Part three- copywriting basics

Contents

Keep it simple 3
Writer’s block – how to stop it in its tracks 8
Use more than one Tone of Voice – and open up more writing opportunities 10
The seven golden tips 13
Quick primer on the apostrophe 17
Tracking and word counts 19
Using copywriting Style sheets / style guides 23

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This is not a ‘how to write’ book – it’s a ‘how to become’ book. The fact that you are reading it means you
believe you already have some writing skills. But copywriting is somewhat different from creative writing,
as you have already seen.

In our previous section, you learned about sales writing. Thinking like a customer. Sorting your features
from your benefits. And we looked at the psychology of needs and wants.

Next, we explored the role of White Papers and how to write ‘expert copy’ without being an expert. We
looked at Case Studies/Customer Stories, their structure, and how to prepare a case study. Finally, we
looked at Press Releases and writing for the web.

In this section we go back to basic copywriting principles.

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 Keep it simple

Unlike a novelist, a copywriter doesn’t have the luxury of slow development. You have to communicate
right off the page. It helps to keep four things in mind:

 Keep it simple
 Be brief. In less politically correct times, a British prime minister once said “a speech should be
like a lady's dress. Long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to maintain interest.”
The same is just as true when writing copy. And if we extend the clothing metaphor, our copy
should attract others in whatever setting, smart enough to create an identity without sending
out brash messages.
 You are not ‘writing’ at all – you are speaking. Your role isn’t to entertain, it’s to communicate.
 And you are not speaking to an audience – you are speaking to an individual

Simple means clear

Clarity in writing is a style in itself. The aim is readability. The problem is, most of us are terrified that
simple, clear English might make our report/ brochure/ website/ whatever sound a bit like a ‘Janet &
John’ kindergarten book. It might lack gravitas.

TIP: There is an easy way to check the readability of your own work. If you use Microsoft Word (who
doesn't?) then there is a little known gem hidden away called the Flesch Reading Ease measure.

To access it:

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.

2. Click Proofing.

3. Make sure Check grammar with spelling is selected.

4. Under When correcting grammar in Word, select the Show readability statistics check box.

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This test rates text on a 100-point scale. The higher the score, the easier it is to understand the document.
For most standard files, you want the score to be between 60 and 70.

As an example, I ran both the US Declaration of Independence and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
through it. One says:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The other says:

"This charter reaffirms, with due legal regard for the powers and tasks of the Union and the principle of
subsidiarity, the rights as they result in particular, from the constitutional traditions and international
obligations common to the member states, the European Convention for the protection of human Rights
and fundamental freedoms, the Social Charter adopted by the Union and by the Council of Europe and the
case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and of the European Court of Human Rights." (a
single sentence!).

The first scored 43.2%, the second 0% for readability. I would have awarded it minus 100%.

And if you think unnecessarily complex and confusing writing is restricted to bureaucrats, how’s this for a
recent example from one of the world’s top consumer products companies, Nestlé:

''Green Sauce are an important product group for Buitoni Pesto Basilico. Their quality and flavour profile
are enhanced by the basil used in production. However, Buitoni faced sensory profile reproducibility
problems due to heterogeneous raw material, challenging the production of uniform quality.'' (Nestlé
project news report).

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Don’t write! Imagine you are speaking – speaking to just one
other person. Sharing a secret.

This is the biggest single secret of

copywriting. There is a very real
difference between spoken and written
English which, even though we are not
trained, everyone of us recognizes. The
spoken word is very direct – exactly the
tone we need for sales-oriented copy.
Unfortunately, the moment most
people sit at the keyboard, their brain
switches into written mode. Wherever
possible, try to imagine you are talking,
not writing, to another person, not an audience.

But does it work for more esoteric subjects, such as corporate annual reports? I will let Warren Buffett
answer that. In 2004 he won a prestigious award for his writing skills based on the clarity and
persuasiveness of his annual reports.

His secret? Short, simple sentences using short simple words. Buffet explains: "When writing, I pretend
that I'm talking to my sister. I just begin with 'Dear Doris'." Is he right? Who are we to argue? He has
become the second wealthiest man in the world. Sure he can communicate.

Writing this way influences the reader’s perception that you are speaking directly to them and not to just
anyone out in cyberspace. Plus, if it’s your first impression with a reader, it’s a great way to start forming a
relationship for the future.

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So, forget “Zizzo company is grateful for the support its customers….” Zizzo cannot possibly be grateful;
it’s a company for God’s sake. So much better to use “We are grateful…..”

Use the active rather than the passive

Today few people have really been taught grammar, so I won’t waste your time by talking about verbs,
objects or subjects. I will just give a couple of examples of the active and passive voice.

