reynoldswriting.com Blog

Recently I read an anxious post by a fellow copywriter on a writers’ forum. She was relatively new to the business but had done well enough for herself by landing a steady stream of work from a fairly deep-pocketed corporate client. Unfortunately, she wrote, that stream appeared to be drying up into a trickle. She assumed she could find another sugar daddy somewhere, but where — and how?

This writer suffers from a mistake that many of us make, whether we write for a living or not. It’s called putting all your eggs in one basket, and it isn’t a good spot to be in. I know, because I’ve been there.

When I first launched my freelance writing career, I knew a little about writing but not much about how to run a writing business. I had two major clients who called me every once in a while and supplied me with enough work to pay my rent and (some of) my bills. It was a tenuous existence at best, but I was just happy to have any kind of freelance work at all. And it was so easy! All I had to do was sit around and wait for the phone to ring.

You can predict the next twist in the plot. One of my big clients decided to take the work I’d been doing in house, and the other went totally silent — I later learned that it had pulled out of town altogether without bothering to let me know. Instead of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring, I suddenly found myself just sitting around, which doesn’t pay terribly well.

So for any fellow freelance writers or other contractors out there, here are some tips for keeping abject poverty at bay:

Multiple eggs. It’s great to niche yourself so that your target market can zero in on your services and vice versa, but build some versatility into your offerings as well. You might want to learn how to work in multiple formats so you can create a press release, two-column video script or whatever else a client might need with equal ease. Or you could establish yourself as a generalist who can write on every conceivable subject from eyebrow tweezing to rocket science.

Multiple baskets. Build your clientele through a variety of channels, including online ads, a well-optimized Web presence, active participation on social media sites and face-to-face networking. Always play the “who do you know” game by asking your current clients and networking buddies for referrals. Make an effort to help others in the same way. Plug into the community and let it work for you.

Whatever you do, don’t wait until that stream has become a trickle. Whether you’re a freelancer or some other small business trying to remain strong, work on your eggs and egg baskets right now — and you’ll never find yourself without an omelet cooking on the stove.

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

I’m picky about my writing tools. It might be just my nature, though it’s more probably because I spend most of my waking hours banging out a living keystroke by keystroke. I know that various writers throughout history have had their favorite toys. Andy Rooney, for instance, used the same old manual typewriter for most of his career. (His voice haunts me now: “Didja ever wonder why I did that?”) Even back in ancient times, a monk or scribe somewhere was probably insisting on a quill made only from the feathers of that turkey over there.

I didn’t even draft on a computer early in my professional career; I used a pen. A Pilot Precise V5 to be, well, precise. Once I started using the keyboard for all stages of writing, I found myself gravitating toward those laptop-style models with the scissor-switch keys. When one of them died on my recently, I replaced it with the closest match I could find. It just feels right to me.

The other day I decided that I was tired of my creaky old version of Microsoft Word. Instead of shelling out for the current version, however, I stopped and thought: Now might be the time to switch horses. Word’s sheer wealth of capabilities seemed to get in my way at times, offering me so many options that I sometimes found myself thinking about the writing tool instead of the writing. What do I really want in a word processor? I want something that feels invisible and gets out of my way, giving me all the options that I need and none that I don’t.

That’s what businesses seek in selecting their writing tool — a professional copywriter. They want someone who will work quietly and efficiently in the background on their behalf. They want a skilled technician who can hammer their raw ore into a dazzling finished product with a minimum of muss and fuss. They want someone who, as Apple would put it, “just works.”

That’s what I strive to do. I keep my pricing, work processes and communication methods as simple and streamlined as possible. I offer my opinion when clients want it and keep my mouth shut when they don’t. I filter complex, often unfinished ideas into clear, effective messages. And perhaps most important of all, I take the time up front to get to know my clients so I can anticipate their needs before they’ve even expressed them.

