The competitive nature of buses and what this means for advertising?
Catching that right bus...
It's an interesting experience to be standing at the entrance of the Yamba Bowls Club post Friday night meat-tray raffles and be waiting for their courtesy bus.
You have, of course, the usual people sitting on the bench provided, primed to jump up and be first in the queue the minute the courtesy bus arrives.
And these people are ready to fight for their rights. They really know what they want... that seat up the front!
So, how can we make this work in advertising? How do we make our audience want our product as desperately as they want that seat on the bus?
Effective writing is about creating desire. We know that the public really need our product, so why aren't they buying it?
Effective writing is also about clarity. A great writer will tell your clients all about your product, they will outline in detail the different aspects that make your product special and their copy will compel your clients to purchase it.
If you find that your web or advertising copy is not creating that 'I have to have it' desire, maybe it's time to rethink the writer.
The excitement of writing copy for someone else
Writing copy or web content for someone else, especially if you're a curious Gemini like me, is fun! Seriously.
Whenever I get a new assignment, I'm like a dog wagging its tail. I've been given the go-ahead to delve into an exciting subject (exciting to me, anyway) that I have perhaps never thought of or don't really know much about.
Here I am being paid to find out new stuff. Fantastic! I've always loved trivia, which doesn't in any way mean that the web content you've asked me to write is based on trivia. It's just that element of quickly finding out enough about the client's industry or product to create compelling text that their clients will love.
I'm interested in everything. You can ask me to find out about garden hose. Did you know that the most popular form of garden hose is the 'Never Kink - Self Straightening' hose? I'm really curious to know why, although I think I can probably guess. I'm sure I would prefer a 'Never Kink - Self Straightening' hose too, but actually a quick search finds that these are 'no-nonsense great hoses that won't disappoint'. Terrific, I want one already!
I'm beginning to think that someday my brain will explode and out will flow tiny facts on every subject imaginable. Hope someone is there to tap into that knowledge!
Where do you find inspiration?
It's funny but so many people ask me this. Where do you find inspiration for the articles/copy you write? It's simple, it's in the world around you.
Okay, I'm not particularly trying to do the 'good girl, at-one-with-the-universe' personification of the year, I'm just saying that I look around and things make me feel either good or bad. Then I work with these things. Is that too spiritual for you?
Every single minute of every day I'm interested in the world. I"m interested during the morning news programs, I"m interested in the traffic jams on the way to work and I sure was interested when meeting some business women for the first time at lunch today. What a fantastic group of people and what a lot of information to share!
To be honest, when writing copy or journalistic articles you have to find the topic you are researching interesting and I do! I love anything, anything new. I'm fascinated by your product, really interested to find out who you are and I really, really want to know what you want to achieve. Really.
So, that's it. Inspiration? Look around, it's there anytime you take a moment. All you have to invest is time.
Where do you find the right words?
When you're trying to write that perfect marketing piece, or maybe web content, it's all about the words, the right words! So, where do we find them?
For me, I like to get a feeling for what I'm trying to sell or the information my client wants to disseminate to their public.
Sometimes, like now, I gaze away from my laptop out my window and watch the trees swaying slightly in the breeze. If I space out for long enough, with not too many thoughts in my mind (that bit's easy!), then when I snap back to reality I often find that the words are there. A quiet, mindless meditation to achieve my writing goal. Who would've thought?!
Today I'm thinking about autism. I'm thinking about an event that a client wants me to organise and promote. I've done a search on google for relevant information and found the most fantastic story about a group of surfers in the US who take autistic kids on surf camps. Apparently, the feel of the sea and the movement of the surfboard soothes the jangled nerves of an autistic child. I find my heart uplifted.
It doesn't take much to get my heart involved and this project has already done just that. Slight pause for brief gaze out of window... The words are already there because this campaign appeals to that better part of society, the part where people care.
Looking for words? Peer closely at the project you are working on, look inside the information your client has given you and imagine being on the receiving end of the words you write. What is it that you would want to hear? That's what you write.