I love Dr. Phil. I find his common-sense approach appealing. In fact, one of my favorite “Dr. Phil-isms” is this:
You can’t fix what you don’t acknowledge.
That works for pretty much everything. Including writing.
Which is why I ask my coaching clients to complete a SWOT analysis of their writing.
If writing is a part of your job in any way, I encourage you to take stock of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In addition to being pleasantly reminded (I hope) of your skills, talents and capabilities, you’ll have some insight into which qualities you can use to their best advantage, and which areas need improvement.
Here’s an example of a SWOT analysis to help you complete your own:
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Internal Factors |
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Strengths |
Weaknesses |
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List the skills, talents and attitudes you possess that you consider to be a positive attribute with respect to writing. (Questions to ask: What advantage do you have? What do you do better than most?) |
List the skills, knowledge and experience you lack or those you possess but consider to be a detriment. (Questions to ask: What could you improve? What causes you to struggle?) |
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creative thinker |
tendency to overanalyze each word |
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good vocabulary |
don’t like criticism of any kind |
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ability to learn quickly |
lack confidence in my abilities |
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like to write |
get frustrated easily |
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knows how to self-edit |
don’t know new technologies |
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good at alliteration |
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External Factors |
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Opportunities |
Threats |
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List the capabilities you could possess and the possibilities that could open up if you were to achieve your writing objective. (Questions to ask: What could become available to you? What trends would you like to stay in step with?)
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List the negative possibilities and the things that could go wrong. (Questions to ask: What barriers are in your way? What worries you?) |
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ability to work on new projects |
my writing could be outsourced if I don’t improve |
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get more upfront exposure to clients |
no time to perfect a new skill |
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adding SEO copy expertise could add value to company’s service offerings and to my resume |
unsupportive boss |
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could become the go-to writer for the company and earn a promotion |
lack of a coach or mentor |
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One of my personal weaknesses is overuse of cliches. But because I know I have that tendency I’m vigilant to watch for them and rework my copy accordingly.
Spend time taking an honest look at your writing abilities, then look for tips, ideas, blog posts, articles, ezines, books, coaching opportunities and workshops that help you address your specific areas.
No CommentsI have a 17-year-old cat named Buster. And what a Buster he is. He once hauled a frozen chicken out of the kitchen sink, across the floor, around the corner and into the half-bath just so he could gnaw his way through the packaging undetected. (He did, btw, go largely undetected for several minutes. We had spaghetti that night.)
But now that’s he’s getting up there in years, my Buster is showing his age. His robust form is giving way to a bony, frail structure. When he plays he mostly lays down and doesn’t get up unless he absolutely has to. And he sleeps a bit more than he used to – which is a lot, considering cats sleep something like two-thirds of their lives, anyway.
So watching Buster curled up in his kitty bed snoozing the day away made me realize something. He’s listening to his body and taking a much-needed time-out so he’ll have the energy to do Buster-type things. Like begging for popcorn, jumping up next to the computer to help me write, or pushing his sister out of the way so he can sit where she sits, because it’s obviously the best place to sit at that very moment.
Buster knows when to do his work and when to take his rest. I’ve seen him take just a short nap and wake up raring to go.
And so it is with writing. Sometimes we need a physical rest. When the words don’t come easy, when the ideas seem stuck or nonexistent, or when we get aggravated over whether or not to use “were” or “was,” it’s probably a clue that we’re too tired to write.
Take a nap. Go to bed. Sleep on it.
It’ll clear your head and help bring forth new and better ideas. It may even make your next round of writing go faster. Thanks, Buster.
No CommentsI really like a Starbucks Mocha Lite Frappucino from time to time. I really do. And I don’t even drink coffee other than those. Ever.
But one thing I really don’t like is a lot of the writing I see on Starbucks.com. In fact, I often use Starbucks in my workshops as an example of what not to do.
While I won’t give a full critique of their site, I will tell you that in addition to being very self-centric vs. customer-centric, they use passive voice to their detriment. In most instances, passive voice is difficult to read, hard to understand and nearly impossible to enjoy.
Now I know the subject of passive voice can make even the most astute grammar student’s eyes glaze over, so I’d like to address the issue in a way that’s easy to understand and remember. And, just for fun, I’ll use Starbucks to help in our little lesson today.
First, passive voice simply means this: The subject of the sentence is acted upon instead of taking the action.
Starbucks BEFORE: “A live webcast will be available the day of the meeting.”
My AFTER: “Watch the live webcast the day of the meeting.”
In the Starbucks “before” example, the copywriter writes in passive voice that:
In my “after” example, I use active voice to:
Words to watch for that hint of passive voice include: will be, am, is, was, were, are or been.
P.S. Thanks @natashaF8 for this idea on Twitter. Follow me on Twitter @getgreatcopy.
No CommentsSo it’s Friday the 13th.
Now, I am not, in any way, superstitious, but I thought it might be fun to use this “holiday,” as it were, to address some copywriting superstitions.
According to Merriam-Webster.com, the word superstition means, “a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation.”