Whatever your writing tool of choice — a pen, a keyboard, a word processor or a professional copywriter — go with the one that just feels right. You’ll get a lot more done with a lot less effort.

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

The opening credits play over a long shot of a multi-story apartment complex, a series of rather drab buildings surrounding a courtyard. Set into these buildings we see window after window — some closed with curtains drawn, others giving us glimpses of the various rooms and their occupants.

We get an intriguing look at the odd but endearing collection of everyday folks living out their everyday lives in these buildings, until we finally pull back just enough to realize that we ourselves are gazing out from one of the windows — Jimmy Stewart’s window, to be exact. We then pan downward from Stewart’s face to see that he is in a wheelchair, his leg in a cast.

What is Alfred Hitchcock doing in the opening sequence of his 1954 suspense classic Rear Window? He’s hitting us with a series of revelations. He reveals our environment, then reveals our cast of characters, then reveals our star, then reveals our star’s dilemma. Stewart’s character, L.B. Jeffries, is stuck in his apartment until he heals up, with nothing better to do than observe his wacky neighbors through the window. But he gets more of a show than he’d bargained for when one neighbor’s bedridden wife vanishes from the premises overnight.

Ever seen the same technique used in marketing? You bet you have. It works for a sales letter or web page just as effectively as it does for a film. Hit your reader with a series of colorful, fascinating opening statements while keeping them just off-kilter enough to feel compelled to look further. Stewart’s character feels the same compulsion. Why is Thorwald, the neighbor, coming and going in the middle of the night carrying a suitcase? Wait, are those his wife’s jewels in the suitcase? Where did his wife go? Why is Thorwald washing the bathroom walls? Why is that dog digging so obsessively at the flower bed?…

I won’t reveal the ending, in case you’re one of the three people on the planet who haven’t seen this movie yet. But the way Hitchcock drips information at us one astonishing dollop at a time keeps us on the edge of our set — we have to know what comes next.

You want your marketing content to lead your readers by the hand in exactly the same manner. Dump the whole load of information on them right from the start and it will just land with a thud, like the movie trailer that reduces a two-hour drama to a series of sound bites and car crashes. You have to build your story from one point to the next, giving your reader time to absorb each one.

That’s how you build suspense — in the movies, and in marketing.

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

I recall a client who’d requested and received a 300-word article asking me, “On second thought, a 1,000-word article would fit my format better. Can we just pad this piece out to 1,000 words?”

I also recall my response: “Can we? Yes. Should we? Probably not.”

If brevity is indeed the soul of wit, then you want your marketing content to be the life of the party — not the guy reeling off some rambling epic tale with no apparent beginning or ending as he blocks your way to the bathroom. Effective, powerful, entertaining writing makes its point and then gets out of the way instead of monopolizing the reader’s time and patience.

Brevity doesn’t necessarily mean squishing everything you write down into soundbites, though the runaway success of Twitter has proven that 140 characters can go a long way. But it does mean adopting a “less is more” approach and viewing your writing with a surgeon’s eye. Here are some advantages to concise writing:

It’s easier to process. The eye gets fatigued as it pores over massive blocks of text, and the more of it the page contains, the less of it actually seems to matter. Clear, concise writing is easier for the eye and brain to handle, giving you better odds that your reader will actually want to keep reading.

It packs more of a punch. I find that my writing always turns out better when I’ve overwritten and have to reduce the word count. This kind of forced edit requires me to condense and purify my work, cutting out digressions and extra phrases until the writing becomes airtight. What’s left is all muscle — a lean, mean content machine.

It’s more versatile. A relatively short piece of writing will integrate more easily into a variety of situations, formats and templates. A few short paragraphs of website content, for instance, will leave more room for other page elements than an elephantine chunk of text that has to hog center stage.

If your written content feels flabby, fails to engage the imagination or just makes your eyes hurt, take out your red editing pen (or hire mine) and start trimming away the fat. You may love what you find underneath!

