Over to Alex…

If you’re in reputation management and have to run a damage control campaign due to some bad press or vicious rumors, here’s the good news: Most people who try to create smear campaigns, who post negative product and service reviews, and so on, don’t do it professionally. They don’t know the first thing about SEO and strong copywriting.

Why is quality copywriting important in reputation management?

If you write a series of positive stories about your client, and make those stories ‘attractive’ to search engines, they’ll ‘drown out’ the negative stories. Google’s top results will be dominated by your stories, and the negative stories will be pushed to page two (or lower). The good stories will get more hits than the bad, and the bad press will quickly fizzle out.

Here’s an example of what copywriting in reputation management is all about: Let’s say a member of a company’s board of directors has been doing a wonderful job for years. He’s been maximizing profits and raising customer satisfaction. But some personal affairs have turned sour for him, and now his name is plastered all over everyone’s blog, as people spread the gossip. It becomes a hot search subject on Google and all of the top hits are pretty negative. The bad press is reflecting poorly on the client’s brand and impacting his bottom line.

The solution in this instance is simply to fight fire with fire: Critics are flooding the internet with negative reports, rumors and gossip about your client. You need to spread the good news about him, to point out his charity work, his impeccable personal history and so on.

But of course, you can’t just engage a traditional PR company to do this. Unless they’re SEO-savvy, they’ll merely address the mainstream/traditional media outlets. A few of those outlets may publish an online story, but that’s about as far as it will go. It’s a sad truth that positive stories don’t usually have the same viral appeal as negative stories, so they’re far less likely to be picked up naturally by bloggers.

So, you start with writers. You engage them to write a series of positive articles about your client – enough to outnumber the negative. High quality, well written articles, too; not just content-farm rubbish. You need them to appear on high ranking websites, respected blogs and so on, and that will only happen if the owners of those sites feel your stories make good reading.

Of course, that’s not to say they have to be long and comprehensive. Short, to the point writing is probably more effective in the blogging world. You’re aiming to chip away at the negativity a few hundred words at a time, so the bad press suffers a sort of ‘death by a thousand cuts’.

It may take a little while before you see the results, but the tide will change if you keep it up, because paid writers can stay interested in a subject for a lot longer than a gossip blogger can. They’re being paid to do it, they’re not just doing it for fun.

And remember, you don’t have to eliminate the bad press entirely. Just pushing the negative content to the second page is often enough.

Why you shouldn’t go for the cheapest copywriter

When it comes to hiring the writer for the job, you have a clear choice: Pay decent money for quality writing, or pay peanuts for rubbish. Don’t engage someone who charges a third of a cent a word. That works out at about $1 per article! It sounds tempting, especially when you require such high volume. But no writer in the English speaking world can live on that sort of rate. Not if they’re writing good quality, anyway. Even a short 200-300 word article can take an hour to write – often a lot longer. How many good writers do you think work for $1/hr? That’s $8/day! Even writers from non-English speaking countries can’t live on that. Instead, they pump out 5-10 articles per hour. Imagine the quality of 200-300 word article written in 6 minutes!

This isn’t copywriting, and it certainly isn’t going to reflect well on your client’s reputation. When it comes to reputation management, hiring bad copywriters can be disastrous, and not just because it produces results that don’t read very well.

When your writer isn’t a native English speaker, you magnify the potential for misunderstanding and meaning being lost in translation. If you’re not sure why that’s a problem, try playing with the Babelfish program and auto-translating a few phrases back and forth.

In fact, that’s what many of these cheaper so-called copywriting companies do: They write the original article in their own native language, then auto-translate it to English. Seriously!

Let’s take a simple phrase, a common message carried by reputation management campaigns:

“Our company’s leadership always has the consumer’s best interests in mind.”

Translated into Japanese and back to English using Babelfish, that phrase comes out as follows:

“Our company’s in the leadership of consumer. It is always the best profit of heart.”

Whatever that means, it sure isn’t the same as saying your client is taking care of his customers’ best interests. At best, you make your client look cheap. At worst, your articles say something ridiculous, offensive or illegal, and your client becomes the subject of yet more bad press.

Conclusion

Reputation is everything. In “The 48 Laws of Power,” author Robert Greene says, “Guard it with your life.” Truer words have never been spoken. When a client asks you to help manage their reputation, they want the very best help that they can get in presenting themselves to the public. A big part of making a good impression on the public is having the right words to do so. That’s what a skilled copywriter can provide: The right words.

Obviously if you don’t have a copywriter in-house, you’ll need to outsource, but that doesn’t mean choosing the cheapest option you can find. If there’s one truth in copywriting, it’s this: you get what you pay for. If you go for the cheapest writer available, you’re sacrificing quality in order to save a buck, which will always end in tears.

