Freelance Copywriting, marketing and social media tips

Most marketing strategies concentrate on email, direct mail, social media, print marketing and web marketing.

That’s good news for us professional copywriters as it means there’s plenty of work to be had.

But there is one other stream of customers that’s not been mentioned – referrals.

Referrals (or word of mouth marketing) are worth their weight in gold. After all, people are coming to you as a direct result of someone else recommending your products and services.

As a result, they already know about the quality of your work, your level of customer service and what makes you stand out from other providers – so most of the hard work has already been done for you.

So how to you get more of them?

Sowing the referral seeds

Put simply, there are no short cuts to generating referrals.

If you want people to talk about you favourably to others, you’ve got to provide them with good reason.

1. Above and beyond

Every contact you have with a customer before, during and after making a sale has to be perfect.

You must constantly exceed their expectations and make them feel valued.

That’s easier said than done, especially when faced with one of ‘those’ customers, but it will be worth it in the end.

2. Staying in touch

Once you’ve completed a sale and your customer’s gone away happy, it’s very tempting to move onto the next person. But what about the relationship you’ve just spent weeks (months or even years) developing with the person that’s just walked out the door?

The relationship is far too valuable to let slide, so make sure you keep in touch with regular newsletters, offers and great information.

How about offering an incentive for referrals – perhaps a discount on future purchases for every person they introduce to you?

How ever you decide to approach it, keeping the relationship going is vital  – after all, if they’ve bought from you once, the chances are they will again.

3. Engage

Marketers band around the term ‘Engaging with your audience’ quite frequently. So what exactly do they mean?

Well, if you want someone to buy from you and develop a long lasting relationship with your company, there has to be something in it for them. You could argue that the product/service they buy is enough, but today’s customers are far cannier than that and expect much more.

Offering them useful, relevant and interesting content will help you engage with them. They see it as getting something for nothing; you see, it as a way of maintaining contact and keeping your company’s name firmly lodged in their mind.

But more than that, if your content is really useful to them, you will be opening up the opportunity of it being shared with their friends and colleagues. Facebook ‘Likes’, re-tweets and other social media sharing tools will help spread the word about your company – and that can’t be bad.

So you see, if you want to boost and encourage referrals, you must engage with your customers and go above and beyond what they would expect.

Take some time out to review your current procedures; what efforts do you make to retain customers and stay in touch? How many referrals do you receive?

Perhaps it’s time to give some of these suggestions a try.

The art of website copywriting is a complex one.

Many website’s that have been written in-house tend to make the same mistake.

No, we’re not talking about bad grammar or blaring typos (although that may be true in some cases), the problem is with the actual content itself.

You see, although your website exists to bring your company to the attention of your market place, it isn’t there to shout about you.

Confused?

Think about it this way. Imagine you’re out looking for a new pair of shoes. As you walk down the High Street you spot a gorgeous looking shop with oodles of ‘must have’ shoes in the window.

Its upmarket feel and the immaculately displayed shoes, boost and sandals seduce you. Before you know it you’ve walked through the door and an assistant is approaching you.

You expect them to greet you, ask how you are and what you’re looking for – are you looking for shoes for a special occasion….really, a Ball? How wonderful, what’s your dress like? You know, niceties like that.

But what they actually do is tell you all about the company, how long they’ve been trading, what car the MD drives and how they believe they are the most unique shoe retailer in the country.

I don’t know about you, but I would be out of there faster than a fast thing.

The same thing goes for your website.

Your Home Page is likely to be the page that most visitors arrive at, so it’s the first impression they’ll get of your company. But rather than reading about how amazing your company is, it needs to be focused 100% on the needs of your customers.

Why should they buy from you?

No, not because you’ve been in business since 1889….They should buy from you because you offer unique shoes, shoes that will make them feel special, shoes that people will stop and stare at, shows that will show the world how successful they are, shoes that will make people stop and stare wishing they could be just like them.

OK, a bit OTT, but you get the picture.

The copywriting on your home page must be all about the benefits your customers will enjoy if they buy your product (or service). It must communicate to your reader that you’re a company that puts its customers first.

Over to you

Take a look at your Home Page – who is the main focus on, you or your customers?

If it’s you, it’s time to change your copy – if you need a hand, get in touch with a professional copywriter and get your copy working for you.

Writing is a profession that needs a thick skin.

Ask any fiction, non-fiction writer or commercial copywriter about their journey to the top and they’ll tell you a whole raft of stories of rejection, self-doubt and the pig-headed determination they had to show to make it.

