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

So many wonderful things happen when you let yourself take a vacation, like I did last week. You might find that the world actually does not come crumbling down if you deactivate the email accounts on your Blackberry (I didn’t believe it at first, but it’s true!). You might experience moments that leave you speechless or on the brink of tears, like when I saw the Grand Canyon or heard the first opening notes of The Phantom of the Opera.

Or, after having carefully planned your wardrobe for the entire week but choosing your bummiest outfit for a 5:30 a.m. flight home, you might run into Tim Gunn at a Las Vegas hotel. You can’t take a picture with Tim Gunn in a wrinkled sweater, white/beige T-shirt, baggy jeans and crazy hair. At least I can’t, but I’ll pretend that the real reason I didn’t walk up to him was because he was talking to someone.

Anywho…Here’s where this is going:

Some bad things can happen upon your return from said vacation. Like forgetting how to use your fingers to push those pretty buttons on your computer and make words with them (oh yes, it’s called typing!) or forgetting the right words for things. Or, after spending a long period of time trying to take a break from what it is you do for a living, you suddenly forget how to eloquently describe your job.

The simple question with the Not-so-simple Answer

The night after I got back from vacation, I went to an art gallery for the opening reception of my husband’s photography teacher’s exhibit. As we made small talk with some of his classmates, one of them turned to me and said:

So what do you do for a living?

This is one of those questions that’s always tough for me to answer in social, non-business settings. Do I say, “I’m a writer” or that I own my own copywriting business? Or do I simply say I’m a copywriter, which usually gets followed by the “Yes, but who do you work for” question.

But online—on my website, my Twitter stream, Facebook page, blog—what I do should be pretty clear to anyone that visits, right? I was pretty sure of this until I started catching up on my Google Reader feed and came across this post by IttyBiz. She asks an important question:

How many of YOUR readers don’t really understand your business?

Then she asks us to answer the following questions in a blog post. The point is to make sure you’re clearly communicating what you do to your readers. Seeing as how my brain is still getting reacquainted with work (seriously, it just took me like five tries to write reacquainted) I’m more than happy to let someone else think of a blog topic for me.

So I’ll play. Here goes.

What I Do:

What’s your game? What do you do?

I help businesses get their message across with the written word. This sounds simple but rarely is. Anyone who’s ever started a business knows there is an endless amount of material that needs to be written—from the web copy that needs to capture your brand perfectly, to the ad you’re spending a small fortune on, to the words that will ultimately end up on your product’s packaging. All of these communications need to be consistent with the company’s brand and messaging, so I find the right words and write copy that will speak to the intended audience. Copywriting isn’t just about getting something written. It’s about getting the right message across with those words. I make sure we’re doing that.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

I love it. I surprise myself with how much I love it. Back when I was mainly writing for magazines I thought writing marketing copy would stifle my creativity. But there’s nothing more creative than having to find the perfect combination of three to five words (out of what? Millions?) for a company’s tagline or slipping into a voice that lets you say something in a completely new way.

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

My customers are business owners who aren’t afraid to get creative with their messaging (or who are at least willing to let me do it for them). They don’t want boring, overused, corporatese and they don’t want to say things in the same way that a thousand other companies are saying them. They embrace the idea of showing some personality in their branding because they understand that this is what will make them stand out.

One thing I’ve noticed a lot of my customers say to me is “I’m not good with words.” That’s perfectly fine. They’re great at what they do, at whatever skill makes up their business, and they understand the importance of hiring someone who IS great with words so that they can keep working their kind of magic.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

Because I don’t just focus on the words, I focus on a company’s brand. The words should give that brand a voice and help it come alive and be memorable. So I make sure that the copy I write is full of personality and says more than the words do. There are multiple messages being sent in a company’s copy. There’s the actual statement that’s being made, and there’s the impression that those words will leave long after a person’s forgotten what they read.

I make sure that impression is consistent with a company’s brand; that’s it’s the impression they’re hoping to make. All companies should seize the opportunity to let their personality show in big or small ways. Maybe they’re charming, or witty, or smart-asses, or wholesome goody-goodies—but they have to be something that will stick in their target audiences’ minds.

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

My main focus right now is growing my business according to my definition of growth. So it’s not just about bringing in tons of clients, but rather finding the clients I totally click with, and working with them long-term. I’m lucky that I have several regular clients who I’m able to grow and adapt with as their business develops, and I’m hoping to make that kind of connection with a few more.

And, I know this is random, but you know what I would absolutely love to write? The copy for a museum exhibit, preferably a children’s museum. Have you ever thought about how much information has to get reduced and simplified so that it can fit on those small plastic plaques that people walk by? That’s a challenge I’d totally be up for: getting the important stuff across in a way that’s fun and concise so that people read it and actually learn something they won’t forget.

So there you have it. What I do. Sound like something you need? Contact me and we’ll start up a brainstorm. I promise my brain’s working now. It better be after this 1200-word post.

And if reading these questions has made you give another think to whether your readers know what you do, why not blog about it like I did? Or better yet, leave a little something in the comments below!