When hiring a writer or a team of writers to handle your copywriting, do yourself, your client, your career and, of course your, income a favor, and go the extra mile. Hire a skilled, qualified and experienced copywriter. They’ll do the job, quickly and without fuss, and your client’s reputation will soon be on the rise.

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In honor of all the hard work the mums of the world are putting in, I’m running a Mothers Day Special on my ebooks. (It may be a bit like buying a lawnmower for your wife’s birthday present, but there you have it.)

SEO Secrets — USD $49.97 $10

Use discount code “mumseosecrets” after you click Add to Cart.

‘SEO Secrets’ is a 194 page, comprehensive DIY search engine optimization (SEO) guide for small business owners, bloggers and SMB marketers. It details a practical 10-step process that will get you to the top of Google. It’s more than tips & tricks, and more than advice. It’s a comprehensive process you can start implementing NOW. Learn more about SEO Secrets…

Practical SEO Copywriting — USD $39.97 $10

Use discount code “mumseocopy” after you click Add to Cart.

‘Practical SEO Copywriting’ is pretty much the sum-total of what I know about SEO copy. Not just the theory, but the practice. How to do it right. How to handle the difficulties. And most importantly, how to balance the needs of Google against the needs of your human readers. Learn more about Practical SEO Copywriting…

If you’re buying both ebooks (pay $20 instead of $89.94)

Here’s how to use both discount codes:

1. Click Add to Cart for the first book
2. Enter its discount code
3. Click Update Cart
4. Switch back to this page
5. Click Add to Cart for the second book
6. Enter its discount code
7. Click Update Cart

Your total will be USD $20.

Oh, and if you actually give it to mum, you might get your money back…

Let’s make this a little fun. I’ll give you your money back if you:

1. Film yourself giving the book to mum, explaining what it is, and explaining why you’re giving it to her.
2. Then you post that footage on your blog. (And I certainly wouldn’t say no to a link back to my site! ;-)
3. And let me know about it!

Enjoy. And say “Happy Mothers Day” to your mum for me!

Here’s what happened last year

Here’s a blog post with a video of one very ‘lucky’ mum getting an SEO ebook for Mothers Day…

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Amanda seems intent on eliminating exclamation points. Rachel’s almost as dedicated. Peter tells me I’m not as busy as I think I am, and James kindly tells me to take it slow.

Balderdash!!!

First: exclamation points

You know what? Exclamations are expressive. If I’m exclaiming, I use ‘em. If I’m not, I don’t. Simple.

Asking people – particularly writers – to tighten up on exclamation points is misguided, I reckon. Writers know when they’re exclaiming and when they’re not. Occasionally we make mistakes in the heat of the moment, but if we pressure people NOT to use exclamation points, we’re likely to end up eliminating, not just exclamation points, but also the heat of the moment. And I don’t know about you, but I find the subject matter of most business writing is as boring as bat-shit. I certainly don’t want the writing to be boring too.

Oh, and if I want to use more than one exclamation point, you know what? I will! Language evolves. Punctuation evolves too. Deal with it. Social media and SMS have – yes, mark my words, HAVE – changed writing forever. Especially online. When I see more than one exclamation point, I see meaning in it. And that’s what writing’s all about.

Edit: Here’s proof Amanda’s on a mission:

And second: I’m not busy?! WTF?!

Now for you, James and Peter. (Note that I’ve never seen you two in the same room at the same time, so I have my suspicions…)

I know I occasionally procrastinate. I may surf the web or gaze at my navel. (Or blog.) But c’mon! I’m a grown man, and I’m fairly bloody smart. So when I say I’m busy, and you tell me I’m not, I think to myself: “WTF do you know?!!!” I run 2 companies. I’m starting a third. I have a wife, 4 mistresses, 3 kids, a mortgage, a house, a garden and a perverse need to remain healthy. (Ok, I don’t have 4 mistresses. But who’s counting?)

Late last year I won a contract to write SEO web copy for 49 car dealership websites in 2 months. 4,000-5,000 words each. Not spun rubbish, but high quality content, each. I outsourced just under half, but that still left me with a lot of work to do. And I can tell you, I worked 60-70 hours a week the entire time.

And what do you think happens when I’m working on a big job like that? Do you think everything else stops? You reckon I don’t keep getting quote requests? All the other work stops? No chance! I have repeat clients, too, you know. I  can’t just let them down.

“But Glenn, there are 24 hours in every day. 60-70 hours per week equates to only 8.6-10 hours a day. Spread it out, and you’ll be right.” Oh really? Tell me where it’ll fit. When the kids get me up at some ungodly hour, I get them brekky and help them off to school. That’s the mornings gone. At 8.30-9am, I start work. I work all day, without stopping for lunch. At 5-5.30pm, I stop to help with the kids’ dinner, give them a bath, read books, brush their teeth, sing them a song, and kiss them goodnight. Then I help clean up the house after the day’s family adventures. (Although, to be fair, when I’m REALLY busy, my wife sometimes does this alone.) Then I come back into the office and work from 8pm to midnight-ish. Sometimes 2-3am.

