Virtual Assistance and You

While I mainly emphasize my work in inbound marketing these days, I also offer writing services; and in that light, this post focuses on business writing. Copy writing. The choice and configuration of words on the page that convey your business’ meaning.

Like a bus driver on holiday, I’m hyper-aware of the writing I wade through every day online. I can’t help but notice the rarity of decent business writing, and  the still more rare existence of excellent business writing.

I read a post yesterday that emphasized improving your writing skills. The best part of the post was its title (as is often the case, have you noticed?).  ”Copywriting with a Bite to Hold Your Reader’s Attention.” Just the use of that word, Bite, made the whole thing worthwhile.

So of course, I thrilled to read Jason Fried’s take on the subject in a post published more than a month ago; a post that’s still collecting comments. Fried says,

“In nearly all cases, a company makes its first impression on would-be customers or partners with words — whether they’re on a website, in sales materials, or in e-mails or letters. A snappy design might catch their attention, but it’s the words that make the real connection. Your company’s story, product descriptions, history, personality — these are the things that go to battle for you every day. Your words are your frontline. Are they strong enough?”

Fried, founder of 37signals, nails it brilliantly when he later adds, “Remember: It’s not about telling a story. It’s about telling a true story well.”

Telling a true story. Not necessarily a factual story; just one that pierces the heart of your meaning. That is as close as possible to the truth you want your market to receive.

And telling it well, because a true story is a terrible thing to waste by telling it badly.

So to do your business copy writing really well, you have to chew and swallow two big chunks. The first is soul food: the intimate vision and understanding of your meaning in mundane as well as mythic proportions. The second is epicurean: the application of science and precision that will best convey that deep soul meaning, considering all the variables.

Nike’s tough-it-out, persist to the goal, indomitable athlete videos paired with “Just Do It” is a concise example. More complex is Fried’s exhibit from Saddleback Leather:

“All of our products are fully warranted against all defects in materials and workmanship for 100 years. If you or one of your descendants should have a problem, send it back to me or one of my descendants and we’ll repair or replace it for free or we’ll give you a credit on the website (be sure to mention the warranty in your will).”

- which I find hilarious. It’s hyperbole, of course, but that very exaggeration makes the company’s dedication to their warranty somehow more believable than the norm. The meaning they want to convey comes through with aplomb, and this is all that’s important.

What is the really true story that you want to tell in your business? And how can you improve your telling of it?

In any article providing tips on how to be successful with a blog, you’re likely to see List Posts figuring prominently. Want a bunch of viewers, want to spike those stats? Do a List Post.

It hardly matters what your subject is. You can have equal success with 5 Ways to Use a Screwdriver as with 17 Principles of Advanced Aero-engineering.

You may be a serious blogger, examining issues of global concern complete with scholarly research and heartful connections to the Dalai Lama and thousands of followers, but your “11 Tips for Using Toilets in India” is still your most popular post.

If you’re the blogger, don’t despair. There’s nothing wrong with your intelligence or sensibilities. It’s the reader who’s warping the reality here.

Because, as surely any keen observer will admit, we have no time for reading these days. Or, to be more exact, we read in an entirely different way than we have in the past.

We look for keywords, we think in outlines. We fill in the details later.

I can say this, because I do it myself. A long, involved post or web page has lost me before I start reading. For me, even the best writers/thinkers/companies/institutions merit no more than a bookmark on long posts.

The bytes into which my day is divided just don’t allow for lengthy sessions of pure reading. If your post is more than 700 words, it will definitely be banished to a file. I say banished because, once housed there, it’s about 87% likely to remain unread.

When online, I skim the keywords and links; I can tell from these and the title, the ‘look,’ the style, and the attitude whether or not I want the details.

This means that the writing must be delivered in the same size bytes as I am ready to consume. If it’s not candied and ready-to-swallow; if there are long paragraphs of undistinguished prose; if the syntax doesn’t bother to enthrall me – then honestly, I can’t afford the time.

On the web, if you can’t tell me in 5 seconds, you can’t tell me.

Your content should also contain as much raw personality (i.e., drama) as daily in-person life and dialog may normally involve. It must evoke my respect and deference as if it were a flesh-and-blood person in the room with me. If not, why should it command my attention at all?

Writing online is not writing in any traditional sense; it’s speaking, tagging, and categorizing. It’s sculpting

• a motivating title,
• easily scanned text,
• lots of formatting and graphics,
• and brilliant labeling

into an instantly compelling (while informative) whole.

The written word is no longer a flat object: it has taken on a third dimension. To maximize visibility online, writing has be a living, squirming, wriggling thing; a tuned-in dialectic surfing the convo.