Last week I went to the doctor for this terrible soreness I was having in my jaw. The pain was so bad I couldn’t even chew, and my jaw bone was clicking and snapping out of place to the point that my bottom teeth were no longer aligning with my top. This wasn’t something my dentist could fix—I had to see a specialist.

I got to the office with two main concerns in mind: what’s going on with my mouth and when will I be able eat more than just milkshakes and soup (not that I minded the milkshakes).

photo credit: Mister Sprock
The doctor must’ve spent maybe one minute examining my jaw, and another fifteen explaining to me, in detail, what was going on with it. And he did it with pictures–little scribbles that he drew on the back of a recycled sheet of paper. He compared the joints and tendons in my jaw to an overused hammock that’d been stretched too far and was now swollen from the effort.

He knew I hadn’t gone to medical school, so there was no point in him getting all technical with me. He didn’t bother using anatomical terms, and when he did, he took the time to explain them to me.

And because of that, I left his office completely satisfied with the consultation and trusting that I was in good hands.

All because he tried to speak my language.

More often times than not, we are not at all like our target audience. We’re specialists in one thing, and clients need us precisely because they don’t know much about that one thing. A teacher might look for a nutritionist to advise her on eating better. A doctor might hire a dog trainer to help her get through to her new pup. A writer might try to find a blog template designer because she doesn’t know the first thing about coding.

None of these people use the same terminology in their work. So if you’re the person being hired, it’s up to you to cross that language barrier and get your message across to the potential customer. It’s up to you to make them understand how you can help them.

The thing is, it’s not always easy to set aside the years of training and education it took to make you an expert on a topic, and put yourself in someone else’s frame of reference. What you think is common knowledge about positive reinforcement in dog training is not at all common to someone who’s memorized what types of bacteria can cause certain symptoms in infants. That’s when it helps to bring in a copywriter.

Oftentimes when I’m talking to a potential client they’ll ask me: Have you written about [neurosurgery, feng shui, printing presses, parenting] before? Sometimes I have. Sometimes I haven’t. It doesn’t matter because my specialty is writing. It’s asking the right questions so that I can understand all sorts of specialists. It’s writing about it in a way that people who aren’t specialists—those who are coming to someone with a need, and with not nearly as much knowledge about the topic—will understand how they can benefit from their service.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s time for my lunchtime milkshake.

Have you ever encountered language barriers with customers? How do you overcome them?

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?

Feeling rebellious? It’s okay to break the rules when you know what you’re doing (or writing). Here are three writing rules that you don’t always have to follow. Breaking them might even make for better writing, as long as you know how and when to do it.

1. Starting sentences with a conjunction. Whenever I start a sentence with and, but, or or, I think of my seventh grade writing teacher who taught me never, ever, to do this. But when you’re writing a blog post, or email, or anything else that’s rather informal, it’s best to mimic the way we talk. And we talk a lot like this.

2. Ending a sentence with a preposition. Winston Churchill said it best when an editor rearranged his words so they wouldn’t break this rule. Churchill responded with a note that said “This is the sort of English up with which I will not put.” His point was that the rules don’t always work, like in this case, where following them actually made the sentence clumsy, difficult to read and just plain ugly to look at.

3. Don’t use fragments. I’m actually a fan of fragments when they’re short, punchy and used for emphasis. They have to be intentional, because long fragments tend to sound like the author just forgot his way around a sentence. Think of a fragment as a puppy in a squirrel-filled park. You gotta keep it on a short leash or else you don’t know where it’ll end up. Maybe on another thought completely. Or at another park. Or something like that, anyways.

See? Breaking those rules wasn’t so bad after all. But I should add one rule to make this list of breakable rules work:

Know your audience. All three of these rules can be broken when the tone of the writing is meant to be informal and conversational. But that cover letter for the job you’ve been eyeing? Best to stick with formalities. You never know when the person in charge of hiring really took those seventh-grade English lessons to heart.

What about you? Can you think of any other writing rules you occasionally throw out the window?

I came across a website this weekend that was clearly written with nothing other than SEO in mind. You know how I knew? I couldn’t stand to read it. It felt as if the words I used in my search had been plucked from the search tab and inserted into the web site’s copy in places where they didn’t even make sense.

I don’t mean to say that SEO isn’t worth considering when writing web copy; it’s just that it can’t be the only thing. It needs to be done in a way that’s balanced and that doesn’t lose track of the real audience: not the search engines, but potential buyers.

Having a website with repetitive, confusing SEO copy is like having a storefront in the hottest part of town. Maybe you’ll get lots of traffic and walk-ins, but if customers can’t find what they’re looking for once they step inside, they won’t stay around long. Why sift through disorganized clothing racks (or sloppy copy) when you can just go next door?

I like to think of good web copy as both SEO and reader-friendly. The copy might attract bots to crawl your site and help its search engine rankings, but it needs to keep the visitors. At the end of the day, bots don’t buy. Visitors (who find what they’re looking for) do.