Content Writing & Copywriting Blog

Web and print copywriting

Apr 27, 2004 No Comments »

Commercial copywriting not only means using “tested” prompts and phrases. Unless the copy converts leads and into sales, nothing much is achieved. This holds true for web copywriting, and not necessarily for print copywriting. In print copywriting, the customer reads a convincing ad, decides to purchase or avail of a service and then approaches the agency that actually provides the product or service. There, if the producer or the provider fails to execute the transaction, it is not the fault of the ad copy.
On the web it is altogether a different case. The copy talks to the customer till the end of the transaction. At every step the copywriter holds the hand of the visitor. Even after the transaction is complete, the copywriter manages the after-sale relationship through effective copywriting to generate repeat business. Copywriting for the web, in this sense, is more crucial.

Writing a book review

Apr 25, 2004 No Comments »

A few months ago I had said that I’d write the review of Nicholas Nickleby once I could finish it. I remember it took me at least two months to complete it because many times I abandoned reading it and started other books (which I never completed). Since then I have read excellent reviews of books by very scintillating writers. How do they do that? How do they write such lengthy extracts from the book being reviewed?
I think if you wish to write a professional review, you have to read the book keeping that in mind. Not only that, several references are taken from other books the author has written. I was doing some research and found the following points to facilitate a decent book review. Assuming it’s a fictional work.
Start with the title, the author and the publication. Tell the reader how you find the book — is it boring or interesting, is it engaging, confounding, or spiritual. Do you agree with the overall theme of the book? Why? Do you disagree? Why? What is the style of the writer? Does the writer get his or her style from another famous writer? Are you able to draw parallels with another story?
Then come to the meat of the story. What does it deal in? How well is the theme handled and how deep the writer goes? Do you feel everything has been covered, or many things have been left? Suggest how other writers have written about the same subject (my god! Read another book!).
In the end, does the book personally affect you? How? Would you recommend it?
The other embellishments depend on individual reviewer. I would never start a review straightaway. If I write a review, I’ll try to make it a personal affair. I believe whatever a writer (a reviewer is a writer too) writes, the writer, at some level, has to relate to what he or she is writing.

Fine pints of copywriting

Apr 22, 2004 No Comments »

Recently I read an ad (promoting a fitness club) in the newspaper that went somewhat like this:
“I got a new job, I got a new house, I got new friends, I got a new shape, I got a new life…”
I wonder how you “get” friends and what message the copywriter wanted to convey. You don’t get friends, you make friends and there is a big difference. Only selfish people get friends just to have them, which indicates that the ad copy was written for averagely selfish people who go on getting friends.
This shows how small words can make big difference. This ad, as a customer, completely puts me off because it gives scant regard to friendship on one hand, and to my previous life on the other. These are very fine points and only those people who are really involved with putting words into ad messages can understand their far reaching implications.

The importance of simplicity

Apr 18, 2004 No Comments »

Good copy uses simple words to make a great impact. The greatest things ever spoken were all made of simple words. Whatever you write, keep it simple. The last thing one expects of a sales promotion message is confusion. If you let your hair lose, unleash your wild stallions of creativity, and write something that can only be understood amidst the upper echelons of the intellectuals, you may create a literary masterpiece, but not a sales copy for which your client plans to pay you.
Always speak the language of your listener (unless you can induce them to learn your language).

Using the right words

Apr 15, 2004 No Comments »

It all depends on the words you use, the way you use them, the combinations you use them with, and the way you decide when not to use them - it’s all about words.
Sadly, the small-sized businesspersons do not take copywriting seriously until it’s too late. 95% of businesses fail because they fail to convey their message. Their copy is not convincing enough. By “convincing” I don’t imply that you goad your reader with your words so much that he or she runs away from your website as if a ghost has been observed.
Succinct, simple and well-meaning words can convey your message better than complicated, jargon-ridden expressions. If you want to sell a car, don’t talk about the mechanics and the engine details, but how comfortable your car is, how easy it is to drive, how many people can sit in it and how much petrol it saves. Talk in a common buyer’s language, not a mechanical engineer’s language.