your website URL. You’ll see all left brained words in bold red with the right brain replacements. 

Use this great tool to examine some of your favorite sales pages to get a good idea of how right brained words are used to enhance copy. 

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