Here’s a problem I used to have at networking events. I’d tell people my job, and quite often they’d give me a blank look in return.
“I’m a copywriter,” I’d say, meaning someone who writes copy (a fancy word for text).
The problem is that it’s not a very common expression. You’d be forgiven for thinking I sell photocopiers, or that I’m some kind of lawyer, pursuing copyright cases through the courts.
More useful terms are ‘content writer’ and ‘commercial writer’. That is, someone who tells consumers how marvellous an organisation is in the snappiest way possible.
- It might be a blogpost that enhances your website, improves your search engine optimisation (SEO) and lets people surfing the internet know more about you.
- It could be a case study, in which satisfied customers explain why they like your products or services so much.
- It may take the form of a punchy, interesting leaflet or brochure, devoid of waffle so that people actually read it.
- Or it could be a white paper, if we’re being more ambitious. A pdf that examines an issue in your industry and is so valuable to the conversation that for years afterwards, people download it.
Why not do it yourself?
It can be tempting to write your own copy, or ask a colleague, rather than rely on a professional writer to do it.
This is a bad move, usually. You risk looking amateurish and may not notice the flaws in what you’ve written.
Jargon is always a bad sign. As a specialist, you might know what it means, but that doesn’t mean your customers will.
A while ago, someone showed me a flyer for gardening services that had come through their door. You could tell at a glance that the business owner had struggled to write it.
The team of gardeners was equipped with mobile phones, the flyer noted… as if that’s going to impress anyone in the 2020s.
I don’t mean to be unkind. But if the boss had hired someone like me to write that flyer, they might have recouped the cost many times over.
Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash
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