Passive: “Everybody is helped by Jim”

Active: “Jim helps everybody”

Passive: “The company was acquired by Zizzo

Active: Zizzo acquired the new company

Passive: Many inventions were created by Edison

Active: Edison created many inventions

When the reader doesn’t find out what’s happening until the very end of the sentence, they become
confused or bored. When writers use too much passive voice, their readers fall asleep!

Active voice is the best way to grab your reader’s attention and hold it.

Tip: The key to using active voice is making sure that the subject of the sentence is doing something,
rather than something being done to it.

Examples:

Passive: Lots of money was made by early investors.

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Active: Early investors made lots of money.

Passive: Bright colors were used by the web designer and visitors’ attention was grabbed.

Active: The web designer grabbed visitors’ attention by using bright colors.

Notice how the passive voice uses words like ‘was,’ ‘were,’ ‘been,’ and ‘being.’

Untutored clients often like the passive voice because it is the way a lot of pretentious work is written.
Perhaps that’s why the public sector often writes in the passive voice. It is our role to point out to clients
that readers understand the active voice more quickly and easily, because that's the way we think. It’s the
way we all speak.

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Writer’s block – stop it in its tracks

Everyone’s heard about ‘writer’s

block’. It’s something that creative
writers (novelists, screenwriters and
so on) suffer. A sudden collapse of
momentum. Where the hell do I
take the storyline now?

It’s not something that freelance

copywriters suffer. Their material is
already mapped out. But beginners
do share one problem with all
novice writers – blank page
syndrome. It’s that moment that
you have been putting off. You’ve
made your morning coffee, tidied
the desk, and checked your emails
and so on – any excuse not to start writing. You are staring at a blank page (screen nowadays) and it
becomes ever more daunting. Time to gaze out of the window, make another coffee, re-check the emails.

The blank page begins to taunt you and eventually you write that first sentence. Only to trash it and start
again. Half an hour (and one more coffee) later the page is still blank and even more threatening. Time to
walk the dog?

TIP: The solution is simple. FILL THE BLANK PAGE. It doesn’t matter how embarrassingly poor the copy
is, just write it. It’s gargage? No problem, your client will never see it. Just carry on, because once you are
no longer looking at a blank screen, it all becomes so much easier – it’s as though someone has flipped a
switch. Think of top athletes. Before competing, they go through a warm-up procedure that is no way
competitive. This is just your warm up.

Sure, you will totally reword the garbage, but the threat has gone. From now on it’s dead easy. Honest!

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Tip: Word block When you are really
struggling to find the right word,don’t forget that
Word has a Thesaurus. Simply use a vaguely
suitable word, highlight it and click on
‘Thesaurus’

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Tone of Voice

In copywriting, style is usually called ‘tone of voice’. This is very appropriate because we try not to use
written English. Almost always we use different types of spoken English (the exception being articles or
papers for scientific journals).

This book is written in a very relaxed, conversational style because I want you to feel very relaxed. I am
using clichés, sometimes slang and I am breaking a number of grammatical and punctuation rules. In the
UK we would call it ‘talking to a bloke in the pub’. In America, it’s ‘talking main street’.

Your client will have their own description for the tone you wish to adopt, but it will fall into just one of
four styles:

Corporate style.

This is a fairly typical example:

Accelerating Drug & Chemical Development Worldwide

We are a world-leading information solutions provider for the Life Sciences. We accelerate drug
and chemical development by increasing productivity and enhancing processes that lead to safer
products.

Our solutions are comprehensive, they are technology-enabled, and they are business-driven.
Solutions that encompass the collection, secure storage and dissemination of mission-critical
information.

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Conversational, warm/friendly.

Example:

Forget mission statements or corporate visions. We have a

simple goal – helping to create a safer society.

A society where people can safely go about their daily business, feel secure in their homes and be
confident that their children are protected. It’s no surprise, then, to learn that we have become
synonymous with peace of mind.

Straight-to-the-point sales pitch.

Example:

Don’t let another day go by in this uncertain economy without creating financial certainty by
mastering Marketing, Sales and Online Marketing. Everything you need is here. Your 60% saving
expires at 5pm today, so get your DVDs now at this remarkable saving.

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Quirky/entertaining.

Example:

Coffee a gender issue?

Most people - or at least cultured, well-informed, sophisticated people like me - know there are
just two types of coffee beans. You know: the original Arabica, with its luscious smells, and
Robusta with its extra boost of caffeine.