AND I’M NOT BUSY?!

And before you tell me: “Everyone feels that way, but if you actually record your time, you’ll find you’re only working 6.3 hours per week…” You know what? I have a bloody timer: Yast. And I use it religiously. Plus, I work very efficiently; over the last 9 years in business, I’ve developed excellent systems to ensure that’s the case. So bugger off and patronize someone else!

Conclusion

So there!!!!

Now have at it…

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I hated it. Maybe I just need another coffee, but I found myself switching off in the first sentence.

What’s wrong with it?

There are quite a few things wrong here, and I’ll touch on a few of them, but the thing I want to focus on most, is the humor. Don’t get me wrong, I like that they tried to use humor. I even like the brand of humor they used. But I think their execution is getting in the way of the message.

Although the humor doesn’t rear its head in the headline, for structure’s sake, I’ll start there, and work my way down.

Ok…

Using Welcome in the headline is bad. People either feel welcome or they don’t. Explicitly welcoming them is pointless, and a waste of your most valuable real estate: your headline.

Although, in this case, the value of that real estate is severely undermined by the fact that it’s centered. And the same size and font as the rest of the copy, just bolded. Remember the F-shaped pattern people’s eyes (mostly) follow when they first come to a website?

F-shaped pattern readers use to scan a page (from Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox)

What are they gonna see first here? Blank space!

Now for the humor

If you know me at all, you know I love random humor. (Take the 404 page I wrote for Silver Pistol, for example. Or its meta tags…) But in the absence of a headline, leading with irrelevant humor leaves the reader without any meaning whatsoever. They’re completely dislocated.

Also, to me, the implementation of the humor, the wording of the sentences, is off. I like what they’re trying to do, but I think they missed it. The sentences are long and clunky. They lack rhythm and punch.

How I’d have written it

Assuming they’re saying the right things about their offering and its benefits (I don’t have time to think about whether that’s the case), here’s how I would have written it.

Below wholesale! Grab a bargain on our most popular stock

The ‘Bargain Bin’ is where you’ll find unbeatable prices on some of our most popular items. We buy them up in ridiculous quantities, then sell them off below wholesale! (Not to be confused with the ‘Smelly Bin of Crap’ other stores roll out when they can’t sell their rubbish at full price!)

You already know us as the ‘bargain blokes’, but this is even better. We’ve beaten even our own prices!

Take a look below at the unbeatable deals in the Bargain Bin today…

Some notes on what I did

• I changed the headline so the first words you see are “Below wholesale”. I front-loaded the headline with the most important meaning words, so they can’t be missed. (The first 2 words are what people pay most attention to when they scan.)
• In the headline, I turned the bargain bin from something possessed by the shop (“OUR Bargain E-BIN”), into something readers could profit from. And I used the active voice: “Grab a bargain”.
• I added context to the headline, so people know what the page is about: “our most popular stock”.
• I changed “E-Bin” to “Bin” because people trust what they know, and easy = true (“Bargain E-Bin” is too hard to read).
• I described the bin clearly in the first and second sentences.
• Then I put the first bit of humor in brackets, so people know they don’t have to read it, but people who want to, still can.
• I made the ‘smelly’ sentence easier to read, and gave the crap bin a name to reinforce the humor.
• I kept “bloke” because that’s a word that resonates with the audience. But I fixed the conflict between the plural “we” and the singular “bloke”. (Man! That was a bad sentence: “You already know that we are the best value for money bloke around and well, WOW.”)
• And I threw away the last line in favor of a call to action.

Conclusion

Humor can help, but it’s getting in the way here. Not because it’s inappropriate, but because it’s poorly executed. The site owner is fostering a relaxed, ‘you can trust us, we’re like you’ relationship. The writing needs a little work, that’s all.

What do you think? Please comment.

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Unfortunately, my Twitter friends weren’t able to help me out much. Thanks anyway guys! You know I love you!

So I had to actually do a bit of searching for myself! (Unacceptable, I tells ya!)

