If you’ve ever heard of social media described as a party, you probably know it’s one you don’t want to miss out on. But what do you do when the party people aren’t inviting brands?

Companies face unique challenges in the social media realm for one simple reason: people are loyal to people. That human connection we all crave online tends to get lost and diluted when you’re a brand made up of countless faces.

So how do you harness the power of “one” to build a loyal following online? Check out my 5 basic tips for being more likeable over at The Brief, where I guest blogged last week.

And tell me, are there any tips you would add to the mix?

 photo credit: @NickyColman

Contrary to what my lack of blogging would hint at, this summer was quite crazy. The fact that we’re almost in September is blowing my mind at the moment, and I feel like I’m just now looking up from my desk and going, “Wait. It was summer? When did this happen?”

I have several friends who are teachers, and around this time of year there’s this exciting back-to-school energy full of newness and promises of great accomplishments ahead. I may not be a student or a teacher, but I can use some of that energy. So I present you with…

Shiny new changes that happened over the summer with Inky Clean:

I have a new FAQs page for all your burning questions about what it’s like to work with a copywriter, how I quote projects to fit your budget, what type of writing I specialize in, and more.

You wouldn’t believe how many people ask me how I came up with my company name. Usually they follow this up with, “Can you come up with a name for my company, too?” So I’ve been very busy with name development projects lately, helping entrepreneurs find the perfect name for their new start-up or service. I’ve updated my services page to reflect this, and am taking on a limited number of naming projects every month. Need a moniker for your new business or for a rebranding? Contact me about name development.

If you’ve ever read my fiction blog, you’ll know this next new service is very dear to my heart. I love a good story. I love telling stories and I love helping people tell their stories. Over the years, I’ve edited novels, short stories, non-fiction book proposals and feature articles, and have helped my clients grow as writers. I’m now officially offering two developmental editing services for writers of book-length works, which you can read about on my new page For Writers.

And finally, I’ve updated my portfolio with writing I’ve done for print and online magazines. My new Features page highlights some of my favorite articles and essays, along with behind-the-page tidbits about the writing process. If you’re an editor in need of a features writer, take a look and also check out my Mediabistro profile to learn more about my reporting experience.

So that’s what new around these parts. What’s new with you?

Decisions, decisions...who really has the time to be pitched to?

A couple of weeks ago, as I was shopping around for tea and scone mix in preparation for my ridiculously early-morning Royal Wedding-watching extravaganza, (don’t judge me!) I came across this brilliant copy from Sticky Fingers Bakeries:

“Does anyone really read this stuff?

Sure, you may be holding the best scone mix on the planet, but does that really mean you need to be subjected to some flowery, braggadocious copy about how we make the world a better place to live? And who uses words like braggadocious anyway?”

It then goes on to quickly get to the point: that their all-natural scones are some of the tastiest and easiest to make out there. The language is crisp, fun, and concise. More importantly, it sounds sincere, because instead of going into hyperbole and using huge, fancy words like their competitors do, they’re being real.

No marketing buzz words. No fluffy adjectives. Just some copy talking to real people.

Is your copy doing the same?

One of the most important things to remember (hard as it may be) as you’re working on your marketing copy is that people have better things to do than read it.

They don’t want to be pitched to. They don’t want to be impressed by the eighty industry awards your company has won this year, or the list of 200 techie features that make your product superior from the rest.

They just want to get on with their lives with as little hassle as possible. They want to get on with their lives and find new ways to enjoy it. If you can help them do either of those things, they’ll take you along for the ride.

Rule #1 in copywriting is “know your audience.” Know their needs and the problems they’re having, so you can be the one who solves it. But I think we need to go a step beyond that.

First, let’s stop saying “audience” and acknowledge that they’re Real People.

Next, let’s put ourselves in their shoes, really and truly.

You’re at a grocery store. Your kid’s pulling at your shirt, begging you to buy him a quadruple chocolate brownie mix and you’re trying very hard not to say: “Only if it comes with a tranquilizer gun!” You’re really only reading the packaging labels to make sure there isn’t some sort of poison in the ingredients. Your BS-meter is set to hyper-sensitive.

Probably the only way to get your attention is if someone just gets real. If they just strip their message and who they are down to the honest core.

So. Let’s jump back into your shoes. Are you ready to get real in your marketing copy? Contact me and we’ll find a way to get you there.

photo credit: Fujoshi.

I rarely do this, but this post is a modified version of a newsletter I sent out a few weeks ago. I got some great responses to it and felt compelled to share. If you don’t want to miss out on future Wordy Goodness newsletters, sign up here.

Naming a business is so much more complex than picking a name that sounds nice.

You have your brand to think about: how do you want it to be perceived today and in the future? How can you pick a name that your business can grow with, not out of?

There’s domain availability to consider, and also how the name looks and sounds.

And then of course there’s the question of ownership: Once you’ve decided on the perfect name, how can you trademark it so it’s all yours?

These are just a few of the issues I discussed in my guest post over at Deliberate Ink. How to Get a Great Business Name and Own It is a detailed list of Do’s and Don’ts for anyone in the process of naming or renaming their business. If you’ve already been using a name, but haven’t gotten it trademarked, I have a few tips for you, too. (The main one being, “Do it ASAP!”)

