One of the great things about the whole Web 2.0 thing is the way it handles content delivery. The end goal, of course, is to give the visitor exactly the information they want, when they want it.

But despite the promises, there are still some bugs to work out.

I was reading the Boston Globe the other day, and noticed in the “Most Read” column (another great Web 2.0 feature) a listing for “Clemens sex trouble”. Now I’m not really a baseball fan, but that headline is a little hard to resist.

Clicking the link brings you to the story along with a handy Google map (left). I guess the idea is that it will help you find any businesses in the area that are related to the published story. Unfortunately, some un-web savvy readers will be scratching their heads wondering why they haven’t heard of Clemons and his sex tour of Boston colleges before now…

The Internet is all about content delivery, and as a content provider I am pretty excited about what the future holds. It’s almost as exciting to see those mis-steps along the way.

~Graham

There is a direct-mail letter that generated an estimated $1 billion in sales over an 18-year span. It was written by Marty Conroy for The Wall Street Journal, a simple two-page letter that told the life stories of two college graduates who went on to the same company. However 25 years on, one was a manager while the other was its president. The implication (never explicitly expressed) was that the president read The Wall Street Journal, helping him gain success in the business world.

You can read the whole letter here.

As you see, it is a fairly unassuming piece. But because of its enormous success at generating subscriptions, it is considered by many to be the best direct mail letter of all time.

So what can we learn from this piece? In fact, quite a lot. Just as fiction writers are encouraged to read the classics, copywriters and other types of marketing writers should study what has come before.

I have a collection of various pieces that I’ve collected over the years. Direct mail pieces that worked, brochures, magazine ads — you name it. I even kept a napkin from a restaurant once that had a witty saying. I also save banner ads and web pages I come across on the Internet.

I’ve since found that this is a common practice among many professional creative types. But the key is not just to stuff them into a folder and forget about them. Refer to them from time to time, decide why you like it and what works with it, see what you can apply to your own current projects.

I wouldn’t recommend using these pieces verbatim — apparently the world’s greatest sales letter is also the world’s most ripped off piece of marketing writing. Instead, use them as a source of inspiration to take your own copywriting to the next level.

Do you have any copywriting examples that you think are especially unique? Hit the “Comment” button and let us know!

~Graham

Okay, it’s finally happened. The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is featuring an exhibition on the typewriter. Now I admit, I never really used one of these — I was probably the first one in my school to turn in an essay using my C64 and a dot-matrix printer (Quick Brown Fox, was the word processor called?). But I do remember messing up the keys on one when I was small, and my parents taking it down to the typewriter repair shop. I think it was right next door to the penny farthing bike shop…

But I do have a nifty piece of software that I love running in the background. It’s called “Sound Pilot” and it makes typewriter sounds as you type, including the good ol’ return bell when you hit the “Enter” key.

I’m not sure how I can be nostalgic for something I never used, but I just love the clackety-clack of the keys as I type. It’s reassuring — it makes you sound like your busy. I mean even at your busiest, the quiet blips of the keyboard don’t really turn up the excitement level.

Try it out for yourself, if you’re so inclined. And let me know what bits of software you have to make the writing day more fun!

~Graham

Rick Sloboda recently posted an article on CMSWire describing some practical web writing strategies. As the title Web Writing Tactics that Convert suggests, it has some great tips on how to improve your conversion rates.

But I think these guidelines apply to any type of writing, web content or otherwise. For example, Rick promotes writing tight copy, removing clichés, providing you-driven messages, and of course, creating a strong call to action.

Although the term “conversion rate” is decidedly a web-oriented term (within the context that he uses it here), really all marketing copy needs to “convert” on some level. Rick points out that web content is a little more flexible when trying to improve those conversions: “The Web is a fantastic medium to determine what web writing works and what doesn’t,” and is also great for tweaking your copy as you go.

Non-web writing might be a bit more like taking aim in the dark, but these tips will certainly improve your chances of hitting your target.

~Graham

Every copywriter at some point encounters an unhappy client. Despite your best efforts, your client will tell you that he or she hates what you have written. Some will tell you in a nicer way than others – and it is definitely the not-so-nice ones that hurt most.

Typical symptoms after receiving this news may include: anxiety, depression, pangs of self-doubt, fear, anger, and/or a sudden urge to work at the 7-11 on the corner.

But hold on, don’t fill out that application quite yet. Here are three things to do that I found help the situation.

Don’t Panic. If you received the news via email, take a few minutes to re-read the email and absorb the words. If you are talking with the client on the phone, take a few seconds to let the nausea pass. This is likely not a personal attack on you, just an indication that the client was looking for something different that what you wrote. Remember, in the end these are not your words but your client’s so ultimately he or she needs to be comfortable with the copy.

Ask for Specifics. Don’t just accept a blanket rejection. Ask your clients to be specific about what they didn’t like. Keep in mind that this might be difficult for them – quite often they’ll say: “I don’t know what it is – I just don’t like it!” Start with the initial premise, discuss key sentences and sections, and try to find out exactly where you took the wrong turn.