What my search turned up

Here’s what I found (all from Jakob Nielsen, and none specifically answering the question, but still, it’s helpful):

“poor product information accounted for 8% of the usability problems on the websites we tested. Even worse, poor product information accounted for 10% of the user failures…” 10 High-Profit Redesign Priorities, Jakob Nielsen, Usability Expert

Well written content can improve usability by 124% — How Users Read on the Web, Jakob Nielsen, Usability Expert

“Credibility can be increased by high-quality graphics, good writing…” How Users Read on the Web, Jakob Nielsen, Usability Expert

“In our study, incomplete product descriptions were the cause of much scepticism.” B2B Usability, Jakob Nielsen, Usability Expert

“Good and detailed product descriptions are essential when the customer can’t see and touch the products before buying. Content design closed the sale.” Spotlighted Links From April-December 1999, Jakob Nielsen, Usability Expert

“The less familiar users were with an item, the more detailed information they wanted before deciding whether to buy it.” E-Commerce User Experience: Product Pages, Jakob Nielsen, Carolyn Snyder, Rolf Molich, Susan Farrell (purchased PDF report)

“Sometimes words can explain things the picture [and features table] doesn’t show.” E-Commerce User Experience: Product Pages, Jakob Nielsen, Carolyn Snyder, Rolf Molich, Susan Farrell (purchased PDF report)

“Problems with product pages — when users couldn’t get their questions answered or couldn’t get a product into the shopping cart — accounted for 17% of the sales catastrophes in this study.” E-Commerce User Experience: Product Pages, Jakob Nielsen, Carolyn Snyder, Rolf Molich, Susan Farrell (purchased PDF report)

I know there’s more out there. Can you help?

I remember reading a paper with quite a bit of information about how expansive, helpful, unique product descriptions increase conversions. But I couldn’t find it.

Do you know of any research? I’d love if you could paste it or link to it in the Comments below.

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It’s about content marketing & SEO

You want a link-worthy, keyword-rich piece, right? Something people will read, appreciate and share? (If you’re guest-blogging or article marketing, you want the same, because that’s what will get you published.)

So what makes a link-worthy piece? Typically something helpful and informative, that answers a question or resolves a problem, and which targets readers who are in the research phase of the buying cycle — or who may not be in the buying cycle at all.

Why? Because…

“…content marketing is the art of communicating with your customers and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. Instead of pitching your products or services, you are delivering information that makes your buyer more intelligent.”

From What is Content Marketing?, by Junta42.

What are copywriters good at?

Now let’s think about what copywriters are good at… As a rule, they’re good at writing copy that sells an offering.

A match made in heaven?

So if you outsource your posts and articles to a copywriter, you’re asking a writer who specializes in selling to communicate without selling… Does that sound like a match made in heaven to you?

So who’s good at communicating without selling?

Instead of seeking out freelance copywriters, you should be outsourcing to someone who specializes in precisely what you’re after: helpful, informative writing that answers questions and resolves problems. But who on earth does that?!

Journalists, that’s who. And technical writers. They do exactly what you’re after, every day.

You’ll still have to do the strategy

Of course, journalists and technical writers aren’t content marketers, so you’ll still have to devise your overarching strategy yourself. You’ll be outsourcing only the writing task.

Or you could engage a content marketer

If you’re really serious about results, I’d recommend engaging a genuine content marketer. Like Garrett French or Junta42. (I get no kickback from recommending them. I recommend them only because I reckon they deserve it. I’ve had quite a few dealings with Garrett, and he’s a great guy who knows his  stuff. I haven’t dealt with Junta42, but they’ve been around for a while, and they look good from a distance.)

“But I don’t have the budget”

Granted, good journos, techwriters and content marketers don’t come cheap. But nor do good copywriters. (I was a technical writer for 9 years before starting Divine Write — a senior in some big companies like Honeywell, Siemens and Citect — and I can assure you, I earn more now as a copywriter than I did as a techwriter.)

“But my copywriter charges only $1 per article!”

*Ahem* I’m sorry to say, your ‘copywriter’ is no copywriter, and/or they’re rushing your piece. In other words, it’s worth every cent you’re paying! ;-)

“But my copywriter is an SEO copywriter”

Big deal! I’m an SEO copywriter too, and I can tell you, the hard part of SEO copywriting is the copywriting, not the SEO. (It’s the important part, too. The SEO in SEO copywriting is becoming less and less important. Learn why…)

“But my copywriter does all sorts of writing”

Granted, there are copywriters out there who can write great blog posts and great articles. Some can even do strategy. But I’d suggest they’re actually content marketers. And they certainly won’t be cheap!

My experience, however, is that very few writers write well across all — or even several — forms. I’ve reviewed the resumes and portfolios of hundreds of writers who’ve wanted to freelance for me, and most can’t even write copy, let alone quality posts and articles. Once, I even got a press release specialist to write an article for me, and she failed dismally. (I assumed those two forms were close enough that she’d handle it, no problems. Not so.)

Conclusion

If you’re serious about your blogging (or article marketing), get an expert to do it. You’ll pay a bit more, but it’ll be finished faster, with less grief and better results.

What do you think?

Clients: Have you ever outsourced your blog posts and articles to a copywriter? Or to a journalist, technical writer or content marketer? Better yet, have you tried the lot? Who worked best?

