I don’t like accounting – or math in general.
But what I do love is something that many others despise: writing.
Luckily for me, this has enabled me to turn my passion and skillset into a career I enjoy.
At Sarah McKenzie Copywriting Services, we know that writing does not come naturally to all small business owners, yet many do not have the budget (yet) to outsource their writing. That’s why we’ve put together a list of our favourite copywriting tips. Soon enough, copywriting for your small business will become a little bit easier to do – even if you hate writing.
Break it Into Smaller Pieces
From my experience, if I really hate doing something, I have a greater chance of doing it if I don’t do it all at once.
Take housecleaning, for example. No longer do I spend my entire Saturday cleaning my whole home; instead, I do about 45 minutes of cleaning each day. Breaks up the monotony and frees up my weekend: a win-win!
The same logic can be applied to writing. If the thought alone of sitting down at your keyboard for a couple of hours to write a blog article is deterring you from completing the task, consider breaking it into smaller pieces. Maybe today you write the article outline; tomorrow, write the first half of the article.
You never know – you may get your writer’s juices going so much that you don’t even realize that you’ve spent an entire hour writing!
Protip: I always take a short, five-minute break in-between writing assignments to refresh my mind.
Learn to Edit Like a Pro
Nobody likes reading content riddled with grammar, punctuation and spelling errors. Besides being difficult to read, poorly edited content can actually hurt a small business’s reputation.
For someone who despises writing in the first place, editing sometimes gets overlooked. But no matter how much you may want to be finished writing, refrain from hitting that publish button! Instead, use a spell checker, then print out a copy of your article before taking a breather. When you’re ready to edit, take a red pen to that printout and give it a once over. It never hurts to have a second set of eyes look at your work – so if you have a staff member or someone else you trust, ask them for their opinion as well.
Pro tip: I actually never edit the same day I write a piece of copy. I find that more errors are caught when you look at the article with a completely refreshed mind.
Do Your Research
Research is much more than googling relevant background info, facts and statistics to back up your writing.
It’s also needed to determine your branding and target audience. How do you know what to write (and how to write it in an appealing way), if you don’t have those details worked out?
Your target audience is likely someone who needs your product or service but isn’t an industry expert. Avoid industry jargon that your average customer won’t be familiar with and keep your sentences short. Otherwise, you could quickly lose readers who don’t understand what you’re trying to say.
Using language that appeals to your target market will help keep the reader engaged and reading until the end. For example, if you’re targeting Millennials instead of Baby Boomers, a more casual tone could likely be used.
To find topics of interest to write about, think about what your customers ask about and purchase the most frequently. You could also see what’s trending in your industry on social media and Google and craft an engaging article around that topic.
Protip: AnswerThePublic is a website I love for its visual keyword research and content ideas.
Practice Makes Perfect
Writing is similar to many other life skills: the more you write, the better you will get.
Schedule as little as 15 minutes every workday to jot down some article ideas, craft a few interesting social media posts or create an engaging email title. As you write more, you will soon start to find that writing may not be as difficult as you once thought it was.
Along your writing journey, take some time to acknowledge your successes. Sending out a monthly newsletter? Check out what types of email titles created the highest open rates. Wondering what blog topics are most appealing to your audience? Check out your website’s traffic.
Determining what is working best for your small business can help you craft more engaging types of writing in the future.
Protip: You don’t need to become a perfectionist; you’re simply striving to become a better copywriter.
Remember, Not Everyone is Born a Writer!
Sometimes no matter how much work you put into a piece of content, you’re just not happy with the results.
And that’s okay: we all have different strengths and not everyone was born a writer.
If you really hate writing for your small business or aren’t seeing the results you would like, we can help.
From website content and website design to blog writing and other types of copywriting, Sarah McKenzie Copywriting Services delivers results – without breaking budgets.
See for yourself what sets us apart from other Toronto copywriters by scheduling a free, half-hour consultation with us today.