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

Not too long ago I got a call from one of my regular vendor partners, a firm that specializes in marketing strategies and campaigns for small businesses. The owner of the company was trying to come up with some fresh branding for one of her clients, but the combination of triple-digit Texas heat and her busy schedule had left her feeling the need for a creativity boost. Could I come in and brainstorm slogans and angles with her with an hour or two? Well, sure I could.

If you don’t have your own marketing firm or department to knock ideas around with, you too might find creative consultations a huge help. No, I’m not a full-blown marketing strategist — but as you see from the example above, even marketing strategists can use a second set of frontal lobes on occasion. Brainstorming with someone who uses a high degree of creativity for a living can help you dislodge old ideas, free yourself from inertia and help you confirm that you’re on the right path.

I’ve posted before about how business owners can sometimes lose perspective on their own products and services. If you find yourself in that situation, it’s time to call in a third party — preferably one who can look at your marketing with both objectivity and a certain level of professional insight. You’d be amazed at how well a simple comment such as, “Oh, what you’re really trying to say is this” can bring your branding and messaging into sharp focus. And clear concepts make for clear writing.

Maybe what you need from your copywriter doesn’t fall neatly into a category. Maybe you could really use a set of slogans, or ten different metaphors for the same idea, or a fabulous punch line. Maybe you don’t even know what you need — you just know that you need something. Contact your copywriter and borrow his brain. He’ll happily rent it to you, probably at reasonable rates. Just give it back to him when you’re done.

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

I don’t know whether it’s the unusually early onslaught of triple-digit heat here in Austin, my ongoing experiments in finding the ideal sleep schedule, my sedentary lifestyle or all of the above, but lately I’ve found that my brain needs an extra jump-start or two on most days. Afternoons pose the greatest threat, with my creative juices bearing more of a resemblance to molasses.

I’m forced to create anyway, of course, because I have to pay the rent. Like most other working people on the planet, I have to perform regardless of whether I feel inspired to do so. I usually have to be flat-out sick before I’ll give myself permission to slack off. Those deadlines won’t meet themselves.

Fortunately, I’ve learned a few tricks along the way to unblock the old grey matter and get rolling again. If you find yourself up against a creative deadline without two brain cells to rub together, you might want to try them yourself:

Play the “What If” Game. The original writers of Saturday Night Live used this technique when they felt stumped for ideas. It involves constructing completely surreal premises out of two or more unrelated parts. They phrased these premises in a “What if” format, asking questions out loud such as, “What if Eleanor Roosevelt had magical powers?” or, “What if Spartacus had fought the Romans while flying a Piper Cub airplane?” Some of these bizarre notions actually found their way into SNL sketches — but more importantly, they freed the writers’ imaginations from all constraints so creativity could run wild.

Keep a list. A young Ray Bradbury once decided, almost on a whim, to write down a list of nouns as fast as they would come to him. He ended up a huge stockpile of compelling images (and prospective stories) such as THE LAKE, THE NIGHT, THE CRICKETS, THE RAVINE, THE BABY, THE OLD WOMAN, THE DWARF, THE MIRROR MAZE and so on. He would then return to this treasure trove to get inspiration for future stories.

Get comfortable. Maybe you’re just tired, in a bad mood, eating or sleeping poorly. The brain is a part of the body, after all. You may find that with a little more sleep or some daily exercise your thoughts will start flowing again as if by magic. You may also want to experiment with different writing rituals, as I discussed in a previous post, until you hit on an environment or schedule that unlocks your muse.

And stay out of the heat!

For more about my writing services and current package deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

Next time you’re at your local mega-super-multiplex cinema, watch the movie patrons as they walk out of whatever film they just finished seeing. What do you expect to witness? Stunned silence from the audience of a grim war drama? A throng of kids bursting out the door, zapping each other with imaginary ray guns after an afternoon with a sci-fi action flick? Smiles, laughter and hand-holding between couples as they exit a top-flight romantic comedy? That’s what I would expect from a movie that has done its job well and entertained in the way it meant to entertain. (If you ever see stunned silence from an audience as they file out of a romantic comedy, you may safely take that movie off your list of things to do.)