Providers: Are you a copywriter who writes blog posts and articles? Are you a copywriter turned content marketer? Or journo/techwriter turned copywriter? Give us your perspective…

Please comment.

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So I thought I’d list some of my favorite songwriters and discuss the lessons they could teach a web copywriter. (This list is ordered alphabetically by surname, not by preference.)

I’ve chosen some songwriters who are great at capturing and invoking emotion, with just lyrics (as opposed to music and lyrics). Sometimes it’s the story told by a whole song, sometimes the image conjured by a single metaphor or a clever turn of phrase.

Note that although this is quite a long post, I’ve omitted many deserving songwriters. It would have taken me far too long to discuss them all. In fact, this post has been about 2 years in the writing, because I hated the idea of omitting favorites, but found the idea of including and discussing everyone so daunting.

I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts. Feel free to discuss my points or suggest other songwriters in comments.

1) James Blunt

Song: Goodbye My Lover
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

I’ve seen you cry, I’ve seen you smile.
I’ve watched you sleeping for a while.
I’d be the father of your child.
I’d spend a lifetime with you.
I know your fears and you know mine.
We’ve had our doubts but now we’re fine,
And I love you, I swear that’s true.
I cannot live without you.

Lesson for a web copywriter: Crying, smiling, sleeping, children, fears, doubts… Ordinary, everyday things bring us closer when shared. Blunt’s lament feels authentic because he uses little concepts we can all relate to, to capture the big concepts of love and heartbreak. Sure to strike a chord with anyone who’s ever been heartbroken.

2) Jeff Buckley

Song: Lover, You Should’ve Come Over
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

Too young to hold on, and too old to just break free and run.
Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun.
And much too blind to see the damage he’s done.
Sometimes a man must awake to find that really, he has no-one.

Lesson for a web copywriter: Maybe it’s just because I’ve been in this position, myself, but Jeff’s raw honesty here always strikes a chord with me. I like how he paints a picture of being a victim of his own immaturity, yet still accepts responsibility by admitting  to being blind and doing damage (he positions himself as the actor). Of course, it’s no mean feat to manage four rhyming lines without compromising the heartbreaking sentiment of the song, either.

3) Bernard Fanning (of Powderfinger)

Song: The Day You Come
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

Vision is rejected.
The people’s choice is tested.
So ignorance has won.
…
Over-population.
Media sensation.
The damage has been done.

Lessons for a web copywriter: Simple wording reflects Fanning’s (and many others’) belief that an unquestionable and unfathomable mistake had been made by Australian voters when they re-elected John Howard as Prime Minister in 1998. In other words, there’s no need for complicated political talk to understand the mistake.

4) Ben Folds (of Ben Folds Five)

Song: Fred Jones Pt. 2
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

Fred gets his paints out and goes to the basement.
Projecting some slides onto a plain white
canvas and traces it,
fills in the spaces.
He turns off the slides, and it doesn’t look right.
Yeah
And all of these bastards
have taken his place.
He’s forgotten
but not yet gone.
And I’m sorry, Mr. Jones.
And I’m sorry, Mr. Jones.
And I’m sorry, Mr. Jones.
It’s time.

Lessons for a web copywriter: Ben Folds uses visual imagery to capture Fred’s sense of dislocation and abandonment, after being retired from his job of 25 years. Again, as James Blunt does, he employs the everyday to invoke big emotions.

5) Tim Freedman (of The Whitlams)

Song: Charlie No.1
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

You might be unworthy,
but you remember what I remember,
and that’s enough to care,
you don’t fall off the rails.

Lessons for a web copywriter: The line, “you remember what I remember” is more than just interesting phrasing. Freedman could have said “we grew up together” or “we have history” or “we were once best friends”, but by focusing on memory, he explicitly calls on the act of reminiscence. This more effectively invokes sentimentality and melancholy. (For the record, this song is full of excellent writing. I highly recommend you read the lyrics.)

6) Ben Harper

Song: Another Lonely Day
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

And here comes emptiness crashing in.

Lessons for a web copywriter: I’d never have thought to describe emptiness as crashing in. But that’s exactly how true loneliness feels. The clever metaphor conveys the terrible, elemental, overwhelming power of loneliness.

7) Bill Joel

Song: Piano Man
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

He says, son, can you play me a memory?
I’m not really sure how it goes.
But it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete,
when I wore a younger man’s clothes.

Lessons for a web copywriter: What better way to describe an old, meaningful song than as a memory? And what better way to convey the old man’s sadness at the loss of his youth than with the loss of a song that was once so meaningful? Finally, what better way to capture the elusive feeling of aging than as simply a change of clothes?

8) John Lennon

Song: Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

Before you cross the street,
take my hand.
Life is just what happens to you
while you’re busy making other plans.

