“What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?”
If all of the foregoing–two months of tips and techniques to help you write web copy and content that turns browsers into buyers and Looky Lou’s into loyalists–makes your head spin because you suddenly realize that it takes a real pro with decades of training and practice to do this well, don’t tear out your hair and don’t despair!
I’m a pro, a veteran, a word whisperer since 1969, when my first article was published in a national magazine.
Need proof? Here you go!
(Sorry for the copy. I can’t put my hand on the original cover without tearing my STAR TREK/Kelley archives apart, and THAT would take hours.)
In a well-worn phrase, “this isn’t my first rodeo.”
My first article was a promotional piece for DeForest Kelley, Dr. McCoy of STAR TREK. Of course, I didn’t know what it was (in WriterSpeak) at the time I wrote it; I called it a non-fiction creative writing assignment for English class.
When Mr. and Mrs. Kelley saw it, they recognized it for what it was: an engaging piece written by a fan that could boost his profile and career! So they sent it along to TV STAR PARADE, a well-known New York publisher, who placed it in the holiday edition. Just imagine it: my favorite actor launched my writing career when I was still a teenager! My parents had to peel me off the ceiling.
Little did I know that my first article was a piece of copy writing–a sales piece! And that’s what great copy writing should be: what appears to be a conversation between two interested parties about a particular subject.
Did I expect Kirk and Spock fans to buy the article, too? Of course not. The target audience was DeForest Kelley/Bones fans. And I hit the bulls eye.
Good copy doesn’t appeal to “everybody”. Good copy appeals to your niche. It isn’t a shotgun; it’s a laser.
In addition to being what Pulitzer Prize nominee Ted Crail (author of APE TALK AND WHALE SPEAK) calls “a helluva writer”, I’m also a writing consultant. That is, I can take a look at your copy and let you know where it misses the mark (if it does).
Of the hundreds of pieces I’ve reviewed, only two couldn’t be significantly improved, while a few others couldn’t even be redeemed. (I congratulated the two writers who had nailed their copy and told them they didn’t owe me a dime for looking it over because each of their pieces was a pleasure to read.)
So please keep me in mind. If writing copy is “too much” for you to do yourself, I can do it for you. If you write something and want a professional opinion or help to improve it, let me know. I don’t charge as much to consult, edit and copy-enhance as I do to write from scratch, usually (unless the copy requires an “extreme makeover” and very little of the original will remain intact), so don’t be shy. Let me take a look at what you have.
I’ve been at this copy writing business for longer than I even imagined. I only started writing sales and content copy full-time at the beginning of 2007 (earning Employee of the Quarter two quarters running at the first place I was hired as a copywriter!) but I was a freelance writer for decades before that happened.
I won’t be steering you up a blind alley. If you place your trust in my abilities, insights and decades of writing knowledge, you can go farther faster than you can going it alone.
I’m here to help you! Take advantage of the opportunity. I’m always fond of saying, “Use me before you lose me.” I’m still “right bright”, but mental clarity can disappear with age. So far, so good.
But tomorrow is guaranteed to no one. If you need help, ask for it now.