A successful movie or play takes pains to make sure its audience leaves the theater in a specific emotional state. Even after weaving a powerful spell for two solid hours, however, the movie can still falter if the ending doesn’t follow through. Either the viewers immediately forget what they just experienced, or they walk away frustrated and confused. Either way, they don’t return, nor do they tell their friends to go see the movie, and so the movie tanks.

You and I face the exact same challenge with our website or print-marketing content — only for “ending” substitute the term “call to action.” You can lead your reader by the nose all the way from the opening header to the closing paragraph, but you’ll still lose the sale without an inspiring finish.

An effective call to action is consistent in tone with what came before (no jarring shifts that wreck the mood), clear (because an ending should feel like an ending) and commanding (“Laugh! Cry! Think! Buy something!”) Do it right, and your audience will go forth doing what you want them to do. Do it wrong, and they’ll just go forth.

May your next marketing venture earn four stars from your most demanding critics — your target market!

For information about my writing services and current deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

The curtain rises on a murky, foggy night in Elsinore. A man atop a platform stands watch nervously, his lantern the only point of light in the gloom. He hears a sound, leaps to his feet and demands that the semi-obscured figure identify himself. The figure replies with the same demand. Fortunately, it’s only his friend come to take over the watch, but something’s clearly got everyone spooked. Why all the unease? Because of the ghost, of course — a dreaded apparition that haunts the castle.

Yes, I’m describing a play — Hamlet, to be precise — and not a brochure, website or print ad. On the surface, in fact, this scene would appear to have nothing at all to do with marketing or sales copy of any kind. After all, Shakespeare’s not selling anything here, is he?

Sure he is. He’s selling Hamlet.

An arresting opening to a play, film or literary work sells interest in the rest of it. It must hook its audience quickly and strongly if the author wants to see warm bodies in the seats for Act Two. Similarly, a great opening to a gigantic epic novel can persuade a reader to wade several hundred pages deeper than anyone expected. (“Call me Ishmael” has a lot to answer for.) Raising a brilliant opening curtain is like casting a magic spell — it may not hold for very long, but it’ll do its job long enough for you to strengthen and reinforce your command over those people for the period of time you need it.

The beginning of your marketing piece must command the “stage” — in this case the inner stage of the mind — just as firmly. This is especially, brutally true on the Internet, where we all have the attention span of a gnat with attention-deficit disorder. When someone lands on your homepage, you have a precious few seconds to cast your spell. So hit hard and aim true. Whether you open with an entrancing mood, a vivid depiction of a painful moment, a hearty laugh, an astonishing concept, or any of the other weapons in your mage’s staff, make sure you point that initial moment straight at the heart, mind or funny bone of the specific people you want to enthrall. Ask yourself, “What will get my ideal customer’s attention right now and hold it long enough for me to keep them from mousing away?” Then fire away.

The same principle holds true for print marketing as well, though generally readers will give you more time as they take in the pretty pictures or the nice slick paper. Even so, they want to encounter the good stuff ASAP, because they’ve got other things to do. So tell them in a big way, right from the opening header. Then follow up on that initial promise with more goodies as you guide them through the piece.

You don’t have to be a Shakespeare to grab your audience’s attention. You just have to know what will make their collective heart skip a beat, and then put it in front of them as the first thing they encounter.

Curtain up!

For information about my writing services and current deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

I starting running late on this blog post because I was sick. Not falling-down, call-the-doctor sick or anything — just one of those minor but annoying bugs that tries to hijack your brain to Cuba for a couple of days. Or let’s just say that was my excuse for running late. Why would I dismiss my perfectly good reason as an excuse? Well, maybe it’s the fact that I didn’t have any trouble writing my clients‘ regularly scheduled blog posts on time, as always. And that website job…and that editing job….and that brochure job….

