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.

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?

I’ve been noticing one word keeps popping up to describe how marketers should make their audience feel: charmed.

Charming someone is far more powerful than leaving a good impression. A person who’s charmed by you won’t stop thinking about you after you’ve met. They’ll smile when your name comes up, and want to gush to their friends about how great you are. They’ll hope that your initial encounter will turn into something much more long-term.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it? So how exactly do you go about doing this?

Think of it like a great first date

1. The first impression sets the tone: Get yourself dolled up, stand up straight, and speak with confidence. In other words, present yourself in the best possible light. You can’t fake a great web presence (just like you can’t fake a good suit) so make sure your web design is appealing to the eyes (cleanliness, please!), your web copy has strong headlines, and your site is easy enough to navigate that it makes for a pleasing experience. Also, get rid of anything that oozes cheesiness—flashy graphics, taglines that rhyme for no other reason than to sound “clever,” and auto-music are huge signs that you’re trying too hard.

2. Sincerity works wonders: Don’t you hate it when people give dating advice like “just be yourself”? Well, it’s true. You won’t get matched up with your right audience if you’re not putting the real you out there. Be honest about your product or service and you’ll build an invaluable trust with your customers. That trust—in the quality of what you’re offering, the quality of your service, and the promises that you make—is the only thing that’ll stop them from leaving the second someone else claims to be #1.

3. Talking about yourself is still a turn-off: Nobody wants to sit through dinner with someone who won’t stop bragging about themselves. The same goes for your marketing copy: It can’t be all about you. If you’ve won awards or Mashable called your startup the next big thing, share it in places where it’s relevant. Your About page, Press Page, a sidebar or even (briefly) on your homepage are all good places as long as they’re not taking the focus away from the main point: What can you do for your customers? Which brings us to number four…

4. You gotta think about their needs: Be a good listener and be considerate of their needs. That’s usually enough to get you a second date. Before you write any marketing copy, listen to your target audience and its needs. Keep them in mind at all times: What are they looking for in a product like yours? What problem do they have that you might not be aware of? How can you make their life easier?

5. Nobody likes a bland date: You could have all of the above and still not charm anyone if you don’t show some personality. Step outside of the misleading safe zone formed by boring, “let’s please everyone” branding and make a real statement. It might not charm everyone, but it won’t matter as long as you’re charming the right people.

photo credit: chibi_m

Remember that novel I talked about a few months back? I recently completed the final draft (insert huge sigh of relief here). I’m lucky to have had an amazing group of writers who critiqued the manuscript throughout its numerous versions and offered some solid feedback that helped me improve it along the way.

When you’ve been in writing groups long enough, you start to notice recurring questions that readers ask to determine the strength of the work. Some are questions we ask subconsciously as we read, others are questions we ask out loud to get a discussion going. And while my book is a work of fiction, I’ve found these questions also apply to copywriting.

Next time you’re getting ready to edit your own copy, take a cue from my writer’s groups and ask yourself these questions:

Do the characters feel real? Before you say, “My copy doesn’t have a character,” think again. Your company’s persona and brand are the main characters in the story you’re telling. They’re essential to making your message something people will connect with. Take a moment to study the impressions you’re putting out into the world. If you want customers to trust your brand, it absolutely has to be authentic and sincere.

Do the characters have a distinctive voice? In fiction, one of the signs of great dialogue is that you know who’s speaking even if the writer doesn’t tell you. A writer who pulls this off is creating a bond between the reader and the character—the reader feels like they really know this person (similar to how they know a close friend). Does your copy have a unique voice? Is it true to your company culture and what it stands for?

Is this action justified? Characters in novels do crazy things. Sometimes they’re justified because they seem like something the person would do. Sometimes they’re so out of left field that readers start thinking, “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”

What ends up happening is that this disconnect chips away at the authenticity of the character. To make sure this doesn’thappen to your brand, it’s important to be consistent. Your brand should align with your message, but so should your actions. So let’s say you have a product that’s meant to help simplify people’s lives. But your copy makes it difficult for them to find the information they’re looking for, check-out is an eight-step process, and returning the product is an even bigger hassle. If the experience doesn’t live up to the promise, people will simply stop buying into it.

Think about the things that draw you into a good book. How can these elements be translated to help your copy?

photo credit: doctor paradox

Copywriting is so important because it basically boils down to this:

Words carry your message.

How can you be sure you’re doing it right? Today I’m guest blogging (and also venting a little) for Brass Knuckles Media about the six most common copywriting mistakes and how to avoid them.

Check it out and leave your thoughts in the comments.

Are there other copywriting mistakes that should be on the list? Are there any (uh-oh) that you might be guilty of?

I have a walk-in closet with a motion sensor light. When I first moved into my apartment, I thought this was the coolest thing ever. No more forgetting to turn the lights off and wasting energy. No more having to get up after I’m super comfy in bed just to flip the switch.

