The text you write for sales or promotional purposes can also be referred to as “copy.” If you were wanting a post about trademarking you’ve come to the wrong place. Not my zone of genius! Writing, yes! Communicating effectively to your clients or customers is a must do, and I’ve got 4 teacher tips that definitely apply to copywriting for business purposes as well. I’m one of those weirdos who feels all romantic about writing. As in I think it’s an art and it comes far more naturally to me than lots of other aspects of business. Along with Social Studies, it was my absolute favorite thing to teach back in my classroom days!

And PS I won’t tell anybody if you creep on my Writing Pinterest boards for help. This is the general one I have but there are several more specific ones waiting for you if needed. https://www.pinterest.com/runitrunnels/wow-them-with-your-writing/

Tip 1: Make it Seriously Skim-Worthy

I have been known to be a little too verbose at times but really #aintnobodygottimeforthat. I love to write and it hurts to admit that not everybody loves to read the 2017 version of War and Peace. Save the mini-novellas for your personal diary because time is a hot commodity. No matter what you are writing, it’s best to keep it shorter and to the point. Blog posts can be an exception because people aren’t scrolling through mindlessly.

Want to a way to help curb your tendency to get carried away? The biggest thing that’s helped me can be summed up in one word. TWITTER. A 140 character limit forces you to get to the point. Writing tweets has helped me be able to summarize offers or product descriptions super succinctly. Let me guess. You don’t like Twitter. Well if that’s the case you are missing out, but that’s neither here nor there right now. Just practice “fake tweeting” your main idea in a Google Doc.

Tip 2: Know Your Purpose

When I was in the classroom I taught my students the acronym PIE. It stood for Persuade, Inform, or Entertain. Think about getting PIED in the face and that extra D for “Describe” and you’ve got the 4 main reasons for writing something. Why does this matter? Because the type of sentence structure and transition words vary because of your purpose. Transition words/phrases like “next, finally, another reason, etc.” are those little helpers that make your writing flow. Most of the time for business your purpose will be persuading someone to take action or informing to teach them something (like this post).

Let’s use a sales page as an example. With persuasive writing, it’s important to state your claim clearly. With sales, you should be trying to solve a problem, right? So your “claim” would be hitting on the struggles your ideal client is facing but you have to back it up. You need to include solid reasons why or how your service or product can solve their problem. The transition words for this would be “reason words” like “for example, consequently, furthermore (if you want to get fancy), another reason why.” It’s important to have a strong introduction and a conclusion no matter what your purpose is. Of course, the perfect conclusion to a sales page is a strong call to action like “Click here to learn more, buy now, contact me at.”

Let’s move on to another type of writing you probably will use often in your biz. On my original blog “The Social Studies Whisperer” I have this post about how to make a classroom mailbox. DIY Mailbox via IKEA

My intention with this was not to convince teachers why they should make a mailbox! It was to give them the steps for how to make it. So with informational social media or blog posts you should be giving steps to make or do something or factual info they would need as background research. Think transition words/phrases that sequence things beginning to end with “how to” posts. These posts build your expertise and credibility so they aren’t the place to be pushing a hard sell. It’s probably best to conclude these posts with offering suggestions or links for related posts along with an email opt-in saying something like “Sign up for my newsletter to stay updated on new posts like this.”  

Tip 3: Respect the Platform

Each social media platform has its quirks and nuances. We have already established that with Twitter you only get 140 characters so there’s not really much elaboration needed there. For me, Facebook is the place I spend the most time mindlessly scrolling. Quick tips and catchy captions are what matters. Try to get to the point before the “Read More” cut-off so people will want to read more. There’s so much noise pollution and drama on Facebook these days I rarely click on that Read More. Think about your own behaviors on Facebook. I realized why I like Twitter more. There’s only so much negativity you can fit in a tweet and it’s quick and easy to scroll through. Ok, I’m saving my new favorite platform for last-Instagram. Insta is a visual platform. The visual aspect is king there. There is something to be said for a little storytelling there but I think it’s true what they say about “a picture being worth a thousand words.” I may skim captions but I’m more focused on the details of an image or a striking graphic.  

Tip 4: Voice and Style

Authenticity, authenticity, authenticity. Y’all. It’s not a buzzword. It’s how your writing should come across. I should read it and hear your voice in my head whether I know you or not. If you struggle to write then use a Dictation app or Google Voice to record yourself talking about the topic. People shine when they share their passion so if you struggle with the written word it might be easier to speak it! And when I used to have to spend hours grading writing pieces, the only saving grace for me was that ‘ideas’ counted more than anything else in students’ scores. You don’t need to have perfect grammar. I’m a grammar nerd and sometimes I shock myself with run-on sentences. However, there are some things that are no-excuse. Like homophones. And just being honest, I think less of people that can’t figure out the difference between loose and lose or there, they’re, and their. I’m embarrassed for them. Check out Grammarly for help with that. No matter what, don’t let the conventions of the English language hold you back. Your message will shine through!! If you need more tips check out my friend Abby Herman’s blog: https://abbymherman.com/blog/.

And if you do need help with copywriting (as in someone to do it for you) just throwing it out there that I do offer that as a service:). I love to write. Let me work my magic! Learn more here on my “Work With Me” page!