Hmm. Great lead in because I always teach my coaching clients that great copywriting is not magic — but it is magical.
What I mean by that is that great copywriting doesn’t happen by accident. It does, however, differ from mediocre or bad copywriting in that it stirs something in the reader. Maybe that “something” is buying your product or maybe it’s thinking of your company in a new way or maybe it’s appreciating the value your services bring to the world. Whatever it is, great copywriting has an impact and that’s what makes it magical.
Now let’s get onto the superstitions. Okay, confession time. These aren’t really superstitions, they’re old, passé writing rules that you can let go of right now no matter what Mrs. English Teacher said or says. At least in the real world, when you’re not writing for a letter grade. Books have been written about new grammar rules and there are similar lists posted on dozens of other writing sites. I’m calling attention to the ones that I let go of a long time ago. And you’ll see evidence of it in my writing on client sites like the North Market and on my blog.
1. Never start a sentence with “and” or “but.”
2. Never end a sentence with a preposition like “to.”
3. Never use contractions.
4. Always write complete sentences and paragraphs.
5. Always put two spaces after a period.
The point of letting go of these antiquated rules is to get you to loosen up and write conversationally. All that formality is not only unnecessary; it clutters the core idea or message. And that, after all, is what your readers want to read.
No CommentsJust a quick post today about a headline I found really compelling. It came to me via my MarketingSherpa e-newsletter:
How to Expand Your Marketing Department for 54 Cents a Day
Makes you want to read on, doesn’t it? Even better, they kept the momentum going with this copy:
Does your marketing department need help with budgeting or forecasting? How about some practical solutions or a little more inspiration? What if you could get all of this for just 54 cents a day?
Lesson learned? Make your headline benefit-driven yet out-of-the-ordinary and give the reader a pay off for reading on or clicking through.
No Comments“I wish I were a better writer.”
That’s a refrain I hear all the time. Fact is, anyone can become a better writer. Now that doesn’t mean you’ll become a great novelist, award-winning author or sought-after copywriter. It does mean, however, that you can improve your skill level.
Like anything, becoming a better writer takes practice. So the first way to become a better writer is to write. Then write some more. Write, write, write, write, write.
World-famous author Ray Bradbury confesses that his first attempts at storytelling were atrocious. He says it took him from the age of 12 to 22 – ten full years — to begin developing his talent.
I’ve seen this in my own writing. My first published article in a regional magazine was mostly the work of my editor. But over time, I’ve developed my skill so that my editors don’t have to touch my copy much, if at all.
#1: The more you write the better you’ll write.
The second way to become a better writer is to read other writers. If you’re a copywriter, study the work of other copywriters you admire. If you’re itching to write a mystery, study the work of great mystery writers. Same with magazine articles, novels, children’s books, short stories, non-fiction, etc.
One of my favorite books is New York Times columnist Dan Barry’s, Pull Me Up: A Memoir. In it, Barry tells the story of his life and childhood while quietly telling the story of my own with beautifully crafted sentences and haunting word visuals. We are strangers. Our lives are not the same. And yet his words tell my story. That’s the power of brilliant and masterful writing and soaking it into the marrow of your bones I promise will make you a better writer. (But not without practice!)
#2: Read and study great work.
The third way to improve your writing skill is to practice writing like those you admire — both literally and figuratively. Start by writing someone else’s work in long hand. (No computers, please!) Do it again and again until you get a flow and a rhythm and a pace. Feel the writing. Then move into crafting your version of the same work. How would you rewrite the paragraph? What words might you choose for a headline?
Remember, these are exercises to help build your skill; not teach you how to plagiarize. Take note of another writer’s word choice, length of sentence and whether the adjectives are present or absent. Don’t worry about taking on someone else’s “voice.” Your voice will come over time and in time.
#3: Emulate great work.
Certainly, there are more ways to improve your writing skills, but start with these and be committed about doing them. You will see a difference in the pace, speed and clarity of your writing.
No CommentsRemember the old Wendy’s/Clara Peller “Where’s the beef?” commercial? The point Wendy’s was trying to make with that particular piece of advertising was that Wendy’s hamburgers were bigger and better than its competitors.
While conducting a content audit for a client, I recently visited several sites that reminded me of that famous commercial. These particular web sites left me asking, ”Where’s the information?”
Web sites that are lean on information may look visually appealing or be quick to put up and easy to maintain, but they often leave site visitors hungry for more. Much more.
In the examples I came across, sometimes there was an egregious lack of information. Like the site that had all the contact info — except a phone number.
Other times the lack of relevant content was a little more subtle, potentially causing a site visitor to miss an important service offering or guarantee — which could send them straight a competitor.
I’m convinced that lack of relevant information is a result of one of four things:
One simple solution to strengthen your content offering is to make sure your copy answers six basic questions plus my “no-fail-get-to-the-core-issue” question:
And while I don’t usually tout my services in my blog posts, it may be worth mentioning that I offer a comprehensive copy critique that can help you avoid the “Where’s the information?” recoil from your site visitors.
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