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.

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?

In case I haven’t made this clear before, I’m a huge Twitter fan. Yes, I’m that annoying person who’s always suggesting that my job-seeking friends and entrepreneur friends get on Twitter. Right. Now.

Problem is, they’ll often come back after a few months and say it hasn’t really worked for them. It seemed too time consuming, and they weren’t getting any followers.

But this post isn’t about how to get followers (this one is). It’s about how to make Twitter work for you when you’re a newbie. It’s about how not to mess it up your first 20 Tweets in. Because while it’s true that Twitter doesn’t work for all types of businesses, more often than not it’s because a person isn’t using it right.

So if you’re new to Twitter, or thinking about creating an account, here are some tips to make sure you’re not doing it wrong.

1. Get a Twitter Client, like, yesterday. I know it sounds contradictory, but you won’t be using Twitter to its fullest potential if you’re using it on the website itself. A client like TweetDeck or HootSuite will keep you updated on your replies (so you don’t accidentally ignore  people trying to chat with you). You can create tabs where you can monitor certain keywords, like industry terms, or chats (as indicated by a # sign before a term, like in #brandchat). Because the whole point of Twitter is that there are several conversations being updated in real time—wouldn’t it be best if you sifted through the noise to get to what you want to hear?

2. Don’t make your followers do all the work. If you want to share a link to a blog post you wrote, or a product special on your site, please, please, PLEASE don’t just tweet the link. Give people a reason to click on it. Tell them what’s in it for them; if you ask them to figure it out on their own, they simply won’t. read more…

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?

There’s a point when every business goes from DIAY (Do It ALL Yourself) to Do What You Do Best and Get Help for the Rest of It (let’s not bother with the acronym for that one). This is actually a great thing. It means your business is growing and it’s working. But it can also be a scary thing for many business owners because it means you’ll have to trust others to help you keep the momentum going.

Oftentimes clients who’ve done their own writing for their website and marketing materials don’t know what to expect when they hand the job over to someone new. But I find they’re always pleasantly surprised not just by the finished product, but the entire process of working with a copywriter. Here are a few reasons why.

1. It all starts with you and your needs–A writer, like any other artist, has a vision for their work. But as a copywriter, I’m not writing for me. I’m writing for my clients. I’m bringing out their voice and speaking to their audience. Before I write anything for a project I take the time to talk to the client and get to know their company, their audience, and what message they’re trying to get across. The writing should never lose focus of these factors.

2. The client is still in control–Maybe you’ve gotten used to being the one in the driver’s seat, but wouldn’t it be nice to just tell someone where you want to go while relaxing in the passenger’s seat? When I work with a client, the direction I take is always determined by their needs. What’s the end goal for the copy? That’s where I’m headed. But the beauty of hiring someone else to get you there is that I might know some different routes. I might take a whole new approach to selling your product that’s fresh, invigorating, and more importantly, speaks to your audience.

3. Nothing is set in stone–If the first draft I send you just completely misses the mark, (which, to be honest, has never happened) that’s what revisions are for. I always include revisions in my fee because the most important part of the writing process is the shaping, and the molding, and the tweaking to get it just right. The client should have input because they’re the ones who need to be happy with the end result. Of course as the writer, I’ll have input as well (because isn’t that what you hired a writer for?). The key is to keep that line of communication open so that the work evolves in the best way possible.

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?

One of the most common mistakes I see on website copy is when the main headline says, “Welcome to our site!” I can definitely see the logic behind why someone would write this. After all, when someone visits your home in cyberspace it’s common to want to make them feel welcome there.

But here’s the thing. Welcome doesn’t cut it. Welcome is a lot like those mats that everyone has on their front door. Sure, visitors will read it, but then they’ll step right over it and wipe their feet on the word. So how do you really show someone they’re “welcome” when the word has lost its meaning?

Look beyond the word. Are you really trying to make someone feel welcome, or are you trying to make them feel like they’d want to stick around a bit? These are two very different things. You can tell guests staying at your home that they’re welcome to stay as long as they want and that you’re happy to have them any time. But if there’s no hot water, the beds are uncomfortable and they don’t have pillows, they probably won’t want to stay very long anyways.

So really, in your web copy, just as in a hotel or guesthouse, the best way to make visitors stick around is to show them what you have to offer. Switch that welcome mat out for a headline that tells them, right away, how your product or service can make their lives better. Show them the benefits of taking a look around. If visitors can’t quickly see the value of staying on your website, then that “welcome” might as well say “go away.”

For example, what would be more effective?

A veterinary website that says: Welcome to Our Clinic! or one that says: The city’s only 24-hour emergency clinic for small animal companions.

A restaurant site that says: Welcome to Tom’s! or one that says: Local organic food with an international flavor.

Of course, there’s always room for some creativity, too, but the message of what you’re offering should always come first. Show someone that you can make their lives a bit easier and the “welcome” will be implicit.

This is one of those posts that I wish I’d read somewhere else before I wrote it. Because really, before I started networking for my business I was a nervous wreck about it. Nevermind that as far back as high school, when I had to walk up to random students for a quote for the school yearbook, I was forced to push my shyness aside for the sake of writing. Nevermind that I continued doing so in college and then when I started writing for magazines.

When I shifted to copywriting, though, I realized I needed to learn to make better connections with business owners and people that needed my services. And sitting at my computer, hiding behind a screen wasn’t going to cut it.

After a lot of whining that I’m a writer! I’m much more put together on the page than I am in person! I realized I had an advantage. As writers, we have several tools that, if redirected, can make us great networkers:

1. We know how to build intrigue: That first line we write is the best shot we’ve got at capturing an audience. It doesn’t tell the whole story (why would anyone keep reading after that?) but it grabs a reader, hinting at what’s to come. The same is true for approaching someone while networking. When you craft your elevator pitch and introduction, focus on making it interesting. No need to blurt out everything you do as soon as you meet someone; just be interesting enough that they’ll want to learn more about you.

2. We know how to ask questions: My background is in journalism, and when I first started out, I was always surprised by how much people are willing to tell you about themselves. Everyone has a story, and everyone wants their story to be heard. As a writer, you get an ear for which questions to ask, so use this as you talk to the other networkers. Most people won’t want to talk with you if it’s a one-sided conversation, if you’re just trying to sell your services. Ask them questions and not only will they stick around, you’ll learn more about them and about how, specifically, you could help them. You’ll also connect on a more personal level rather than a business level, upping your chance that they’ll remember you after the event is over.

3. We know there’s always more than meets the eye: This kind of ties in with number two, but I think one of the reasons it’s easy to be intimidated by networking is that the room might be full of VP’s, EIC’s, CEOs…acronym after acronym. But beneath all those titles are just people. They have hobbies, families, favorite bands, and if you dig deep enough you’ll find some common ground, even if you’re in a completely different industry. Once you start looking at networking as a chance to meet new people, not business contacts, it all comes naturally, and it’s much more enjoyable for everyone.

4. We know how to get to the point: You know how when you finally sit down to write, you might only use a fraction of the research that you gathered? You focus in on the point of the story or copy and communicate it to readers. So let’s say you meet an editor from an agriculture magazine at a networking event, and you’ve written mostly for general interest pubs but in college you were a double major in Environmental Engineering and Communications. What are you going to focus in on when you tell that editor about yourself? Maybe not the piece you wrote for Glamour. Focus on how you can help others (instead of the other way around), and let them know in a clear and concise manner.

How about you? Have you found that your work skills help you in a network setting?