Copywriting that writes businesses consistent
Take a territory
How to make your business sound human, but stay natural.
See which approach best suits your type of business.
Select your style
How to make sure copy is consistent, no matter who is doing the copywriting.
Learn about Style Guides and what they need to include.
Pick your personality
How to make your business copywriting less generic, and more like your business.
Learn what goes into a Tone of Voice document.
Check your copy
How do you know if your existing copywriting is more heinous than human?
See how your copy stands up to our simple checklist.
When you're copywriting for your own business copy, it's easy to forget the things you hate to see in copy written by other businesses.
There are words and phrases that get used over and over again. It's like they stay there out of habit, and we rarely think about their meaning or their value.
They often have neither.
To help you write better business copy that sounds more human, we've put together a short checklist. It includes the cliché phrases you should try and avoid, as well as some advice on how to write better copy and what to include.
Why not take a look at some current writing and see how you think it stands up?
BUSINESS COPY CHECKLIST
Follow these basic Do's and Don'ts and you will write better business copy.
They will help you make your writing sound more human.
Which means your customers and clients are more likely to read what you have written.
And, importantly, they are more likely to believe what they are reading.
Tip 1:
Do Personal.
Write for one person.
Write for your Gran.
Write to make your Gran understand.
Speak your words out loud. Ask yourself why you are saying what you are saying.
If you have to explain the meaning of a word, choose another word.
If you can't answer the question 'why' to a phrase, remove the phrase.
Tip 2:
Don't Explain.
Unprecedented circumstances.
Difficult situations.
Detailed processes.
Times may be tough. You don't need to put that in your writing.
Your customers don't want to feel sorry for you.
Tell a customer what you are doing.
Don't tell them how difficult the doing is going to be.
Tip 3:
Do Tenacious.
Try and try again and try more and try again and try more and try again and try more and try harder.
Enjoy trying.
Writing about your successes and failures focuses on fixed points.
Give the impression of being in it for the long-haul.
Write about the journey, not just the destination.
Tip 4:
Don't Know.
How people think.
What people feel.
What anyone will do because of your actions.
Strategise and hypothesise about your customer in the boardroom.
And only in the boardroom.
Telling a customer you know how important something is to them is presumptuous.
It will likely make them disagree.
Tip 5:
Do Wrong.
Admit failures.
Accept fallibility.
Avoid blame.
Nobody's perfect. Mistakes make us human.
Writing about things that didn't work out as you had hoped is very relatable.
Don't make it a big thing. Don't make it unnecessarily apologetic.
Writing wrongs is acceptable.
Tip 6:
Don't Thank.
For an understanding that is assumed.
For patience that is exhausted.
For loyalty that has not been earned.
Writing that you know how someone feels is bad.
Thanking them for feeling that way is an unforgivable presumption.
The easiest way to make a person impatient, is to thank them for patiently waiting.
Tip 7:
Do Evolve.
Check existing copy.
Change old copy.
Brand generic copy.
Just because you have already written something doesn't mean it can't be rewritten.
Have you looked at your website since you wrote it at launch?
Are your presentations full of facts, but empty of flavour?
Tip 8:
Don't Procrastinate.
Hoping nobody reads your words.
Assuming it is just words.
Until it's too late for your business to stand for anything.
It's easy to forget about your words once they have been written.
It's hard to find the time to go back and change something if you don't have to.
If you don't have time for a rewrite, 1 Extra Word have a range of affordable packages that can help bring your old copy to life.
