Last week, it took me two hours to find the right facial sunblock online. A year ago, it would’ve taken me ten minutes—just a quick drive to my neighborhood pharmacy, picking up the same brand I’d used for years.

Why the big change?

About a year ago, I started copywriting for a new skin care line as they prepared to launch. I’ve written their web copy, bottle labels, product descriptions, brochures. Their goal was to make people rethink how they shop for beauty products and take a closer look at the ingredients. There are all sorts of potentially harmful chemicals in skin care products we see on shelves every day, in brands that many people trust (this video sums it up beautifully). Recently I also started writing for another beauty line that has a similar mission and because of this, sticks to natural ingredients.

There’s a point to all this, I swear.

Just yesterday, as I was explaining to my sister that many popular fragrances contain potentially harmful chemicals that are not listed on the label, I realized that I was the perfect example of a marketer’s dream consumer. I heard their message. I believed in it and made it part of my life. What’s more, I even passed the message on to others.

Clients often come to me with the concern that they don’t want to sound too pushy in their marketing copy (or sales-y, which has become a common term). When I initially sat down with the first skin care client, listening to how her products were different and how she was trying to improve her customers’ lives, it was enlightening. She didn’t need to be pushy because she knew exactly what problem she was solving for people. She had a genuine concern for their well-being and wanted to help.

The word “sales-y” has gotten a bad rap. We assume that to sell someone, we have to convince them, possibly even trick them, into thinking that they need what we’re offering. There’s a connotation of deception there, of sleaziness, of having to keep a person’s attention because they’d rather be doing something else. Those are clear signs of two things:

1) you’re targeting the wrong audience

2) you’re focusing on how they can help you instead of how you can help them

When people are truly loyal to a brand, it’s because they consider them a friend. That brand looks out for them, that brand helps them out every time. Instead of being pushy, the best thing we can do is listen to our audience’s needs and be that friend. Only then will they listen to your message and look for more of it. And, when they realize it’s not just talk, that your product can really follow through on the promise you’ve made, they’ll take it in and pass it on to their friends.

As I got my new sunblock in the mail today, I was actually grateful that there are companies out there looking out for their customers’ well-being. I changed my shopping habits and switched brands because I wanted a healthier alternative. Nobody had to convince me to make that decision. It was a matter of me wanting something, and of someone else having exactly what I was looking for.

How about you? What brands are you most loyal to, and why?

I’ve never mentioned this before, but I’ve been writing a novel for a few years now and am finally at the final draft stage. It’s been a crazy ride (I’ve changed characters, entire plot points, and settings, so much that it’s almost as if I’ve written three books) and as overwhelming and close to me as this book is, I never mentioned it on this blog because I thought I had to keep my copywriting and my fiction separate.

And then it dawned on me: that’s just silly. Good copy tells a story, just like a great book does. Why should I keep my copywriting and fiction separate when the skills I use for both are so closely related?

In fiction, one of the most important skills a writer has to develop is that of building believable characters. Readers need to feel like they know these people, they need to believe that they’re real, that they have motivations, virtues, vices, issues, opinions and hot buttons just like any other person. Most of all, the writer needs to create a character that readers care about. Why else would a reader follow someone’s journey for 300 pages if they’re not loyal to them?

It’s the same in copywriting. A company’s brand is like the characters in a book. If it’s bland, forgettable, doesn’t feel genuine, or fails to set itself apart from the thousands of other brands/characters in the marketplace, then people aren’t going to connect with it enough to go on a journey with them. Just like in creative writing, your character needs to be fleshed out. It needs to come alive. To do this through copywriting, it’s all about the voice and the word choice and the messages you put out there.

So…quick question for all of you. If your brand were a character in a book, who would it be, and why?

Great copy can be a lot like air: it’s everywhere, but not everyone notices it unless it’s missing. Think of all the billboard ads you see on your daily commute, the brochure you take with you as you leave the bank, or the product descriptions you read as you browse through your favorite online store. These are all examples of a copywriter’s work, and if they did their job right, you’d never even know it.

Similar to the mark of a great editor, a good copywriter is often invisible. She’s more concerned with her writing doing its job than she is with getting recognition for it. When the copy’s written effectively, the first thing that pops into a reader’s mind shouldn’t be “Wow, what great writing.”

The first thing that pops into the reader’s head should be the message.

Whatever point the writing is supposed to make should take center stage. Writing that’s effectively communicating the benefits of a product will make a person think of all the ways the product will make their life easier. Writing that’s aligned with a company’s brand will leave the reader feeling like they understand what that company’s about and what makes them unique. Writing that’s witty and clever will make someone laugh and remember you. And writing that succinctly explains complex topics—whether in an instruction manual or on a website’s FAQ page—will inform readers by simplifying.

So why hire a copywriter, if people might not notice you hired one in the first place?

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When I moved my copywriting business from Miami to Austin, I decided it was time to rebrand. I didn’t think my current brand showed enough personality. I thought, if I’m not clear about my business identity, how am I going to attract clients who are a good fit?