The same goes for guest blogging.

There is one thing that you must remember – just because you spent hours lovingly crafting and shaping your blog post doesn’t mean it will be instantly accepted by grateful open arms.

Common reasons for rejection

After you receive that dreaded email that says ‘thanks, but no thanks’, you have to work out why.

There are a number of common reasons for rejection, such as:

• Poor spelling and grammar
• Not sticking religiously to the submission guidelines
• Writing about a subject that’s inappropriate for that blog
• Sending an unsolicited post rather than pitching first
• Writing in a style that doesn’t suit the blog
• Your email landing in their inbox on a really, really bad day

OK, there’s nothing you can do about the last one, but the rest can be avoided easily enough.

Before you even start writing your pitch email with your ideas, make sure you research the blog well and read some of the previous guest posts that have been accepted.

Get a feel for their style and content to make sure yours will fit in.

Choose a subject that fits within the blog’s niche and make sure you proofread it within an inch of its life before you send it (assuming you’re asked to send in a post).

 Coping with rejection

When you receive that dreaded email saying ‘nope’, it’s very tempting to sulk, file the post away in a dusty folder somewhere on your desktop and crawl away licking your wounds.

Don’t.

OK, so they didn’t like it – why didn’t they?

The first thing to do is ask for feedback (assuming they didn’t give a reason in their rejection email). Of course, no everyone will respond, but if they do, take it on board and learn from it. Plus, if they allow it, review and re-write your post in line with their comments and resubmit.

Just because they didn’t want your post doesn’t mean it should be thrown away and forgotten about. Try a different a blog and ask to guest blog for them – don’t let it go to waste.

If you want to prevent the rejection emails make sure you:

• Pitch your ideas first
• Show evidence that you’ve read their blog and understand what their readers want
• Offer ideas that fit within the niche of the blog
• Follow their guidelines to the letter

Don’t forget, the blog owner has the right to say yes or no – the content on their blog affects their reputation.

As yet another year draws to a close, isn’t it about time you gave your website a quick review to make sure its ready for the New Year?

There are many great sites out there that are bursting with powerful and persuasive web copy, eye-catching images and uber-friendly navigation. But on the flip side, there are that have useless content, dire navigation and as for the images…

What follows are 8 quick tips to help you make your website a nicer place to be for your visitors. They have been compiled from my pet hates and the things that I see done badly time and time again.

1. About Us

Copywriters around the world speak with one voice when they tell clients that their web copy has to be written for their readers. That means no ‘we’ and lots of ‘you’ and benefits.

A lot of business owners have a real problem with that because they just want to shout about their company and what they’ve achieved. Well, to cheer you all up, the About page is the one on which you can talk about yourself – kind of.

Your About page should tell you readers what makes you different to everyone else, your ethos, why you do what you do and also some personal information about you (to show that you’re human) and your team along with a few mug shots (to prove you’re real).

It shouldn’t just start ‘We’ve been in business since 2001 and are the best thing since sliced bread…’

2. We’re here

If you want people to do business with you, why are you making it so hard for them to find you?

Make sure you provide your physical address and a Google map so they can find you. Plus, pictures of your premises are a great idea so they recognise it when they arrive.

3. Hanging on the telephone

How many times have you been on a website only to get thoroughly frustrated when you can’t find a phone number?

Make it easy for your customers and potential customers to get in touch with you. Have your phone number clearly visible in the top left hand corner of your header.

4. Banish typos

Proofreading is sooooo important. Typos could well put people off getting in touch with you so make sure, before you publish any content on your site, that you get it proofed by someone.

5. Rules

This one is for all you site owners out there with customer logins. Now, the Internet is a wonderful thing as it means you can get all your Christmas shopping done without having to fight your way through town.

The downside is most sites want you to create an account in order to shop with them (or use their service). If you’re site is one of these and you have rules about how many letters passwords should have and whether they have to be a mixture of numbers and letters, please, please, please tell the user before they think of something.

There’s nothing more annoying than having come up with a password only to be told it’s not long enough or doesn’t contain the right combination of characters.

So if you must have rules, make them known.

6. Mobile

More and more people are using their mobile devices to access the Internet. In fact, mobile devices account for over 20% of all traffic to e-commerce sites and 1 in 3 mobile users access the Internet through their phones.

That’s why it’s so important your website is mobile friendly. After all, if they try to access your site and it’s slow or unreadable, they’re going to head off in search of another site that’s easier to use.