Because the best thing about having a great name is getting to keep it.

This Wednesday, the 20th, I’ll be teaching a webinar through Sharp Skirts’ Get Sharp program on how to grow a blog the right way. Whether you’re blogging for business, personal reasons (or a little bit of both), the key to attracting loyal readers is in writing content that matters to them. I’ll be going over how to do this and more. Here’s a brief description of the course:

Ever feel like you blog ang blog, but nobody’s listening? Learn how to grow (and keep) the right audience by finding your focus, increasing your visibility, and delivering content that matters. When done right, a blog can be an amazing business tool, so join copywriter, blogger and editor Natalia Sylvester as she shares her tips on how to avoid having “Just another blog.”

To learn more or register, click here. Hope to see you Wednesday!

Today’s post is a first for The Copywriter’s Soapbox: a guest post by Princess Jones of P.S. Jones Communication. What I love about Princess is that she tells it like it is–even when it’s something we don’t want to (but desperately need to) hear. Read on and you’ll get an idea of what I’m talking about.

Copy is like the outfit your marketing materials wear. You don’t want anything that doesn’t flatter your brand and project the image you want associated with it. You know how every year half the people who watch the Oscars are only watching so they can talk about what people are wearing? Well the pressure those celebrities  feel when picking out their dresses is nothing compared to the pressure of creating the perfect copy for your brand. Those celebrities only wear those dresses for one night, but branding can last a lifetime. Whether it’s Joan Rivers or your target audience, there are certain things you never want anyone to say about your copy. Here are four of them:

It’s Riddled With Typos

No one takes you seriously if your copy is full typos and grammatical errors. It makes it look rushed, cheap and unprofessional. Mistakes happen to us all. I write for a living and often edit my clients’ work, and even I have problems self-editing my writing. However, whatever you have to do to make your work error-free, do it. The only other option is to have readers focusing on your comma splices instead of your method.

How to Tell: Make the editing process a priority. Schedule it into the timeline. Read the copy aloud in a different setting than you wrote it. And whether you wrote it yourself or you hired someone else to do it, let a fresh pair of eyes look at it. Ask a partner, a colleague or just about  anyone who can read to look it over. You get bonus points if you can get someone representative the target audience to give you her thoughts.

It’s Predictable or Generic

“Blah, blah, blah, blah.”If your copy reads like that, it’s probably because it looks just like everyone else’s.  Time worn cliches and buzz words don’t do anything for your message. I’m not saying you have to reinvent the wheel every time you send out a new brochure, but you should try to at least put on a new set of tires.

How to Tell: Ask yourself whether what you’ve written could be about any other company or product than the one in question. If you could swap out the brand name with anyone else’s, it’s not good enough to represent any brand.

The Wrong Perspective

Regardless of who your audience is, they care more about themselves than you. That’s not narcissism or selfishness. That’s called being a human being. So when someone reads your copy, she doesn’t want to hear about what the product does or who the company is. Instead, she wants to hear about what those things can do for her problem. Make it all about the reader and why she should care.

How to Tell: Go through the copy and count how many times you said something about what the company or product does versus what the customer gains. If it’s not decidedly more about the customer than the company, go back and make it so.

It’s Confusing

Everybody loves clever copy. When done right, clever copy makes an impression by surprising us or making us laugh. When done badly, clever copy leaves the audience wondering what is the point of the whole thing. The first job of your copy is to inform the reader and the second is to persuade them to take the next step. Confusing copy accomplishes neither of these things. If it’s a choice between clever and clear, choose clear every time.

How to Tell: Look at your finished copy and ask yourself a few questions: Does it incorporate the key concepts that define the brand? Can you actually pinpoint the words that ask the reader to do what you want her to do? If not, it’s back to the drawing board for you.

What would you hate to hear about your copy? How do you decide it needs more work?

Princess Jones is the owner of P.S. Jones Communications, providing copywriting, consulting and speaking services to small businesses and solopreneurs. She writes about freelance writing on Diary of a Mad Freelancer and entrepreneurship on She’s Self-Employed. To connect with Princess, visit her LinkedIn and Twitter profiles.

I can’t help but pay attention to word choice, whether it’s in casual conversations or in ads (I know…big surprise!). Lately I’ve been noticing a disturbing choice of words when it comes to people looking for a copywriter. They’ll say things like:

We’re looking for someone who can make us sound good.

Like to write? We’re looking for a copywriter.

Can you string words together and make them sound lovely?

Which really makes me pause for a moment and think, “Wow. None of those things describe a great copywriter.” It’s kind of like the “every square is a rectangle, but not every rectangle is a square” principle.

Because yes, every copywriter should possess those qualities, but having them doesn’t automatically make you a great copywriter.

What to Really Look For in a Copywriter

A lovely string of words won’t do any business much good if they’re not clearly delivering a message and persuading the reader. So maybe the ad that asks a writer to “make them sound good” should really be asking them to 1) speak to their intended audience and 2) show that audience how their business will make their lives easier.