Lessons for a web copywriter: For me, these lines are two of John Lennon’s best. They’re proof that simple works best, even — or perhaps especially — for complex, powerful concepts. As a web copywriter, you’ll sometimes hear clients say things like, “But it seems so… simple. Are we dumbing it down too much? Shouldn’t we sell it more? Shouldn’t we say more?” If John Lennon teaches us anything, it’s that we should always strive to say less. As copywriter Amanda Gonzalez says, “Good copy is admired. Great copy isn’t even noticed.” And that’s just fine with me.

9) Marilyn Manson (and Twiggy Ramirez)

Song: The Beautiful People
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

And I don’t want you and I don’t need you.
Don’t bother to resist, or I’ll beat you.
It’s not your fault that you’re always wrong.
The weak ones are there to justify the strong.
The beautiful people, the beautiful people.
It’s all relative to the size of your steeple.
You can’t see the forest for the trees.
You can’t smell your own shit on your knees.

Lessons for a web copywriter: You might be surprised to see Marilyn Manson’s name in this list. But hear me out. I’m not saying he’s a modern-day John Lennon (nor am I saying he’s not); I don’t know enough of his work to offer comment in that respect. But what I do know is that with this song, he proves he really knows his audience: disenfranchised youth. He manages to combine anger and rebellion with political commentary. (This time anti-capitalism and anti-apathy.) Devices include first person (“I’ll beat you”), rhythm (there’s a chanting feel to it) and expletives. Message-wise, he invites his audience to view the target of his derision with condescension (“It’s not your fault”), frustration (“You can’t see the forest…”) and disgust (“You can’t smell…”).

10) Don McLean

Song: Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

Now I understand what you tried to say to me,
How you suffered for your sanity,
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen, they did not know how.
Perhaps they’ll listen now.

Lessons for a web copywriter: By writing retrospectively, McLean effectively captures the tragedy of understanding too late. He also personalizes the message, talking directly to van Gough, which bridges the time gap. Both of these strategies make the message more relevant. And he presents Vincent as selfless, misunderstood, long-suffering and, above all, correct, so we feel sympathy, regret and respect.

11) George Michael

Song: Mother’s Pride
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

And as he grows,
he hears the band,
and takes the step from boy to man.
At the shore she waves her son goodbye,
like the man she did before.
Mother’s pride,
just a boy,
His country’s eyes
he’s a soldier waving at the shore.
And in her heart the time has come
to lose a son.

Lessons for a web copywriter: Juxtaposition of perspectives (the young man seen through both his mother’s eyes and his country’s eyes) and the simple fatalism of the last two lines illustrate the tragedy of sending anyone to war, and the helplessness of those left behind.

12) Ian Moss (of Cold Chisel)

Song: Bow River
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

I been working hard, twelve hours a day,
and the money I saved won’t buy my youth again.
Goin’ for the heat babe, and a tropical rain,
in a place where no man’s puttin’ on the dog for me.
Waitin’ on the weekend, set o’ brand new tyres,
and back in Bow River’s just where I want to be.

Lessons for a web copywriter: Like Marilyn Manson, Ian Moss knows his audience. He’s able to strike a true chord with the Australian working class, by successfully combines youthful romanticism, escapism, contempt for authority, slang and metaphor.

13) Harry Nilsson

Song: Without You
(Read full lyrics and LISTEN to song…)

Lyrics:

No, I can’t forget this evening,
or your face as you were leaving,
but I guess that’s just the way the story goes.
You always smile but in your eyes your sorrow shows.
Yes, it shows.

Lessons for a web copywriter: I’m struggling to put my finger on the lesson here. I’ve always been a Harry Nilsson fan. My parents listened to him a lot when I was growing up. So I’m not sure if his lyrics grab me simply through my own sentimentality. But I think there’s more to it than that. Maybe it’s because it’s so direct? Or because he “can’t forget” (we all know what that feels like!). Maybe it’s the fatalism of the third line. Maybe it’s HER sorrow that grabs me. And the fact that she’s trying to be — or at least appear — happy. We’ve all been there, and it’s tough. Your thoughts?

14) Kasey Chambers

Song: Not Pretty Enough
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

Am I not pretty enough?
Is my heart too broken?
Do I cry too much?
Am I too outspoken?
Don’t I make you laugh?
Should I try it harder?
Why do you see right through me?

Lessons for a web copywriter: Rarely do people ask the real questions (or at least what they think are the real questions). In advertising, as in life, this can be a great way of engaging your audience. Especially when you make it clear you really want the answers (however much they’ll pain you to hear). But, to me, the power of this verse goes beyond the questions. Its power lies in Kasey’s total internalization of blame. She suggests six possible reasons for ‘his’ disinterest. And they’re all her.

