5 Tips for Being a Good Copywriter

One of the consequences of doing SEO work on your own is that you are forced to learn how to become a good copywriter (or you need to hire someone to do the job for you). If you want to try your hand at doing the job yourself (and thus saving the money), there are some important things you need to keep in mind:
Have a Unique Opinion
I’ve written about this in the past, but it’s still very true and still needs to be mentioned. Even if you can write a decent sentence or paragraph, if your stuff doesn’t have some unique qualities which get people to be interested in what you have to say, you will find yourself spinning your wheels endlessly, trying to gain traction.
This doesn’t mean by the way that you have to have a crazy opinion about something. Your opinion may very well be (in fact should be) one which is shared by lots of other people. It’s how you express it however that is important. You need to show your passion and offer good reasons for your opinion.
If you want to see an example of what I mean, here is an article I wrote on the subject of saving Social Security. My opinions are certainly not everyone’s cup of tea – I’m sure some people will read that article and come away pissed off. However, by offering such an opinion, I am offering a unique voice and a reason to keep reading.
Write to a Friend
Stage fright happens to copywriters just as much as it happens to people making a speech. Pretend when you write that you are writing something to a friend. Express your opinions in a personable way and make it sound like you have something of value to say. Don’t try to pontificate and sound haughty. No one likes a blow-hard.
Be Ready to be Challenged
John Chow, who has made millions of dollars writing on his blog probably says it best – if you aren’t pissing anyone off, you’re doing something wrong. This doesn’t mean be a jerk. However, it does mean that you need to be ready to have your opinions challenged by others who don’t agree with you.
Offer Genuinely Useful Information
This is good advice regardless of whether you are copywriting for a blog or for an article directory. It also works for those who are writing sales copy and the copy for a landing page on a website. If you offer something of value – information which is useful, people will want to continue to hear what you have to say.
If you offer nothing at all but empty promises, people will walk away (I’ve clicked on links where I saw a sample of the information someone was offering to sell and where the information was genuinely useful. I’ve never once clicked on links where people simply say “I earned a million dollars in a month and you can too – it’s easy”).
Check, Double Check, Triple Check Spelling and Grammar
You can get away with a certain amount of grammatical license (like starting a sentence with the word “And”) when you do copywriting. However, you cannot get away with making obvious errors, especially when you make lots of them. Check what you write by reading it out loud before you publish. It will make you a better copywriter.