Better Copy: The Interview is the Key

Most of us spend our days persuading others to buy our service, product or idea. Here is how to create powerful marketing copy to make your job easier: INTERVIEW YOURSELF.

If you hired a writer to create the copy for you, he/she would likely start by interviewing you. He would ask every question he could think of about your subject and keep probing until he found illuminating answers. You could find a colleague to help in this endeavor. Or, if you are feisty, you can interview yourself.

Write out a series of questions about your subject. (I'll suggest what kinds of questions below). Then ask your colleague to pose these questions to you and record your answers. Or you can write your own answers down.

The key to interviewing is to keep probing. If an answer doesn't make sense,say so. "I understand that your clients need to create strategy at the corporate level, but I don't understand how your software is going to help them do this." If you don't believe an answer, say so too. Keep asking for further and better particulars until you get answers that interest you and which you believe in.

SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF

Here are some high-level questions to ask yourself.

What is the business problem?

Can you describe the problem in plain English?

How did the problem arise?

Is it a new problem?

Why is it hard to solve?

Why hasn't anyone found a solution to it yet?

Does your client know he has this problem?

Is he willing to pay the price in time or money to solve his problem?

What is his key concern?

What is your solution?

What services / products do you offer to solve his problem?

What benefits will these produce? (This is the hardest question to answer. It means going beyond the features we offer and really understanding the solution from the clients' viewpoint.) If you are going to work on producing only one answer, this is the one to work on.

Which benefit is the most important? (This will be your core message).

Why should your client trust you to solve their problem?

Who are you?

How long have you been in business?

What can you say about the stability and creativity of your organization?

Who are your clients?

Is your service unique? If not, why is it better than others'?

Do you have a robust marketing plan to execute against? How clear and persuasive is your website, brochure copy or direct mail? Call Neroli Lacey NOW to win more business TODAY.

CALL ++ 612. 215. 3826 NOW

or email: neroli@beyondcommunications.com

About The Author

I'm Neroli Lacey of Beyond Communications Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. I've been helping executives transform their businesses and their lives with outstanding marketing materials since 1995. VISA, 3M and Perot Systems are some of my bigger clients. I have worked with clients in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Minneapolis, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Delhi. I used to be one of the top journalists in Britain writing for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Evening Standard, New Statesman, Vogue and Tatler.

Before newspapers I was an investment banker. I grew up in London, England, studying Latin with Greek at Bristol University.

Please visit my website: www.beyondcommunications.com

---

Is Your Web Copy Plain Talk?

It's true, we were all taught in school to express ourselves differently on paper, than the way we speak. To follow rules of grammar, and inject an artificial air of formality.Forgetting about this... Read More

How Cliffhanger Paragraphs Capture Readers

About 50 years ago, movie serials kept theater crowds coming back week after week. Each episode ended with a "cliffhanger," a suspenseful unresolved problem. Audience members had to return the next week to... Read More

How to Develop a Killer News Hook

When you are going to write a press release probably the most important thing you can do is create a killer news hook. A press release without a news hook is just blatant... Read More

Calls-To-Action: Making Them Fit Makes All the Difference

It was going so well, so what happened? Many copywriters get off to a wonderful start: The headline is compelling, the body copy is benefit-filled, but then comes the call-to-action and the whole... Read More

Engage Your Customer ? Write About Benefits

Think quick. In 10 seconds, can you list the 5 key benefits you offer your customers?I bet you said "Yes". But are you sure you listed benefits? If you'll bear with me for... Read More

Dont Forget The Copywriting

Copywriting And Content CreationOne of the most important, but often overlooked aspects of marketing is copywriting. Businesses afford much attention, time and money, on graphics, mail formats and all of the website bells... Read More

Working With a Freelance Editor

If you are interested in creating information products, you will very likely deal with editors throughout your career. You may need someone to edit a book, review a special report, or tighten up... Read More

What A Ghostwriter Needs To Do To Earn Top Dollar

The huge demand for writers online is really for ghostwriters. A vast majority of the available online writing jobs for an online writer are for ghost writing projects.When a website or blog requires... Read More

How To Find Freelance Copywriting Jobs

Your goal is to land a few nice, secure freelance copywriting jobs, but how do you get them? The most important factor in finding these jobs is that you pursue the job you... Read More

?Super Adjectives? Boost the Power of Your Copy

Pretty or elegant? Good or scrumptious? Nice or delightful? There is power in the adjectives you choose. Just like Clark Kent and Superman or Bruce Wayne and Batman, some adjectives are plain, ordinary,... Read More

Increase Freelance Sales With an Online Resume!

