SmallBusinessNewz

I’ve often noticed that when I talk to my clients about their products or services, they say the most amazing, engaging and interesting things. But when I read their marketing materials it usually sounds more like the teacher from the old Charlie Brown cartoons “wha wha, waa waa, waa whaaaa”.

The great ad man David Ogilvy once said “You can never bore someone into buying from you.”

And he was right. The last thing you want is for your marketing to be dry, boring and about as fun to read as a software manual, annual report or thesis statement.

The problem is that copywriting, or writing to sell, is completely different from any other type of writing out there. And it’s the polar opposite of the way most of us learned to write term papers, essays and scientific reports in school.

Which is a bummer, since having effective copy is critical to the success of your business. Because whenever you can’t be there to speak to clients or prospects in person, it’s your copy that does the job for you. But that’s assuming it’s actually being read.

Unless I know for sure I’m going to get something I want or need out of it, you’d have to pay me a boatload of money to get me to read annual reports and scientific papers (and I’m a readaholic who happily browses the back of an aerosol can if it’s sitting in front of me).

Your prospects feel the same way when you use dull, lifeless, academic-sounding writing in your marketing or advertising.

So what do you do?

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