Less than a month after I arrived in Austin I relaunched as Inky Clean. I didn’t worry about the fact that my brand was kinda quirky, nerdy and even a bit cute. I enjoy writing for businesses that can appreciate these qualities, in their copywriting or in general. Shouldn’t my brand speak to this audience instead of trying to reach out to a faceless mass?

Turns out, I’d landed in just the kind of town that could appreciate quirky. In case you haven’t heard it before, “Keep Austin Weird” is the slogan adapted by the Austin Independent Business Alliance to promote small businesses. It was coined as the result of an offhand remark by a librarian calling a local radio station, then caused some controversy once it was trademarked by a company that printed shirts with the phrase.

The slogan is all over the Austin area: t-shirts, bumper stickers…and probably tattooed on a die-hard Austinite or two.

But in the short few months I’ve lived here, it’s become apparent that “Keep Austin Weird” is much more than a slogan. It’s a way of life around here, and a great way to do business and approach copywriting.

Austinites protect their mom and pop shops and their trailer eateries and independent bookstores because they know that this “weirdness” is what gives the city its character and charm. (Not to mention that keeping it weird stimulates the local economy). They don’t want Austin to turn into just another city, where all the coffeeshops are Starbucks and all the bookstores are a Barnes & Noble.

You could say they’re trying to preserve who they are. What they stand for. Their uniqueness. Their brand.

Shouldn’t all businesses, large or small, be doing the same?

That’s why copywriting is so important. The words on a business’s marketing materials make up their voice; they determine how readers will hear them in their minds. What you say and how you say it is just as important as how you look. If you’re going to make an impression, shouldn’t you make one that’s a real reflection of you, what you stand for, and what makes you different?

Shouldn’t you build your true brand?

Maybe your brand isn’t weird, like Austin’s is. That’s okay. “Weird” isn’t so much about being weird as it is about embracing what makes us all different. And when a business does that, they stand a much better chance of attracting the right people.

That must be how I ended up in Austin. The weirdness was calling to me.

What about you? In what ways are you keeping your business “weird” and embracing its unique qualities?

Having majored in Creative Writing in college, one of the things that always stuck with me was the way my professors talked about voice–probably because most admitted it’s the one thing you can’t teach. It’s something a writer develops on her own, and you may not know how you get it, where you get it from, or even when you finally have it. You just write a whole lot and then one day you realize you have a style, a voice, that’s truly your own.

Funny thing is, with copywriting, that voice is still so important. Only it’s not about me anymore. It doesn’t matter what my voice is (the voice I use when I write this blog, or poetry, or fiction) because great copywriters listen to their client’s voice and bring it out in their writing. Each company has a unique personality, a unique set of values and a mission that’s going to align them with their audience. Even if they’re not writers, the voice is still there because their brand is. It’s my job to use that brand to shape the tone and style I use in my writing.

Now the other funny thing is this: Not all companies realize they have this voice, and writers often need to search for it and pull it out. Or sometimes a company might be fairly new, so the challenge is to find the voice in the first place. In both cases they’re a lot like that young creative writer. Both need to look at themselves and find a way to stand out in a crowded world full of product launches and authors. Voice is so important because when it seems like everyone else is trying to say or sell the same thing, a distinct voice reminds us that this product, this company, this service, is different. This is one that gets us and that we can trust. This is one people remember.

Think of a crowded room where everyone’s yelling at you. Even if you’re able to hear a message amidst the chaos, will you know where it’s coming from? What if, in the middle of all of that, one person came up and leaned in to tell you something in a calm, collected manner, completely differently from everyone else? Would you remember them then?

And no, you don’t have to be Kim Kardashian. Or Ashton Kutcher. Or Justin Bieber (who?).

Despite CNN’s report that the majority of Twitter users are just following their favorite celebrities, I think it’s an incredibly valuable tool—and it’s not fair to measure it just by the numbers. You can be following 20 people, but if they’re the right people, you’ll build a community and get a real conversation going. The same can be said for the people who follow you.

That’s why when I started Inky Clean’s Twitter account I decided to start small. I’m choosy about who I follow because I don’t want my account to become another source of spam; I want to get a valuable experience out of it. Here are the six things I look out for before I click “Follow” on a profile.

1. The bio: One of the first things I look at is a person’s bio. I want to know a bit about who they are, and by this I don’t mean I want a list of as many titles as they can fit into 160 characters (You’ve seen them: Taxidermist, mother of three, Lady Gaga fan, knitter, defensive driver, chocolate lover, movie freak and collector of 18th-century buttons). A bio doesn’t need to say everything about you, it just needs to say why you’re on Twitter. Maybe you love discussing politics, or you’re an art curator and you always have the latest art news. Think of the bio as a chance to answer the question: “What are you bringing to the table?” If people know what you’re about, it’ll help them decide if they want to listen to what you have to say.

2. They tweet things I can use. Informative tweets, tweets linking to blog posts I might find interesting, tweets of inspiring quotes or funny jokes. These kinds of tweets all have something to offer me, whether that be an educational tidbit or even just a smile. I follow them because they add something to my day, and I know that when they pop up on the corner of my screen through TweetDeck, I won’t feel like they’re interrupting me for no good reason. read more…