What most people don't realize, though, is that coffee beans split into two other essential types;
all based on sex. There are male beans and there are female beans. Yes, coffee has a sex life! Can
you imagine, a Lascivious Latte or an Espresso Quickie? You can't get more basic than that.

Writing in different tones of voice is not as daunting as you might expect. In fact, that’s what makes being
a freelancer so much fun. We all adopt different tones of voice when speaking. We do it intuitively.
Talking one way with mates playing poker, another way when speaking to a maiden aunt, one way when
speaking at a dinner party, another way in a business meeting. Apply the same principle to your writing.

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Seven golden tips

Find the sweet spots

Most of your copywriting will be in the business-to-business arena. It is important to establish exactly who
will be the audience – CEOs, senior management, middle management, technical people, shop floor
people. You need quickly to get to the issues that concern them (their sweet spots), and it really does vary
according to the role they play within their company.

For example, I once wrote a white paper for a company that sold computer systems used by
pharmaceutical companies in the lab. It cut the time taken developing new drugs (time to market), which
meant it extended the profitable life of a drug in an industry where each day’s profit can be measured in
millions. As a side benefit, it also reduced the hassle involved in day-to-day work in the lab. Previously, the
client had focused exclusively on the system’s incredible return on investment. When we really discussed
their audience, it became clear that the decision makers – the people who would buy the system –
weren’t CEOs, they were lab managers. Sure, we mentioned ROI (the lab manager would use this to get
budget approval), but we shifted our main focus to eliminating hassle. CEOs and lab managers have
different perspectives, different sweet spots.

Create a ‘persona’

When we talked about adopting a tone of

voice suited to your audience we suggested
that it’s easy to stray away. A marvelous trick
is to use something that marketing people call
a ‘persona’.

Always get your client to describe in detail the

audience they want you to address
(remember, we included this in our section
How to Prepare a Copywriting Brief?). Their
answer might be something like “Ambitious young career women, with young children. College

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educated.” or “CEOs of financial institutions. Primarily male, late 50s. Have been in the industry most of
their working life. Struggling with the economic turndown.”

To create a ‘persona’, imagine just one young mother, just one CEO. Give them a name. Decide what car
they drive, where they live, what newspapers they read. Search the web for a photo of someone (anyone)
who looks just as you imagine they could look. Stick their photo next to your screen and, once you’re
ready to begin, write to your new friend, not to an audience.

Mind your language

Those of us who speak English as our first language

are incredibly lucky – we have a huge international
marketplace, including countries where English is
not the native language (I do a lot of work for
companies in Holland and in the Middle East).

There are, of course, different usages of English. In the US and UK, we spell some words differently. We
occasionally use them differently (patting a woman on the fanny has incredibly different meaning in the
UK and the US!).

Spelling is a more easy thing to fix. Microsoft Word comes complete with eighteen different versions of
English and will apply ‘spell check’ to whichever you choose - US, UK, Australian, South African and so on.
In word 2007, you can change the language dictionary if you go into .Review. Over to the left you will find
‘Spell Check’, ‘Thesaurus’, ‘Translate’ and… ‘Set Language’. With older versions of Word, simply ‘select’
the whole document (hold down the Control key and press the letter ‘a’) then go to ‘Spell Check’. A drop
down menu will allow you to choose whichever you need.

As to different vocabulary or usage of words, your client will quickly spot these for you.

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Avoid urinary infection

Too many writers suffer from ‘we, we, we’. Give your writing a more personal, human touch. Instead of
“We have an active relationship with employees”, try “You can get involved.”

How to use numbers

Using numbers within text is not as straightforward as you might imagine. Just look at how inelegant this
sentence looks: “15 people were quizzed by police today”
There are conventions when using numbers within text and you have just guessed the first one. Never
start a sentence with numerals. In the example above you could either change the sentence to “Police
quizzed 15 people today” or you could spell out the number, “Fifteen people were quizzed by police
today.”
Convention (and some clients will insist) dictates:

 Numbers that begin sentences should be spelled out, except in dates and addresses
 The numbers zero to ten should be spelled out
 Do not begin sentences with a year number: “2007 was the year of global meltdown.” This is
offensive to the eye and scares readers and editors alike.

Hyphens and dashes (em dash and en dash)

The editor of any self-respecting journal, and most printers would never dream of confusing the em dash
(—) and hyphen (–). Hyphens and dashes are two different punctuation marks and, although they may
seem to look alike, they are physically different. Corporate clients and magazine editors will expect you to
know the distinction and how to use them. The em dash is longer than the hyphen.
The hyphen is used to join words together, such as in ‘real-time’. It may also be used to spell out a word,
as in s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g. Notice that it touches the characters on either side.
Yes, there is an exception to the rule. When denoting a range, such as $100 – 150, there is a space either
side of the hyphen.