15) Steve Gibb

Song: She Believes In Me (recorded by Kenny Rogers)
(Read full lyrics & watch video…)

Lyrics:

While she lays waiting, I stumble to the kitchen for a bite.
Then I see my old guitar in the night.
Just waiting for me like a secret friend, and there’s no end.
While she lays crying, I fumble with a melody or two.
And I’m torn between the things that I should do.
And she says to wake her up when I am through.
God her love is true.
And she believes in me.
I’ll never know just what she sees in me.
I told her someday if she was my girl,
I could change the world
with my little songs. I was wrong.

Lessons for a web copywriter: Kenny Rogers has a knack for telling everyday stories that resonate, and this Gibb story is perfect for him. I chose this particular one ‘coz it resonates with me*. (Indeed, this song reminds me so much of my wife that it’s made me cry more than once.) Stories resonate equally well in copy as in music. They are, in fact, the fundamental ingredient in some of the world’s most successful ads and sales letters. E.g. “They Laughed When I Sat Down At the Piano. But When I Began to Play!” The trick is to pick the story that will ring true with your audience. Beyond the story, though, there are some pretty clever writing tactics. Gibb knows full well the impact of his behavior. He makes this clear by using her behavior as the context for his own: “As she lays waiting…”, “While she lays crying…” Also, I find the rhyme within the third line (“friend” and “end”) highlights the poignancy and loneliness of that final clause “and there’s no end”. I could go on here: simple rhyme… conjunctions starting sentences… his “secret” guitar friend (personified)… honesty… But I won’t.

* I’m no musician, but I’m a business owner who’s spent way, way too much time in the office. I’m often drawn out to the computer in the dead of night (I work from home), much to my wife’s frustration. It can be lonely.

Special Mentions: David Gray & Neil Finn

I really wanted to include David Gray and Neil Finn in this list. They’re two of my favorite songwriters (definitely in the top 5). Their songs always grab me. But after listening and listening, I came to the conclusion that their lyrics are often just too ambiguous to offer any direct lessons to a web copywriter. Sure it’s great that we — the listeners — can easily ascribe our own meaning to them, but for web copy, I think you need to provide a little more direction than that.

And those lyrics that aren’t ambiguous are quite simple, and it’s the combination of lyrics, music and vocals that draw me in.

Of course, I’d be more than happy to be talked around on this issue, so please feel free to disagree!

Conclusion

When did you last use the everyday in your copy — the little things? Or metaphor, open honesty or simple, elemental wording? Reminiscence? Fatalism? Slang, profanity (yes, profanity!), contrast, or storytelling?

I know I can learn some lessons from these great writers.

Thoughts?

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When I started Divine Write, back in 2002, it seemed natural to me to quote fixed prices. There were 3 reasons for this:

1. When I get tradesmen to work for me, I always want to know how much they’re gonna cost. I’m a tight bastard!
2. I’d come out of the software industry, where I’d worked as a salaried technical writer for 9 years. I was used to fixed earnings. Had I come out of an agency environment, I might have been more used to working hourly. It seems to be more common there.
3. I thought clients would like fixed prices better.

So from the get-go, I charged fixed prices.

And it went OK for years

This seemed to work well. I was earning OK money, and I had plenty of work. In fact, most of the time, I had too much work. At first, when this happened, I tried outsourcing the work. But then I ended up spending as much time managing and fixing the job as I’d have spent writing it myself, and I was earning less for the privilege!

So after a few failed attempts at scaling, I opted to simply raise my prices whenever I got too busy.

I kept doing this until I reached a nice balance point. I had just the right number of clients — repeat and new — to earn a comfortable living, without having to work crazy hours, outsource, or take short-cuts on jobs. I could give each job the time it deserved.

But then things started coming unstuck

But by then, I was ranking very well on Google, so I was getting a lot of request for quotes. A LOT. I devised all sorts of systems to deal with this additional workload, but I was still spending near as much time quoting, as I was spending writing client copy.

Now obviously quoting isn’t a bad thing if you’re converting, but because my fees were quite high, my conversion rate on quotes was quite low. So most of my quoting time was wasted.

So I decided to redesign my website and publish my prices. I figured the combination of up-market website and high published prices ($1,190 for a home page of up to 150 words, and $2 per word for sub-pages) would turn away the low budget clients and tire-kickers.

I was right. The request for quotes dropped off significantly. I went from putting out an average of 1-5 quotes per day, to putting out 1-5 per week.

Too many un-billable hours

This drop-off in quotes freed up a lot of time. But unfortunately, none of that time was billable. I needed to bring in more client work. I had to increase either my traffic or my conversion rate.

But after 8 years in business, I’d already topped Google. I already had an effective social media strategy in place. I’d already refined my marketing message. I knew if I increased my prices, I’d earn more per job, but I’d win fewer jobs. Likewise, I knew if I dropped my prices, I’d get more work, but I’d earn less per job.