The way it’s supposed to work is simple. I walk in. Lights turn on.

The Way It Usually Works Is This:

I walk in. Lights stay off. I try finding my favorite pair of jeans in the dark hoping the lights will eventually detect my motion. Lights stay off. I wave my arms in the air like a crazy person and sometimes the lights turn on. Sometimes I give up on this entirely and just as I leave…voila! Lights turn on.

Ideas Are Not Light Bulbs

This was supposed to be a post about how we can’t afford to be like this in our business. We can’t have the light bulbs go off in our minds just as the client’s leaving.

But in the real world, the one that exists outside of my dark, shoe-and-purse-filled closet, working with clients for creative projects isn’t always as simple as flipping a switch (or hoping it lights up on its own).

True, it doesn’t help anyone if the lights turn on just when no one needs them anymore. But it’s also unrealistic to expect a great “A-ha!” moment if we don’t get enough direction. It’s not as if the second a client pops up on our radar we’re going to know exactly what they need. We are not mind readers (it’d be nice, though).

Rescuing Ideas from Obscurity

The realistic scenario is that more often than not, both the creative and the client start out a little bit in the dark. The client doesn’t always know exactly what he wants until he sees it, or he thinks he wants one thing but it turns out another approach might work better. Likewise, I, as a copywriter, won’t know exactly what my client needs until I’ve asked a lot of questions to pry it out of obscurity. Even then, ideas aren’t always solid, definable creatures. They’re vague and mischievous little things, and they need someone to help them shine.

This isn’t to say the process should be as frustrating as my closet situation. No one should feel as helpless as I do when I’m waving directly at the motion sensor and nothing happens.

But there’s a sweet spot* somewhere in that obscurity, where, given enough feedback, we can find a way to shed light on a problem in a way that the client might never have imagined. It takes a good amount of communication from both sides, and it means we can’t expect instant gratification, but lasting gratification. When that light does turn on, you’ll know that it’s on for good.

*Turns out the light in my closet has a sweet spot as well. My dog, Maggie, has figured it out, but she’s not telling.

What do you think? Do your ideas come to you in a flash? If so, how do you develop them from there?

photo credit: thomas mies

If you’re obsessed enough with something, you’ll find yourself learning about it in the most unexpected places. Ever since I met my husband seven years ago, this unexpected place has been DVD commentaries.

My husband’s quite the film enthusiast. Anytime we finish watching a movie on DVD, he’ll check the special features and see what he can find about how it was made. And, because of marital osmosis, I end up learning a thing or two about the craft of storytelling.

Take Disney’s Aladdin. Those Disney guys did some serious reworking to the script.

– Initially, Jasmine and Aladdin met in the palace, after Aladdin tries to hide from guards that are after him. There’s a whole scene where Abu hangs from a tree, and Aladdin talks to Jasmine

– Aladdin had a mother whom he wanted to make proud. This, in addition to his love for Jasmine, is an important motivator for him wanting to be a prince. There was actually a whole song dedicated to this, and many subsequent scenes

– In addition to Abu the monkey, Aladdin had three other friends who help him with his antics of stealing food to get by

– Jafar’s character was initially the loud, panicky one, while Iago the parrot was cool and collected

If you’ve seen the movie, you know that the end product hardly resembles the initial vision. This means characters were cut, songs were reworked or omitted, roles were switched and it probably felt like they were starting over from scratch every time the creators made these tough calls.

Moving back to move forward

In any type of writing, whether it’s a novel or a company’s web copy, you don’t always get it right the first time. Actually, you’ll rarely get it right the first time.

For example, when I’m writing copy for a client, I don’t just write and send it to them. I’ll write something, step away from it, then write it again with an entirely new approach to see what works best. Sure, the client thinks they’re seeing my first draft when I turn something in, but what they’re really seeing is my first working draft. It’s the one that works because it’s been revised and polished and fine-tuned.

It’s the same with fiction. When I realized the major revisions I’d have to make to my novel’s rough draft, it felt like I might end up pulling the one piece from the Jenga puzzle that would make everything come falling down.

I rewrote it from a new perspective, then completely changed the setting, and then realized that it was actually another character’s story. These edits have only made the story stronger.

The Fluidity of a Story

The commentary for Aladdin isn’t the first to demonstrate the fluidity of a story. Nearly every single one I’ve watched (and I’ve watched tons) prove this point: You rarely start out with the end result.

That doesn’t just go for writing. It goes for business plans, and marketing plans, and product launches that end up evolving into something no one ever imagined (um…Twitter, anyone?). It goes for brands that realize that they need to change their messaging, and businesses that notice untapped markets. The real progress lies in revision.

What part of your life, your business, or your writing could use some revision?

photo credit: Loren Javier