7. Social

Yes, social media is taking over the world.  Unless you want to be left behind, you must make sure your site is social.

Offering customers the ability to share your stuff with their friends is vital to spread the word. Twitter, Facebook and other social sites mean customers can talk to you easily and help promote your amazing service (it is amazing, right?) by telling their friends.

It’s here to stay so get with it.

8. Fabulous photos

How many websites have you seen with woeful photography or stacks of stock images?

Come on people be a bit more inventive. Don’t be tight, splash out and get some decent shots taken of your premises, stock, people etc. Make the images on your website unique.

Right, that’s your homework for December – check your website and make sure it’s firing on all cylinders for the New Year.

The following guest post was written by Joshua Danton Boyd. The author’s views are entirely his own and may not reflect the views of FreelanceCopywritersBlog.com. If you are interested in producing a Guest Post for this blog, please get in touch with your ideas.

For several years, we’ve been writing about every aspect of copywriting, marketing, social media and what it means to be a professional copywriter, but one thing we’ve not discussed is ghost writing – well, let’s set that straight.

Ghost writing can often mean having a very interesting project on your hands. This can be especially true if you manage to land the job of writing a particularly juicy biography. The thing is that the smoothness and difficulty of the project will rely heavily on whom you’re writing for. A good relationship with your client is key to great ghost writing as, in most cases, they’re the ones with all the information and it’s their story you’re telling. Mess up with them and the writing will be in trouble.

Preparation is Key

You need to do as much prep as you possibly can before starting off on the project. Meet with the client in person if possible. It’ll make it easier to get to know them and understand exactly what they and their job are all about. If you can’t meet in person then a video chat will be the next best thing. The more meetings you can have the better. Every time you discuss the job at hand it will take better shape in your mind and it will all seem a bit clearer. Ghost writing often starts seeming dark and a bit muddled, so the sooner you shed some light the better.

It’s important to keep in mind that this isn’t your book/article or whatever. You’ll have the urge to slip into the style you usually use when writing under your own name. This is another positive of good preparation and regular meet ups. It will help you get into the mind of your client and write in the way they want you to. They will almost certainly have an idea of the way they want things to be portrayed. It’s your job to express that properly.

Continuous and Clear Communication

Once you have all the information you think you need, you might be tempted to just knuckle down and get that first draft finished. This can be a big mistake. The longer you go without talking to your client the further removed you’ll get from their tone and input. You need to be keeping in touch regularly even if it’s just a phone call a couple of times a month. This means you can keep the client up to date on how you’re doing and to make sure they don’t want to give you any extra info.

If you get stuck with a certain part then that part should now become your priority. If you start saving up problems for the next time you talk to your client you’re going to have issues with just writing the thing. Not knowing what to write means you’ve either lost the direction you were going in or you have missing data. This needs to be fixed before you go any further. Do not be afraid to tell your client when you’re in trouble.

Also, always encourage your client to come to you with any extra details or memories that may pop into their heads. Some will do this automatically and bombard you with constant email updates, while others may be shyer and feel like they’re badgering you. Be sure to make it clear to your client from the start that the more information you have, the better. Tell them that even if it might not be useful it will still offer extra insight which is hugely valuable.

Remember That You Are the Writer

Obviously, this is the client’s project as such and therefore they do have a great deal of input, but that doesn’t mean you can’t exercise some force. You have been hired for a reason. Whether it’s due to your employer being unable to write anything with even a hint of quality, or that they don’t have time, they have bought your service. The reason you offer this service is because you are good at it. This means at times taking charge and being able to say, “I’m the writer and I’m saying that won’t work.”

This can be hard and a little nerve-wracking. Your client is essentially your boss and, if they wish, they can get rid of you. It is all about knowing how to deal with the person paying your wage. Don’t ever shout them down and disregard their input. Always consider it and discuss it properly with them. Never just say no, you will always need to explain why fully and clearly. Even if their ideas aren’t worthy of a five year old’s attempt at a novel, you still need to show them some respect.

In the end though, you need to retain some control of this project. You want it to be the best it can be for yourself and for your client. Be firm and remember; you have the expertise, skill and experience. Do not be afraid to speak your mind in something of a forceful manner. If you allow your client to take complete control you’ll end up with a messy, incoherent jumble of words with little structure. It is their input you are after, not their direction.

Joshua Danton Boyd is a copywriter for the online accounting firm Crunch and the company forming service Go Limited.