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The em dash is longer and it is used to denote a pause in thought, or is used instead of brackets. So
instead of “A lowering of educational standards (OK I am a grumpy old man) has led to a general
sloppiness in written English”, you could write “A lowering of educational standards – OK I am a grumpy
old man - has led to a general sloppiness in written English.”

Tip: To type an em dash on a PC, hold down the ALT key and type in the number 0151 from the
numeric keypad. Try it!

Phrases to avoid

It used to be that politicians were amongst the worst polluters of the English language. More recently,
political correctness, corporatisis and a lowering of educational standards has led to a general sloppiness
in written English.

Here are some prize examples to avoid

 ‘He is a man who’ – replace with ‘he’

 ‘At this point in time’ – replace with ‘now’
 ‘Due to the fact that’ – replace with ‘because’
 ‘At which time’– replace with ‘when’
 ‘The question as to whether’ – replace with ‘whether’
 ‘Owing to the fact that’ – replace with ‘since’
 ‘On the grounds that’. ‘As a direct result of’. ‘Accounted for by the fact that’. ‘By virtue of the fact
that’ – replace with ‘because’
 ‘Be completely au fait with’ – replace with ‘know’
 ‘Come to a decision as to’. ‘Reach a conclusion as to’ – replace with ’decide’
 ‘With reference to’. ‘Pertaining to’ - replace with ‘about’
 ‘Exhibit a tendency to’ – replace with ‘tend’
 ‘Despite the fact that’ – replace with ’although’
 ‘In close proximity to’ – replace with ‘near’
 ‘Was in receipt of’ – replace with ‘got’
 ‘Initiate’ – replace with ‘begin’

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How to use the apostrophe

Although you may not think this is important, some people live their lives acting as quality control
inspectors, spotting the incorrect use of the apostrophe in others’ writing. That may seem a sad endeavor
on their part, but the correct use of the ‘A’ is important in both creating clarity for the reader and, more
importantly, establishing your own credibility as a copywriter. This is why it matters and here are the
rules……... I blame teachers for never instilling this when we were young

It’s nothing to do with grammar. It has everything to do with punctuation. Punctuation is just a set of
marks/squiggles invented by printers to make reading easier. It all began around the time of Shakespeare,
and most early ‘punctuation marks’ – comma, colon, semi colon, full stop (period for Americans) – were
just a way play-writers could indicate to actors when to take a breath, a longer breath, or a real pause. It
made it easier to read a script. Making things easy for your readers is just as important today.

The apostrophe entered the English language in the sixteenth century and its role was to aid clarity. We
shall see how shortly.

What has that got to do with writing in the 21st Century?

1. As copywriters, we should always be striving to make it easier for people to read our copy
2. Older readers (who are often our audience – managing directors, for example) believe that
anyone who can’t use basic punctuation properly must be ignorant. Incredibly, they have mostly
come to terms with the horrors copywriters inflict on punctuation, but one thing they cannot
forgive is misuse of the apostrophe.

Disagree if you like, but as a copywriter, your first objective is to display your client’s work in the best
possible light. Making the client look ignorant to 30% of the population (a particularly influential part of
the client’s audience) is a major disservice.

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Not understanding the apostrophe, people feel obliged to scatter them around their copy almost every
time they come to the letter ‘S’. There are significantly more misused apostrophes than correctly used
ones.

Apostrophe rule 1 - Stop selling banana's!

The apostrophe is never ever, ever, ever used to indicate more than one item (plural). So:

 the plural of banana is not banana’s (it should simply be bananas – no apostrophe)
 When talking computers, more than one PC is not PC’s, it is PCs (no apostrophe)
 The library does not have lots of book's - it has lots of books
 Misusing the apostrophe to make a plural is the biggest single mistake. So, get this simple lesson
right and you should avoid 60% of apostrophe errors! Easy.

Apostrophes are used to signify just one of two things:

Apostrophe rule 2 – showing abbreviation

Abbreviation – dropping a few letters from a word, or joining two words together (and losing some letters
in the process). It is often used when writing in ‘conversational’ English, rather than formal English. For
example:

 Did Not becomes abbreviated to didn’t

 Let us becomes abbreviated to let’s
 I have becomes I’ve
 That has becomes That’s
 The town Peterborough can be abbreviated to Peterboro'

Apostrophe rule 3 – Ownership – This one is a lot more tricky.