You also want to find out what your client did like about the piece. This will certainly help you get back on track – and restore some of that self-esteem.

Ask for Examples. This is actually a good idea to do before you start a project with a new client. Often, clients can’t describe exactly what they want (which is a big part of why you were hired in the first place…), but they do know what they like. Ask them to send you samples of or links to similar pieces they like, and follow the tone and style in the your own copy.

Almost all creative types take rejection badly. But if you distance yourself from the work, find out what is wrong, and fix it, both you and the client will feel better in the end!

Have a horror story of your own? How did you handle it? Comment below and let us know!

~Graham

In previous articles in this series we talked about how to survive editing by committee (click on the “editing by committee” tag at the bottom to see all posts in this series). In this segment the message is simple: document everything.

This doesn’t just mean writing up work orders or project timelines, but summaries of meetings. For example, usually when I take a phone call about the project at hand, I’ll send an email summarizing our discussion. This can be presented as a clarification (e.g. “as we discussed, I will be researching the XX company and providing a short, 250 word backgrounder…”) or a question (e.g. “I know we briefly discussed the XX company backgrounder, but we never confirmed whether I should go ahead with that…)

The reason to send this email is simple: to document all discussions. Phone conversations can be forgotten, especially if you are working on a large, long-term project. This way, should a problem arise out of a miscommunication, you have your email(s) to back you up.

If there are multiple contacts on a project, you may want to cc others with this documentation as well. However, be careful with this. You don’t want to step on toes, and you don’t want to cc people who hate those “Reply All” messages. Usually I confirm up front with my main contact who needs to be cc’d on everything and who doesn’t. Then I stick to that plan unless there is a special need to cc someone to bring them into the loop.

It doesn’t take much to jot down the highlights of your conversations into an email. And as I have learned over the years, keeping a documented chain of events during can really help streamline the project process — and even cover your butt on occasion…

~Graham

Although I already said thanks to James and Harry for their review of my blog, I’d like to formally thank them here for the drive-by. It may take a day (or week!) or two to implement James’s suggestions, but plans are already in the works.

Despite being a little nervous  about the process (does anyone really like being shot at?), it was a great experience. I’m not sure what their Drive-By Sundays are like right now, but they do offer a $25 drive-by done within five days.

If you have a blog (or any website for that matter), I highly recommend getting in contact with them. It always help to have a second set of eyes give you an objective viewpoint of your website (especially if it’s a professional set of eyes!) 

Thanks again guys!

~Graham

Most bloggers will refer to previous posts or link to outside sources in their blogs in at least some of their posts. By default, these links are usually set to open in the same window, meaning that your current blog post is left behind as readers go on to follow the link. Usually, readers will click back to your post, but not always. You know how it is with surfing — you go from one link to the next, and soon you are cyber-miles from where you started.

To prevent this, use the “Open in New Window” option. In WordPress, you will find this option in a pull-down menu next to “Target” (it is probably similar in other blog environments):

This way your readers can go surfing all day if they like. When they are finished and they close that browser window, they will be in exactly the same spot in your blog as when they left.

I also recommend using this feature for all external links leading from your website. However you should keep internal links within the same window. Your website visitors will probably get quite frustrated with a new window popping up every time they visit a different page!

~Graham

The slowest part of editing by committee is the review process. And, generally speaking, the more people who need to sign off on the project, the longer this will take.

The main thing to remember is that these people are usually very busy and often do not share the same sense of urgency about the project’s deadline as you do. They have several other looming deadlines — an upcoming press conference, a merger in the works, a job interview process for that manager that left last month — and your project for them is just one more thing on the pile.

This is especially true if they are only “assisting” on the project you are working on, and not directly involved with its production. And this brings up an interesting paradox: at almost any given moment, the person most concerned about the project is not someone within the company, it is YOU.

As mentioned in the first post in this series, you do not have any real power to force reviewers to get back to you in a timely matter. But there are ways that you can keep your project in front of these reviewers, and improve your chances of meeting your deadlines.

Pick One Person to Review First

Usually it is helpful to get one person’s opinion from within the company first, and get the piece to the point where you are both happy with it before forwarding it on to the rest of the committee.

For example, if you are working on a newsletter and you interviewed one person about a particular article, send it for his or her review to check for accuracy. Usually the reason you talked to this person is because they are the company “expert” on that subject, so they tend to know it inside and out. In other words, if that person is happy with it, others will likely be happy with it too.

On the other hand, if you made an error at one spot, you’ll have six people telling you about it — and six different ideas on how to correct it. This creates more work for you AND the reviewers since they will have to review again. It may even create controversy about the subject within the company, and slow down the process even further.

Give Reviewers Deadlines

Usually it is not necessary to send out the complete project timeline and expect all reviewers to memorize it. But it is important to ensure they know when they need to get back to you with changes.

