Web Writing 101: Be natural, polite and human

When you write web copy, remember you’re talking to people. Not corporations.

It’s people that act, make decisions, choose to purchase from your company and so on. No matter how big a company they work for.

Nowadays, corporate copy is a major turnoff.

XXXXXXX is an industry-leader in the innovative utilisation of XXXXXXX, strategically leveraging a unique value proposition to uphold its position as the world-class XXXXX solutions provider with unmatched, seamlessly integrated and robust best practice.

Compare that claptrap to Flickr.

This is one of my favourite examples of great web writing from a company. It’s the response they gave after they upset a lot of users by adding video to the popular picture-share site.

The way Flickr chose to tackle the issue and talk directly to users tells you a lot about what kind of company they are. It certainly tells me they a company that value the way they communicate. They’re talking in a natural, polite way that comes across as entirely human.

Even if “Heather” didn’t write this and it’s crafted by a professional copywriter (I’m speculating here!), the communicative act itself is exceptional.

First and foremost, they write with personality. Even when criticised for getting some of the copy on the site wrong (See smiley face) they respond in in a human way:

Yup. This is stupid. We’re working on fixing this.

I think we’re getting to the stage where businesses need to start speaking to customers on the web as person to person, not corporation to customer.

Great Copywriting: What You Can Learn from Virgin

I love the way the current Virgin Atlantic site talks directly to the reader.

“Hello gorgeous”!

What a great way to come across with personality. Although they’re corporate, they’re talking human to human. They’ve got personality and it’s rolled up in a cheeky (cheesy!) two word greeting.

The other thing that works for me here is the way the word “earn” is used.

Visually it’s striking enough to succeed as a call-to-action, but pychologically its even stronger.

You surf into the site looking for cheap tickets and suddenly you find yourself drawn to signing up for their credit card. All on the promise of earning something for yourself.

Short, snappy, and deftly nailing the brief. Premier web-writing to observe and learn from.

Premier Outlining with Tinderbox

I’m giving a five hour web-writing training session for a corporate client this week. I don’t think I could plan my talk as effectively without Tinderbox.

This multifaceted application is, amongst other things, a phenomenal outlining tool. Just to give you a hint of its capabilities here’s a slide of my (hotchpotch of) notes.

Tinderbox helps me to shuffle my thoughts around, stores the image clips I’m using in my Keynote to illustrate my talk, and happily handles all the urls I need quick access to. I’m workout what I’m going to say and how I’m going to say it before building my Keynote presentation. Because Tinderbox is so light and adaptable, all the hard work is done here figuring out the content of my talk before I fire up my presentation software and craft my slides.

I could do this on paper –possibly. But it would take so much longer.

The eclectic work I do as a copywriter, journalist and translator always benefits from this tool. It’s one of the reasons I love the Mac platform.

Web Copy:  Speaking in Text

One of the things that makes a great website is great copy. But great copy has changed. Since Web 2.0 happened, when we write for the Net we aren’t writing: we’re speaking in text.

There are stacks of examples of this all over the Net but here’s one of my personal favs. Feedburner.

In this screenshot you’ve got a really good lesson in Web 2.0 copywriting.

For starters, it’s personal.

Welcome. Let us burn a feed for you [emphasis added] a

In an instant, you’ve got a great invitation to action.

There’s more, too.

The following text emphasises that Feedburner is working with you.

Your new feed...your new account...your feed…

Even though they’re offering to do all the hard work for you, they’re still telling you it’s your feed. But the even subtler message is that together we can partner on this!

Finally, I love the balance of the opt in / opt out buttons at the button of the window:

“Activate Feed....[or] do not activate”.

Although it’s very subtly done, this is digital copywriting at it’s very best, guiding you through the process, talking to you with words.

The (great) copy has become the guide that prompts action.

Writing the Thoughts of a Small Business [Casual Friday]

Image: Lost in Scotland

It’s been a hectic week being Jon Buscall and Jontus Media! In fact, it’s been very busy the last few weeks. Still, I wanted to use this post to reflect a bit more casually about what’s been going on. A kind of “casual Friday blogpost” if you like, complete with coffee on the go and two of my woofs wandering around, trying to get under my feet.

