Genre Copywriting - How to Determine The Proper Voice for Your Site
April 21st, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comGenre is a word that gets thrown around mostly in fiction circles. Popular genres include horror, sci-fi, romance, western, mystery and fantasy. People who keep reading specific genres do so because they know what to expect. It’s that familiarity with the material that keeps them turning the pages. Horror fans know that the pretty girl who goes into the dark room by herself will get killed. Romance readers know that the main character will find love in the end.
Your blog, or website, needs to have a genre too in order to create the comfortable familiarity that readers come to expect.
There are three main types of genres you can apply to your blog’s copy. The main focus of your site, and your readers, will determine what’s working and what isn’t. But, once you settle on a particular voice, it’s vital that you stick with it because your readers will demand it every time they visit.
Popularity: 24% [?]
Posted in Blogging Tips, Copywriting for the Web, Target Audience, Wordfeeder Copywriting, Writing Voice | No Comments »How does a copywriter blog for someone else?
April 4th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comA lot of people ask me how, as a copywriter, I can blog FOR them. I avoided answering this for a long time. I honestly wasn’t sure.
What I’ve learned is, you can’t blog for someone else. Blogging is a highly personal and subjective thing. If a person has zero writing ability and zero inclination to blog, then they shouldn’t blog, period. In that case, I wouldn’t even suggest having a copywriter help you out with blogging.
Popularity: 18% [?]
Posted in Ask Dina, Blogging Tips, Branding Strategy, Copyediting, Wordfeeder Copywriting | 3 Comments »Should You Blog?
April 4th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comEvery time someone emails me the question, “Can you help me manage my blog?” I know it’s always going to be one of two types of blogs. The first one is your fully loaded blog, with the juicy content and high quality graphics. The other type is your “search engine” blog that’s just one step up from being a spam machine.
I’m sure you know what I mean by a “fully loaded” blog. These blogs host intelligent life forms. They have a definite style, and a definite presence. Visitors sense this, and so they can’t resist stopping in for a spell on their daily web travels. I’m talking about blogs that take the lion’s share of web traffic on a daily basis - like DumbLittleMan, ProBlogger.com and Copyblogger.
Why are these blogs so impressive, and why do they work?
Popularity: 13% [?]
Posted in Ask Dina, Blogging Tips, Branding Strategy | 2 Comments »Are Demographics Dead?
March 19th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comOne of my copywriting clients has challenged me to write an article claiming that “demographics and psychographics are becoming obsolete.” The rationale being that he attracts coaching clients from all ages, income levels and walks of life.
I spent a restless night with this one rolling around in my head. My client wants me to revoke everything that’s been drilled into my brain for the last 15 years about target markets and ideal customers and who I’m writing to?
When someone makes a bold assertion like this one, I’m inclined to analyze their marketing behavior. So what’s my client been doing all this time to bring in such a vast and varied smorgasbord of clientele?
Popularity: 33% [?]
Posted in Blogging Tips, Branding Strategy, Creative Platform, Marketing Communications, Social Media, Target Audience, The Copywriting Client, The Creative | 6 Comments »How Not to Slam Copywriting Clients on Your Blog
March 11th, 2008 Dina at Wordfeeder.comWhat’s that song that Britney or somebody had out a few years (or was it a decade) ago? “Oops, I Did it Again…”
No, I’m not talking about leaving the house without any drawers on. I’m talking about when copywriters bad mouth their clients right there on their blogs for all the world to see.
Hey, listen. We freelancers all endure our share of frustration. One of the great joys of blogging is to unleash your fury upon the unsuspecting blogosphere.
And one of the most horrid repercussions is when that bad energy BOOMERANGS back to you in the form of negative feedback from someone (client, colleague, competition, random passerby) who now thinks you’re a classless wretch for the brazen manner in which you just publicly spewed.
Nothing feels finer than ripping through a scathing tale of injustice while the other copywriters of the world rally around you and encircle you in a loving and protective embrace.
But you know what? Those other copywriters are going to be no help to you next week when the rent or the mortgage is due. And even if you don’t say names, and you cloak it all under the pretense of “Here’s what happened to this guy I know…” it’s STILL bad form to spank the client on a public and easily searchable forum.
You don’t see your clients bashing THEIR clients on their blogs… do you? (And if you do… get some new clients.)
Here’s what to do if your clients or potential clients seem to be “getting the best of you” on any given day…
Popularity: 14% [?]
Posted in Blogging Tips, Copywriting for the Web, The Copywriting Client | No Comments »