When you send that newsletter article for review, give him or her a specific date to have it back by. You can also something along the lines of “If I don’t hear back from you by such-and-such date, I’ll assume everything is good.” You may want to set the deadline a few days or even a week before your own deadline to compensate for slow returns and rewrites.

If you don’t hear back, it is still a good idea to send an email reminder or (better yet) give them a phone call to touch base about it. The idea here is not to choose between getting it right or meeting your deadline, it’s getting it right AND meeting your deadline. Do everything in your power to get input from that one reviewer before sending it to the committee for review.

Get The Copy to Them Fast

The faster you can turnaround that article, the faster reviewers will tend to get it back to you. This is because it is still fresh in their minds and because your sense of urgency will help spur them along.

However this does not mean going so fast that you get sloppy. You still need the proper time to do any other research, write it, proof it, and all the other steps it takes to make sure you are sending a polished piece. NEVER send a first draft to get their input early in the process. Not only will you get comments about all those placeholder sentences you haven’t had a chance to fix yet, but you will come off as looking unprofessional. (It’s easier for your clients to “ignore the man behind the curtain” if they don’t see that man in the first place!) You need to ensure that you have done your best to produce a publishable piece.

An Important Note

One important note: throughout this post, I’ve talked about sending it to the committee for review. Sometimes your contact within the company would prefer to review it first and then personally forward it to everyone who needs to read it. You should always check with your main contact at the beginning of the project to see which approach they want to take. Make sure also that if you are sending everything to your main contact, you tell him or her about any articles that you did not receive input about.

It’s All About Getting the Job Done

You may feel that it is not your job to chase after people within the company. And you wouldn’t be wrong. In most cases these people are not trying to derail the project; they are backed up with their own responsibilities and are overwhelmed. Yours is just one more thing added to their plate.

Now you could simply tell your main contact about the problems you are experiencing, and let him or her worry about it. But if you take matters into your own hands to make the project run more smoothly, you will be helping get the job done faster. And the smoother and faster you get the job done, the more likely you’ll be getting that call back for their next project.

Have any tips of your own on how to speed the review process? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below.

~Graham

Once you have been writing professionally for any length of time, you’ll run into a situation where two or more people need to sign off on a project before it is finalized. The first time I encountered this was on a newsletter I was writing for a healthcare department. I received the topic list, did the research and interviews, wrote the articles, and sent them to all six of the people who needed to review.

Somewhere in the middle of reconciling four different, simultaneous opinions for changes to the same paragraph, I figured there must be a better way…

In fact there are several tips and tricks you can use to avoid this situation, and survive the whole editing-by-committee process. Not only will you save your sanity, but you will also make the project go a little smoother.

In the coming series of posts, I’ll discuss some of the strategies that have worked for me over the years. But first things first…

Do I Want To Become the “Project Manager”?

This is the first question you need to ask yourself. No matter who is “in charge” at your client’s organization, you can usually work your way in as the de facto project manager.

I find that this is a good thing. Some companies have not gone down the road of writing and creating content, so it is natural that your contacts will look to you for some guidance anyway. Taking charge gives you an opportunity to set the timelines, describe the process to all those involved in the process, and generally manage the project. Not only are you able to create a system that works best for you, but in many cases you are also helping your client.

For example, say you are hired to produce a white paper for a client. Perhaps they have never put together a white paper before, and they have lots of questions about the process. What you can do is send them an email or a one-pager describing step-by-step the best way to produce a white paper. Talk about the initial meeting, finding out what the exact topic will be, creating an outline for the white paper, setting up contact people inside and outside the company to interview, creating a timeline, etc. Then, as you reach each step in the process, you tell the client what you need: list of contacts, a sign-off on the outline, etc.

The client stops worrying about the project (the day-to-day aspects anyway) because he or she knows that you will let them know what the next step is. And don’t look now, but you’re managing the project! It’s not as scary as it sounds, is it?

There is a lot to be said though for letting your contact in the organization be the point-person for the project. In some ways you avoid some of the stress that comes with the position (more on that in later posts). But you may also be creating stress in other ways, allowing someone who has no experience working on a writing project to set unrealistic deadlines or miss important steps in the process.

By subtly taking the reigns and gently directing the project, you can make the ride smoother for you and your client.

Now don’t think that suddenly everyone answers to you — as an outside contractor you are still the lowest person on this totem pole. Major issues or contacts within the company who just don’t want to play ball with you will still need to be dealt with by someone in the organization. But it does give you a little more leverage since you have the project schedule (that ostensibly everyone agreed with) to back you up. It is like your bookkeeper who offers “soft collections” services: your gentle reminder is usually all it takes to get that review or information back from tardy (usually busy) contact people, and get the project back on track.

To review then, by becoming the project manager, you:

• Can set realistic timeline goals and project objectives
• Relieve your client/contact of some of the hassle involving this project
• Apply your own knowledge and experience in developing these projects to create a smoother ride for you and your client

It is all about making things easier for your client. Not only will they appreciate your efforts, but the more invaluable you make yourself to a company, the more likely they’ll be picking up that phone to call you again.

~Graham