So, with my existing business model, I really had only 1 choice: invest in some other form of marketing.

I didn’t want to shell out for marketing

Hmmmmm….

As discussed above, I’m a tight bastard. I didn’t like the idea of this at all. Plus I’d learned through my failed attempts at outsourcing that scaling isn’t always the answer, no matter how logical it looks on paper.

I decided to go out on a limb, and try something completely new: charging hourly rates.

Clients pay less when they pay by the hour

My reasoning was that, even though most clients want a fixed price, in reality, an hourly rate would usually cost them less. That’s because they’d be paying only for the time I actually spend. When I quote fixed prices, on the other hand, I have to assume the worst. I have to factor in the risk that the job will take longer than I estimate because of something unforeseen.

For example, the average home page of about 100-200 words actually takes around 5-6 hours to write. (I mean to write it well — to craft a compelling, effective message. Obviously, I could write 100-200 words in 10 minutes, and it would read beautifully. But it usually wouldn’t be very effective.) But sometimes it takes 8-10 hours. So when I quote fixed prices, I have to factor in a bit extra just in case that happens.

Plus, SOME home pages have taken a LOT longer than that. One took me 20 hours! When you’re quoting fixed prices, you need to have this covered too. You need to spread the cost of these occasional blow-outs across all your other jobs. In other words, EVERY client pays for that 20 hour job!

Quoting an hourly rate, if a client’s home page takes me 4 hours, I charge them for 4 hours. They don’t have to pay extra to cover my risk.

But how to convince the client?

Now obviously this means THE CLIENT is taking on the risk. Because they’re paying for my time, they’re wearing the risk that the job may take longer than I estimate. So this is obviously a barrier to conversion that I have to overcome in my marketing message.

The way I’ve overcome it is to simply lay it out: I cite the 20 hour example above. And I explain that I’ve been writing copy for nearly a decade, and I have a very good feel for how long things are likely to take. I explain that most blow-outs are due to clients changing their mind about what they want to say, changing their offering, demanding hours on the phone, or making me spend hours justifying why it’s OK to start a sentence with a conjunction. Those sorts of things…

Now I’m earning more

The upshot? Clients are good with it. And, although I now earn slightly less on most jobs, I’m earning more overall, because my conversion rate is higher. (This is slightly different from lowering my fixed prices, and earning less on ALL jobs, because now, if a job takes me longer, I get paid for that time.)

I’ve been using this model for about 3-4 months now, and it’s been very successful for me. So successful, in fact, that I’ve once again had to raise my rates!

Some interesting side-notes

1. Tracking & targets — One of my other reasons for switching to hourly rates was that it allows me to more easily set revenue targets and monitor whether I’m hitting them. I know that if I do around 5 hours of billable work per day, I’m on target. Before, not all my hours were billable, even when I was working on a client job. So things weren’t this simple. I’d have to go on actual invoicing and revenue, and those things go up and down drastically. Some weeks, no money would come in, other weeks, thousands would come in. So tracking was possible only by the month or even quarter. And I don’t know about you, but if something’s going wrong in my business, I want to know about it immediately, not 3 months down the track!
2. Quoting & up-front payments — When I was working to fixed prices, I was charging 50% up-front. This was very simple, ‘cos I always knew exactly how much the job would run out to. Now that I’m charging by the hour, I can only estimate the total fee. But that doesn’t mean I can’t charge an up-front. Now, I simply charge for 50% of my estimated hours. Clients are fine with this.
3. Clients understand it — When you work to fixed prices, the deliverable is ambiguous (to the client). You’re delivering copy, but they feel you should be delivering so much more. They want results, guarantees, miracles. (James Chartrand, of Men With Pens, wrote a very good post on this the other day: Why Selling Writing Doesn’t Get Results. She said clients want to “get jazzed and excited and hear angels sing”, and that copy, by itself, doesn’t do that.) Copywriters can’t GUARANTEE results unless we test, test, test. And that means having control of all the controllable variables. We’d have to devise testing strategies, and set up and maintain testing procedures. We’d have write and test multiple versions of the copy. And all of this takes time. Most clients are loathe to pay for 1 version of the copy. There’s no way they’d pay us to write and test 2, 3, 4, maybe 10 versions of the copy. Charging hourly rates overcomes most of this problem. Clients understand hourly rates. They’re paying for your time. Simple.
4. Tools — I’m now completely in love with my time-tracker, Yast, and my project management and collaboration tool, Liquid Planner. These tools have immediate and very direct benefits when you’re charging by the hour.

Anyway, I’ve gotta get back and earn some money!

Happy writing.

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What are your pet pedant peeves?

What grammar Nazi laws annoy you the most? Please comment. Mine’s the one that forbids me to start a sentence with a conjunction. But that’s a whole nother story… ;-)

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