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Copywriting - Winning With Online Press Kits

July 30th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

One of the most interesting tasks you’ll take on in public relations (PR) copywriting is developing an online press kit.

In days gone by, press kits were lavish productions, packed into glossy folders, with equally glossy photographs and brochures. They usually contained a goodie for journalists too. In my tech journalism days, a particularly memorable goodie was a pair of Ray-Bans sunglasses.

Those days are over. Nowadays, journalists expect press kits to be delivered on the Web. Press kits contain PDF files, high resolution photographs, audio interviews and transcripts, and even videos.

In the past, a physical press kit was part of a media event, these days however Web 2.0 social networking tools like Twitter and Facebook are used to win not only journalists’ interest but also the interest of bloggers prior to the launch of the press kit, so it needs to contain all the information those audiences need.

So how do you construct an online press kit?

Let’s look at a step by step process.

1. Firstly, find out what the goal is for the press kit. A press kit is created to launch a product, highlight an initiative of a company, or explain (spin, that is) a blunder.

Once you know what the press kit’s goal is, you’ll have an idea of the kind of information you need to include.

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2. Your next step is to gather the material. If you’re writing for a long-established company, much of the material for the press kit will be available, but it may not be in a suitable format for the Web. For example, company backgrounders and biographies of the company’s principals may be in brochure and booklet format.

You’ll need to rewrite these, repurposing the content for the Web, ensuring that the Web pages include keywords and page titles and descriptions, so that they can be indexed by the search engines.

The online press kit will also offer key documents in downloadable PDF format, so these documents need to be created, ready to be put online.

You’ll also arrange for company principals to be interviewed, so the audio files and transcripts can be added to the online material.

3. Do you need to include video? Chances are that you will, so you need to script the video, and arrange for it to be shot, and edited. The full length video file will be added to the online press kit, but a snippet will be used on video sites like YouTube, in the media campaign to launch the press kit.

So there you have an outline for creating a winning online press kit. What the kit contains is up to you, and using multimedia tools will ensure that your kit meets your client’s goals.

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Copywriting is writing for business: promotional writing. Copywriters write material like advertisements and they’re VERY highly paid.

Would you like to write your own copy, so you’re never at the whim of a copywriter?

Learn copywriting skills with top copywrter Angela Booth. Learning copywriting is easy, and you can use your skills in every phase of your business.

“Copywriting Master Class - Ten Weeks to Copywriting Genius” gives you a comprehensive copywriting course - learn powerful copywriting skills and use them for your business, and write copy for others too.

Copywriting - Get Paid, Even as a New Copywriter

May 5th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

If you’d like to develop a great career with unlimited opportunities, look no further than copywriting. It’s ideal for anyone with marketing and/ or writing experience.

Copywriting is a business writing: writing to promote and persuade. It’s been called salesmanship in print, and that’s precisely what it is. I’m often asked by people considering copywriting whether they have the talent for it.

Do you have the talent to become a copywriter? Talent isn’t as important as application. If you enjoy writing, and you’re prepared to practice your skills you can become a copywriter. I should warn you however, that when you start writing copy you’ll never look at advertising in the same way again. You’ll develop a critical eye for what makes good copy and what doesn’t.

Let’s look at the two requirements for copywriting first, and then we’ll discuss how you can get started.

* You enjoy writing

It’s important that you enjoy writing. In your copywriting career you’ll do a lot of it, and if you enjoy it, you’ll be more creative. You’ll also enjoy practicing your skills.

* You’re prepared to practice your skills

Copywriting is fascinating because you get feedback for your writing. That feedback is almost instant in Web copywriting.

As a new copywriter, you’ll get lots of practice when you write copy to promote your own business. If you can sell yourself, you’ll know how to sell others’ goods and services too.

Please notice that I said “practice YOUR skills.” Especially online, there’s a huge tendency to turn out cookie-cutter copy. While modeling your copy on what’s worked in the past will show you structure, it’s fatal to use this as a blueprint for writing copy.

The best copywriters past and present are aware of famous pieces of copy, but they don’t follow them slavishly. Your aim is to lead the read (or listener or viewer) to take action; use your own instincts based on research of your audience and product.

How to Advertise Yourself As a New Copywriter

When you’re just starting out, you have an advantage over an established copywriter. Many clients prefer to work with someone new for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, as a new copywriter, you don’t have a big stable of clients to keep happy, so you can focus on those clients you do have - you’ll get the copy written quickly. This is appealing to clients who’ve worked with copywriters before and are told that their favorite copywriter won’t be able to tackle the job for three months because he’s too busy.

Secondly, new copywriters are less expensive than established pros. While it’s true that you get what you pay for, many people are happy to work with someone new and save money.

As a new copywriter, you’ll charge less than someone who’s been writing for years. You can use these initial jobs for your a portfolio, to help you to get highly paid copywriting gigs as your experience develops.

