8 Ways Copy is Different From Other Writing.

Copy and regular writing is apples + oranges

News flash! The writing skills you learned in school don’t prepare you to write copy (copy = “words that sell”).

Before we go any further, there are two important distinctions you need to know:

1) Copywriting is different than regular writing.

2) Copywriting is different from content.

Let’s look at the second one first. Content writing is more like regular writing – think editorial or magazine article. The goal is to inform your reader of something that’s useful, say, how to make better food choices when their blood sugar is low or 3 places to meet quality clients without going to networking events.

When you have a list that you send content to regularly, your other intention is to build a relationship with your audience, so they get to know you and the value of your work and are more likely to buy your next program than someone you cold call.

Many business owners have no trouble writing their content (once they figure out how to package what they know into articles, videos, and presentations).

But when it comes to the heavy-hitting persuasion writing, they feel completely at a loss.

Which makes sense, since no one taught them how to do it.

Yet.

Here are 8 ways copy is different from the writing you learned to do in school:

1. The goal of copy is to move readers to feel and to act. Unless you studied persuasive writing, were on the debate team, or studied stage writing, you probably were never taught how to connect with your audience and move them. That’s what good copy does – and even more than the debate team, it seeks to make an emotional connection. Because that’s what will move your reader.
2. It’s okay to reveal your “inside voice” in other writing. This one’s a little tricky – so stay close. Copy isn’t about you – even though you may use the words “I” or “me”— see #8 – it’s really about what you can help your reader do. In copywriting, you have to translate everything you write into your outside voice, so that it isn’t about the features of your service (eg: “two 30 minute coaching calls per month”), it’s about the benefits (“you’ll get accountability so that you can’t slide into old naughty habits and you are fully supported as obstacles come up along the way”) (See this post for a more on using your outside voice )
3. Writing informs, copy persuades. This is a biggie. Unlike content writing, copy about moving people to DO something. I’m a big believer in educating and slipping teaching into your copy (like on a sales page or sales email), but at the end of the day, you are writing to get people to sign up, buy, or download a free gift.
4. There’s more theater. You can get away with being “reasonable” in regular writing, but if you do this in your copy, people will tune you out. You’ve got to be more epic and dramatic in your copy than you may be in real life (though it may more fun to be more epic + dramatic in real life, too). This is what keeps folks reading and loving every minute of it. You are entertaining! As someone who used to write + direct short plays, this is what makes my work so dang fun.
5. You’ll lose points for using big words. Unlike writing for corporate, academe, science, or even within the coaching world, writing hot copy demands that you use words that are clear, powerful, and simple. No jargon. There are two quick + dirty tests for this: 1) Only use words with 1-2 syllables. 2) Make sure a 4^th grader could understand your copy.
6. There’s an invisible argument behind all good copy. Persuasion requires a point of view – the basic idea is that you are making the argument that what you are offering is an improvement on what they are putting up with now. It gets fancier from there – but good copy is way more than “hey – I’ve got a new 4 week program – you should sign up!”
7. The technical elements will make or break you. Any yahoo can express their ideas by writing them down and saying they were channeling Jack Kerouac’s “stream of consciousness” approach to writing On the Road. But copy asks more of you. In addition to your invisible argument, you also need to know how to use elements like headlines, bullet points, and calls to action to work for you (not against you).
8. You score points for having a fascinating persona. Like #4, this one is about theater… and character. Put bluntly, you need to create a larger-than-life version of yourself that really stands out from all the regular + reasonable people and the hucksters on the interwebs. This is a bit like being a celebrity in your business – people just like to watch you, to see what you’ll do next. Regular writing doesn’t need this from you. Hot copy does.

If you are thinking “holy guacamole, Stella, here’s yet another thing I suck eggs at,” then I sweetly bat my eyelashes at you as I say: “that’s why I’m here, baby doll.” The more copy you write, the better you’ll get at it… and if you want to speed up the process, you know where to find me.

I’ll see you on the road.

Mighty thanks to mcgovernville flickr photostream for the apples and oranges.