It’s interesting that I wouldn’t dream of blowing off a client’s writing project while I’m willing to leave my own marketing high and dry. I know better. But it seems to be a universal issue — the expert who fails to take his own advice. I’ve talked to plenty of other copywriters and marketing consultants who admit to occasionally letting their own marketing efforts slide down the priority list. We’re so busy putting our clients’ needs first that we forget our own: “I’ll get these big marketing campaigns off my desk, and then if I have a few minutes to spare I’ll work on my own stuff.” A marketer short-changing his own marketing is like a CPA who forgets to file his own taxes, or a doctor who never has time for her own physical.

You can see the problems in such an approach. First of all, failing to keep up with critical everyday tasks in your own business hurts your ability to conduct or grow that business. Second, failing to “eat your own dog food” gives the impression of hypocrisy. A marketing consultant can’t preach the importance of blogging regularly and then fail to blog regularly. And you might laugh at a movie scene in which a chain-smoking doctor coughs and splutters within a halo of smoke while listening to a patient’s lungs — but how seriously would you take that doctor’s lecture on the dangers of smoking?

If I had followed my own advice, I would have built up a stockpile of ready-to-go blog articles for those days when I’m feeling sick, stumped or just plain lazy. My clients who order my Blogger’s 4-pack enjoy just such a benefit. They receive four finished blog posts at a time, and if they stagger their purchases they can end up with more blogs than they need at any given moment — a perfect strategy for refreshing their online content on time and on schedule.

So from now on, I will treat myself like one of my writing clients. I’m looking forward to it, actually. I’ve heard good things about this guy….

For more about my writing services and current deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.

When you think of a freelance copywriter, what comes to mind? A hungry-looking person slaving away at a keyboard morning, noon and night? A creative partner in your marketing strategy? A brilliant wordsmith who uses language the way a great painter uses a canvas and brush? Some poor jerk who can’t leverage his Liberal Arts degree into a real-world job that doesn’t involve fried foods and paper hats?

Because we writers make up a diverse population, and because everyone perceives the occupation differently, I’d accept any of the above answers. But in my case, another definition applies: I’m a service provider.

What difference does it make to think of me that way? Plenty. Let’s take your cable provider as an example. If you needed Internet, phone and cable TV services, imagine what a hassle it would be to call a bunch of different companies around town and say, “I’d like, uh, some Internet and some phone service and some cable TV.” What does that mean? How many TV channels did you have in mind, and which ones? What speed of Internet connection do you need? How many long-distance minutes do you plan on using every month? When the customer faces all these unanswered questions, suddenly the idea of a quiet room and a dark TV seems oddly soothing.

That’s why service providers have found a way to make the choices a lot easier — through productizing and bundling: “Here’s the Starter Pack, and here are the Bronze, Silver and Gold Levels. Oh, and here’s our menu of individual services and fixed fees.” Suddenly you have something concrete to point at and say, “I’ll have that one, please.” Multiple problems solved, with minimal loss of brain cells.

That’s why I offer clear, fixed-rate products such as my Small Website Package and Blogger’s 4-pack. Productizing takes all the uncertainty out of the process. You, the prospective client, always know what you’re getting and what it costs, just as if you were ordering a cable, Internet or phone package. This gives me a huge advantage over other freelancers who simply name an hourly figure for “whatever you need.” “Whatever you need” doesn’t evoke a clear image or help define what those needs might be. A well-defined product package does.

My next step? I’d like to collaborate with an increasing number of marketing companies in the creation of product packages and bundled services, allowing those companies’ clients to buy different combinations of Web-marketing or print-marketing products in one fell swoop. If you’re in the marketing industry and you’re already offering package deals to your clients, why not throw copywriting into the mix and give yourself one more edge over your competition? I know a guy who can help….

For more about my writing services and current deals, check out my website at www.reynoldswriting.com.