Beyond looking for a writer who loves what she does, look for one who likes solving problems, too. A writer who doesn’t take things at face value will analyze your message, your goals and your product to make sure that they all add up to sales for you and satisfaction for the customer.

They’ll even “string lovely words together,” but the words will do much more than sound nice. They’ll move your audience to action, whether it’s a purchase, an email sign-up, or a simple call they make to find out more about your business.

If you were writing an ad for a great copywriter, what qualities would you look for?

photo credit: brotherM

Every once in a while I go through my spammed comments to make sure any real comments don’t accidentally get filtered out. And let me tell you, these spambots, they’re trying REALLY HARD to sound like real people.

Too bad the majority of us have half a brain and can see right through it. I mean, it’s easy, right? Huge blocks of text with mostly links: spam. Generic statements paired with a username like “SellGoldWatchesforCash”: spam. Comments that call me “man” when it’s clear I’m not: spam.

You can recognize spam in half a second when someone else is schlepping it onto you. Can you recognize it that easily in your own copy?

4 signs that your copy is reading like a spambot wrote it

1. Huge blocks of text that just go on and on. Readers will take one glance and that will be their last. Break it up into small, more digestible and relevant pieces to ensure you grab visitors instead of scare them off.

2. Cheesy domain names, headlines and slogans. Domain names like “BestCoatHangersForYou.com” are the online equivalent of a sleazy used car dealership. And even when they say “For You,” I’m guessing my needs will be the last thing on these sellers’ minds.

3. Clearly not knowing your audience. Spambots have an excuse because they’re not real. When they call me man or dude I delete them, but at least they had a 50/50 chance of being right. Real people, real businesses, have no excuses not to know their customers.

4. A whole lot of words that say nothing at all. Here’s a new little trick I’ve noticed the bots are trying to pull. They’re trying to sound intelligent and genuine by leaving comments that are flattering, but could apply to ANYTHING. Here’s one from my spam queue (typos included):

This is a smart blog. I mean it. You have so much knowledge about this issue, and so much passion. You also know how to make people rally behind it, obviously from the responses. Youve got a design here thats not too flashy, but makes a statement as big as what youre saying. Great job, indeed.

Could you be guilty of this same tactic? Does your copy go on and on about how passionate you are, or how innovative your company is? Could someone pluck that copy from your website, paste it on someone else’s, and the same would still apply?

What other spam traits do you think we should watch out for?

Yes, I know. For a lot of people, Twitter’s not that big of a deal. But for me, it is. It’s how I grew my business when I relaunched, rebranded, and relocated to a new state. It’s how I keep in touch with virtual colleagues and keep up-to-date on industry news and even make new friends. And for just a little over a year, it’s a place where I’ve been know as @InkyClean.

And here I am about to change that.

A lot of things have led up to this. For one, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of Twitter, and more than anything it’s a place where I connect with other people. The business relationships and the promotion of Inky Clean all come secondary to the real relationships I’ve made. I don’t log on every day to link to my latest blog post, but I do log on every day to check and see how my “tweeps” are doing. Twitter’s a place where I feel I can let my guard down a bit; it’s a place for honesty and genuineness, and for me, the next step in that sincerity is to just use my own name.

Secondly, as much work as I’ve put into Inky Clean, it’s not the only thing I do, nor is it the only thing that defines me. I’m not just a copywriter—I’m an aspiring novelist, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer addict, a nostalgic gamer who occassionally plays Donkey Kong Country on an old-school Super NES, a dog owner, an occasionally moody (but always lovable) wife, a little sister, a Miami transplant living in Austin…the list goes on and on. All of these things, including my company, fall into the very complex and often geeky umbrella that is me.

Third, I want people to know me for me. A year ago when I started this Twitter account, my goal was to develop Inky Clean as a strong, memorable brand. And I think I’ve done that maybe too well (on Twitter, at least) because sometimes, once the online networking goes offline, people will call me by company name and not my actual name. And I love that it sticks, I love that they remember it, but I want my company to be something people remember about me, not all they remember.

So maybe it’s time for me to develop my personal brand just like I developed my business brand. And it’s very possible to develop both at once. It doesn’t mean I’ll be neglecting my business brand (and—let’s not lose sight of the bigger picture here—a brand is much, much, much more than a Twitter handle). If anything, I’ll be working harder to make sure that my business is one of the great things people think of when they think of me. But just one of the things, among many.

Because we are all so very many things.

Do you keep your business and personal brand separate? Why or why not?

Earlier in the month Larry Keltto over at The Solopreneur Life asked me to be a Featured Soloist on his site. If you haven’t heard of The Solopreneur Life yet, it’s a place for small business owners who are going it solo to find the resources and community to help their businesses thrive.

Every Tuesday, Larry interviews a solopreneur about how they operate their business and why they chose the path they did.

I love reading the Featured Soloist columns because even though we’re going it alone, it doesn’t mean we can’t learn from one another. Check out my interview and browse through the archives while you’re at it. You might find something to help you in your business (whether you’re a solopreneur or not).