Therefore, don’t be shy about admitting that you’re new - people will be glad to hire you, for precisely that reason. Go ahead and advertise yourself as a new copywriter.

Here’s a fast way to get started. Write some sample copy: just write some copy either for existing products, or for fictitious products. Then get in touch with a graphics’ design company. They’re always looking for copywriters, and will be glad to give you a try.

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Developing a copywriting services business makes sense if you want to write from home.

How does $250 an hour sound to you? Copywriters are in high demand.

There’s no limitations on who can write copy. Neither age nor education is a bar: your clients don’t care.

So whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a retiree, or just want to moonlight at your current job, copywriting is the most lucrative (and the most fun, if you love to write) occupation you can try.

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Web Copywriting - Keep it Super-Targeted for your Audience

April 27th, 2008    Subscribe To Our Feed

Copywriting for the Web is a completely new form of copywriting. It’s just over a decade old, so copywriters are still finding their way, with new “tricks”, such as video and sound on landing pages, appearing regularly.

One of the major benefits of writing copy for the Web is the ease of tracking: you can know in minutes whether something works, or doesn’t. Therefore, this heightens the onus on you to ensure that your copy works.

In this article, we’ll talk about highly effective super-targeted Web copywriting - that is, relevant copy.

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, especially in Google, rewards relevancy in your ads and landing pages. If you ignore relevancy, you’ll be paying $10 per click. Compare this with highly relevant ads and landing pages, for which you’ll pay 25 cents a click (depending on the keywords, of course.)

Relevancy has even more rewards - your site’s visitors will stay on your landing pages longer. It’s an open secret that the bounce rate for many site pages is 75 per cent. This means that 75 per cent of visitors stay on the page for less than a couple of seconds, before leaving. Relevancy and super-targeting ensures that visitors stay longer on the page, and increase your conversions.

So how do you ensure that your copy is super-targeted, and highly relevant? These five tips will help you to increase your conversions.

1. Write specific copy: generic copy won’t sell

Before you can write relevant copy, you need to know your audience. Learn as much as you can, by talking with your client, examining his offline and current online marketing materials, and also by doing your own research.

If possible, use the product for which you’re writing copy yourself. If this isn’t possible, talk to users.

You also need to research keywords, because generic keywords aren’t sufficiently relevant: use brand names on your landing pages to ensure that you’re relevant. In PPC, you usually can’t use trademarked names, so be aware of this.

2. Tailor the copy specifically to your client and his audience

Be creative and innovative in your copy, without sacrificing relevance.

3. What’s the response? Copy without a response is DEAD

Remember that your copy’s goal is not traffic: it’s conversions - sales. Therefore a page which gets 200 visitors a day and makes 20 sales is much better than a page which gets 2000 visitors and makes three sales.

Although there are many possible reasons for a lack of conversions, usually the offer is the problem. Your client needs to make a good offer, and you can help with this. Study the offers competitors are making: your offer should be as good, or better.

Some clients want to compete on price: this is rarely (never) a good idea. Steer your client away from this.

4. Is your headline an attention grabber?

Remember relevance and targeting while writing your headline. Some copywriters become fixated on headlines, and while the headline is important, beware.

Test! Try several different headlines. You’ll often be amazed that a headline you considered weak wins the most conversions.

5. Check for disconnects between your sales copy and what you’re selling

Finally, read your sales copy carefully. Keep it honest. If there’s too much of a disconnect between the promises made in the copy, and the actual product, your client is staring refunds in the face.

So there you have five tips which will help you in all your Web copywriting. It’s an exciting time to be a copywriter. Write copy which converts, and you’ll attract more clients than you can handle.

Angela Booth’s Copywriting Master Class - learn a valuable business skill and profit every day

Copywriting is writing for business: promotional writing. Copywriters write material like advertisements and they’re VERY highly paid.

Would you like to write your own copy, so you’re never at the whim of a copywriter?

Learn copywriting skills with top copywrter Angela Booth. Learning copywriting is easy, and you can use your skills in every phase of your business.

“Copywriting Master Class - Ten Weeks to Copywriting Genius” gives you a comprehensive copywriting course - learn powerful copywriting skills and use them for your business, and write copy for others too.

Copywriting is a great home business

Developing a copywriting services business makes sense if you want to write from home.

How does $250 an hour sound to you? Copywriters are in high demand.

There’s no limitations on who can write copy. Neither age nor education is a bar: your clients don’t care.

So whether you’re a stay-at-home mom or a retiree, or just want to moonlight at your current job, copywriting is the most lucrative (and the most fun, if you love to write) occupation you can try.

My Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success, new 2007 edition gets you started.

Create the perfect write from home business - it’s easy.

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Copyright © 2007 Seven Days To Easy-Money: Copywriting Success

Credits: Seven Days To Easy Money: Copywriting Success | Matteo Turchetto | Andreas Viklund