Freelancing is a competitive business, especially in today's fast-paced, e-focused world.Often there are hundreds of writers competing for the same, limited number of assignments, and the writer who can best showcase his or... Read More

The Truth About Negative Commands (Dont Read This!)

Everyday when I read promotional emails and advertisements, or listen to television commercials and dialogue in shows and movies, or hear people around me in everyday life use commands such as the following... Read More

How To Really Connect With Your Customer In Your Copywriting

One of the least talked-about areas in copywriting education is voice. This is probably because it's tough to set general rules for something that's so personal to each of us. After all, the... Read More

Your USP is Useless

One of the keys to writing good marketing copy is to differentiate your product or service from the competition with an effective selling point. And it is on precisely this element that many... Read More

Touching the Prospect?s Emotions in Your Sales Letter

Your prospect has emotions? and you MUST touch these emotions in your sales letter. Your copy has to excite. Stir curiosity. Generate fear. Create deep desire.If it doesn't your copy will fail.The reason... Read More

Freelance Writers: Double Your Income

Freelance writers are a strange group of people when it comes to running their own businesses.They are outspoken and enthusiastic while selling their clients' products and services, but are hopelessly shy and reticent... Read More

The Biggest Mistake Copywriters Make

Most of the sales pieces people ask me to rewrite seem to offer great products and services. In fact, some of their offers are so good, prospects would be crazy to turn them... Read More

Deciding What Voice to Use in Copy

You have to choose a character or an angle that you, the copywriter plays. Copy is interactive. There's a copywriter and a copy reader. As soon as one is gone, the relationship is... Read More

Knowing Copywriting Basics - How To Get Ahead In Your Copy Writing Business

In order to get ahead in your copy writing business, you need to know copywriting basics. There are several things that all business owners need to know, and here, we will touch on... Read More

Direct Mail Sales Letters Flow Better With Subheads

A subscriber to my newsletter asks: "Got any good pointers on writing great sub-heads?" Yes, I do. Here they are.Use subheads to draw attention to your copy Why do we use subheads anyway?... Read More

How To Take Your Freelance Writing Chances

Your initial freelance writing assignments are the best way to present yourself to your client for repeated work. If you provide for them a good product, at a good price, they are likely... Read More

How to Start and Sustain a Career as a Freelance Writer

Have you wondered how you can make a career writing books or articles for various publications? Or are you seeking a viable second income opportunity but do not know where to start? Well,... Read More

Dissolving Buyer Scepticisim ... A Lesson In Copywriting

When making a purchasing decision, people have their "rip off radars" on high beam. They're wary and so they should be -- after all, they're about to spend money so they want to... Read More

Organizing Your Data to Write Better Copy

Last quarter I talked about interviewing / gathering data. So now you've got several thousand words of notes, hopefully digitally recorded. What comes next?GETTING ORGANIZEDI suggested organizing your interview questions into 4 groups.... Read More

Killer Business Headline Templates - So How Do You Write Killer Headlines in Minutes? You Cheat!

According to Branding and Advertising legend, David Ogilvy: 5 times as many people read the headline than they do the body copy in a sales message. This means that unless your headline actually... Read More

Website Promotion: 10 Secret Motivational Triggers That Make People Buy

Unless you know the secret motivational secrets that make people buy, your efforts in website promotion may not be fruitful.Here are some website promotion triggers to help you:1. People want to make more... Read More

Keeping It Real: The Only Copywriting Trick That Works

Much of today's accepted copywriting wisdom comes from old books written for a different, quieter world.For most of the twentieth century, widely promoting a successful message was expensive and difficult, requiring control of... Read More

Boost Your B to B Marketing Copy: 3 Major Copywriting Blunders and How to Correct Them

When you're writing or evaluating copy for a B to B marketing (also referred to as b-to-b or business to business marketing) campaign of any kind, you may think it's only appropriate to... Read More

Copywriting Tricks: Nailing the Voice

Professional copywriters are well-familiar with what's commonly referred to as "the voice." What is this exactly, and why do you need to master it in your writing?If writing is icecream, then "the voice"... Read More