Online Networking versus Face-to-face Networking
Stockholm is a very Net-friendly city to work. I often get jobs via this website and Twitter is increasingly bringing people to my door. Still, you can’t beat getting out and actually talking to people. In the last month or so I’ve picked up quite a bit of work just by being social, accepting invitations to dinner, coffee and so on.

Bottom line, social media tools are definitely something that I plan to carry on investing time and energy in; however, this is a note to self to remember to get out there more often. If you’re a small business (or a one man band, like I am), talking to people face-to-face is an absolute must.

More and more Twitts
I can’t believe how the Twitter community has taken off. It’s incredible how quickly this social tool has become a regular feature of my day. It’s helped me keep up to date with key posts in the blogosphere, brought me to a few new resources and made me smile. As someone that often works most of the day in front of a computer, the social aspect of Twitter brings some necessary light relief.

If you’re haven’t started following me on Twitter yet, please do.

Being a small business and the art of multi-tasking
This week I’ve:

• done five interviews
• written four articles (yup, still one to do!)
• translated a short text
• copyedited a text for a client
• taught a French class (!)
• signed a deal to translate a book from Swedish to English
• written a few pages of an Ebook
• worked on material for a digital copywriting training day I’m doing next week for a client
• written two press releases for clients

and walked the woofs four times a day, everyday, with a broken toe!

I still managed to get to the gym twice, write two poems but I failed to work on the book I’m writing.

As a small business, you have to multi-task. A good calendar or journal is essential to remember all those meetings and tasks. I don’t think I would manage to get half of the things done that I have to if I didn’t have my agenda.

But I want to improve. How do you as a small business manage to juggle everything? Any tips (or links) gratefully received in the comments.

And finally...
As the coffee is finished, and the real work beckons, I’ll close with a final thought. I think I realised something over the last ten days or so. It’s great being a freelancer –working for yourself. I can’t imagine how else I could have such a rich and varied working life. Sure, at times it can be stressful but then what job isn’t?

5 Steps to Boost Traffic to Your Business Website

Image: sputnik

1) Start a blog
Seriously. Write about things that interest your target group. Give away free help and information that makes your customers’ business or life easier.

2) Have a links page
Regularly promote the best sites within your branch or field. As you become a hub for essential information, people will return again and again

3) Publish instructions or user-guides
Make it easier for your customers to use your products or services.

4) Invite people to ask questions - even on a separate Q&A page
Customers likes to ask questions. Especially anonymously on the Net. Although answering takes time, it shows you’re interested in helping the people that make your business thrive. Everyone of them is important.

5) Promote Freebies and Giveaways
People like competitions, the chance to win, and information for free. If you’re company has the resources, give something away every week. Tips, tricks, prizes galore!

5 Quick Tips for Small Business on Twitter

If you’re a small business and trying to generate interest in your business on Twitter, think carefully about how you tweet.

1) Don’t Shout
First and foremost, don’t yell at people in capitals about how you’re the GREATEST COPYWRITER IN WHEREVER. People will soon switch off if all you do is talk at them.

2) Avoid Cheese
Forget about bombarding people with invitations to “Check this out” as most people are finely tuned to spot a cheesy link.

3) Show, don’t tell
Try and encourage people to visit links by showing them what they’ll get: E.g. 5 tips to improve your email intelligence

4) Get Multiple Accounts
Especially if you’re using Twitter as a personal messaging system with your friends.

5) Don’t Over Tweet
Or people will stop listening. There’s nothing like shouting too loudly to stop people listening.

You can follow me on Twitter at jonbuscall

English Journalist based in Stockholm

One of the great things about working with words is being able to diversify. Yes, I enjoy translating and copywriting, but I particularly like journalism. Over the last few weeks I’ve been lucky enough to wear my journalist hat, talking to key researchers and exchange students at Stockholm University.

I’ve been interviewing and writing the last few days but there are already a stack of pieces up on the university’s website available here.

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