In Old English, if King Ethelbert owned a book, he might write on it: Ethelbert, his book. Over time that
would become a much simpler Ethelbert’s book. The apostrophe simply shows it belongs to him.
It has become customary (to make it easier to read/interpret the written word) to indicate if there is
more than one owner. That is achieved by putting the apostrophe either before or after the ‘S’

 The boy’s books (one boy)

 The boys’ books (more than one boy)

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  The nation’s strategy (one nation)
 The nations’ strategy (more than one nation, sharing a strategy)

Its and it's

Life isn't easy. I said that the apostrophe is often used to denote ownership (the boy’s book). Some words
already denote ownership – his, her, their etc
There are two very similar looking words – its and it’s

 Its is an ownership word

 It’s is an abbreviation of it is

For example, we may say of a nation Its culture is very interesting (the culture is owned by the nation, so
no need for an apostrophe there).

Second example: we may say Do not go in there, it’s dangerous (an abbreviation of it is dangerous).

More confusion

You're is an abbreviation (eg you are late)

Your is ownership (eg your book is open)

Who's is an abbreviation (eg who is there?)

Whose is ownership (eg Whose book is this?)

Sorry if that was tedious but it really does have to be mastered. Mature Directors and CEOs will judge you
by your grammatical skills. And that’s how clients will evaluate your abilities alongside your creative flair.

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Tracking and word counts

In our opening, I suggested that the latest version of Microsoft Word is an essential, mainly because 99%
of clients use Word and it’s important to be compatible with them. It also provides some powerful tools
for the copywriter. Change Tracking (sometimes called redlining) and Word Count, in particular, are
facilities they will often want you to use.

Change tracking

You have written your first draft and

your client has made some vague
suggestions for changes – asking you to
expand in one area, tone down another
section and so on.

When you have written the second draft,

your client would like to see exactly how it differs from the original. This is truer of articles, long
documents and ‘expert’ copy; much less often needed for short sales copy.

Microsoft Word has a facility called Review (you will find it in the top navigation bar). Once you are in the
Review section, simply click the Track Changes button. From now on, every change you make will be
highlighted. Try it.

Although incredibly useful for your client, it can of course become very confusing for you the writer. No
problem. Slightly to the right of the Track Changes button is a dropdown menu. Simply select Final and,
although the tracking continues, it will be transparent to you while writing. On completion of the re-write,
use the drop-down menu again and select Final Showing Mark-up. Reading this on a Kindle may sound
complicated but it’s not. Try it out on your PC.

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The Review facility also has a Comments option that many clients use to add remarks throughout your
copy (again this tends to be used with longer, ‘expert’ copy).

Tip: The easiest way to learn about change-tracking is to watch a video. There are a number of tutorials
on You Tube. This one uses the latest version of Word: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn-
FffI4Q9M&feature=related

Word count

Many clients, particularly if the project is a magazine article, will specify in advance how many words they
require. Very occasionally (sometimes for company or product descriptions on trade exhibition websites)
the client will specify right down to the maximum number of characters.

Last thing you want is to spend your day counting words - and you
don’t have to. Microsoft Word has a facility Word Count that
automatically tells you the number of words and characters in
your document, constantly updating while you type. It will also
give you a count for any section within the document that you
highlight. Magic!

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Tip: When working out the cost of, say, a case study, it’s useful to ask the client for a previous example.
They will almost certainly email you a copy in pdf format. Simply place your curser anywhere in the text,
press Control and A (this will highlight the whole document), press Control and C (this will copy it). Next,
open a blank document in Word. Place your curser at the top of the page and press Control and V (that
will paste the document into Word). The format will look horrible, but it doesn’t matter – you can now
use Word to give you a word count!

Tip: Microsoft Word is, in fact, packed with features designed to make the professional writer’s life so
much easier. I suggest you invest a few hours going through their tutorials. You will find them at
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/support/training-FX101782702.aspx

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Copywriting style sheets

Most newspapers and journals publish a guide

to the style they find acceptable and they are
often available on the web. If you intend to
write articles, they are worth more than rubies!
Just think of the journal or newspaper
(broadsheets at least) that you would most like
to emulate and do a search. Sadly, most
American newspapers and journals now publish
their style guides as books, which does mean an
investment.

TIP: The Times – which has a truly

international style - still publishes its guide
online, free of charge. You can currently access
it at
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_s
ervices/specials/style_guide/article986718.ece.
Should that link fail (and they all do over time),
a search for ‘the times style guide’ should do
the trick.

Another free UK style guide is published by the

Guardian: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-
files/Guardian/documents/2004/07/15/stylegui
depdfjuly2004.pdf . If its location should change, just search for ‘The Guardian Style Guide’

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