This is why you need me.

Why?

It's the crucial question, isn't it?

If I can make you believe that my services will make your life better, then I'm at least half way there, right? Then it's just "how does it work?" and "what will it cost?" and other minor questions.

Professional writers produce professional writing. Obviously.

You can expect that if you use a professional writer like me (letter writer, copywriter, ghost writer, editorial/advertorial writer etc.) you will get professional text at a high level of competency - good spelling, grammar, structure, and a little pizzazz that makes the copy sing (and makes you look great and sells your product/service).

So, great writing skill is not really a selling point, it's a given.

Do better things with your time.

As I am sure you are aware, writing takes time. Researching, planning, crafting and drafting a piece of writing requires care and time. It is also something you probably don't do regularly because you are busy with your core business (or your life – you know, enjoying it!)

There are a lot of writing tasks that are secondary to your immediate business, but which are critical to your image/marketing and therefore your future business. These all take time.

Some examples

- Writing a column in a newsletter or magazine – makes you stand out as an expert.

- Posting regular blog posts gathers followers and improves your profile.

- Writing copy for your website that actually works for your business.

- Writing brochures and reports.

- Simply writing a well-worded and persuasive letter.

A major benefit.

What is the major benefit for my clients? You guessed it: time saving.

Just brief me and you'll get well-written copy promptly, rather than have to slave all day over it yourself.

I'm available to work through it with you to ensure it meets your needs precisely.

What is your time worth? 

(Most people in business can estimate this fairly well and it can be shocking to realize how much you have “spent” by trying to write a blog post for 6 hours).

So, the why is straightforward – make writing an easy part of your business. Stand out as a great communicator without cutting into the time you need to run your core business. And, of course, save a whole lot of time and stress.

It’s a no-brainer really. Except that it isn’t: getting me to write for you is a really smart move.

Get in touch today!

The Holy Trinity of Service, or is it?

Sometimes it's known as the Iron Triangle. Which to me sounds like a cross between a Tory Prime Minister and a Caribbean vacation.

When you're deciding how to run your business you, supposedly, have to decide which two of these three goals you're going to focus on as "your product". 

Will you be Cheap and Fast? This is great because it gives you high turnover which is pretty important to running a successful business. But quality will suffer and, depending on your field, that could hurt you in the long run.

Will you be Fast and Great? This is close to nirvana, but also very hard to maintain. It requires hard grind, a toll on your employees if you have them, and likely sleepless nights. To do this you have to charge your clients more to justify the effort and/or put on more staff (or end up in an asylum).

How about Great and Cheap? Well, ok. This is probably only your side-hustle, right? I mean, you don't actually earn a living from this do you? No, didn't think so. Clients can expect great work, but you know, when it's finished and stuff. 

Which brings me to a more nuanced look at this. For me, rather than speed, I value reliability. What this means is I do what I say I'll do and deliver it when I say I will.

Or, to put it another way: I deliver on my promises.

So, instead of breakneck speed, I use schedules and calendars and make damned sure I'm not making spurious promises to clients. 

Maybe I'm cynical, but to me, that is a kickass proposition: I would hire a service that offered reliability as a central goal. Perhaps because it seems so rare these days, it is such a pleasure when someone delivers on their promise. 

What it means is that I can focus on Quality, without having to make my prices "premium", because I am not chasing my tail constantly. (I am busy though, don't get me wrong!)

In the end, services with a creative bent, like writing and editing, simply cannot compromise on quality: the quality of our work is our brand. It's our calling card. Do bad work and people simply wont be interested. So really we only have price and speed to work with. Instead, I focus on reliability, which allows me to be realistic with price.

How does this, for instance, translate to my business? 

I'm not cheap; I'm not the most expensive, either. I do high quality work, that people recommend, which is great! I do work quite fast, but I won't rush it if that compromises quality - I will consider each job on its merits, estimate the time it will take, and tell you. Then I'll stick to that timeline to the utmost of my ability (barring major illness, I never miss deadlines). Together this makes for an upper-middle road that I think clients can actually believe in. No unicorns here.

How do you manage this wobbly triangle?

Is your property sales copy boring?

Because if it is, your sales might be flat too.

There’s no point in me sugar coating it. If the copy on your ads does nothing more than describe the property, then it does nothing to sell the property. You need to target your specific buyer market with your words.

You don’t need a simple property description; potential buyers can already see what it’s like from the professional photos (you do use professional photos, right?)

Good copywriting sells. What it does is connects vendors’ property with the buyers’ desires. It plants a story in their minds as to why they need this property; how they would live there; the lifestyle they might enjoy; or the easy investment returns they might make.

You want to inspire a potential buyer, so as to inspire faster sales and higher sale prices (and better commissions!)

Professional property photographs are essential these days, but without the words, they are a series of dots without connections. The words fill the gaps and tell the story. The copy gives them a reason to buy.

But you don’t need to toil away at this for hours! Incorporating top-notch sales copy into your marketing is easy: if you’ve got a property that needs powerful, persuasive copy, just drop me a line and I can do it for you, at reasonable rates and with a fast turnaround to make your job easy. Make your listings tell stories that leave buyers inspired!

Is your business writing healthy? You may need help.

Have you stopped to think about all the written content you have out there? You might not realise how important it is. Not because you don't care, of course you do, but simply because you haven't stopped to think about it. Below is a list of copywriting moments for you. Think of it like a copywriting "health checklist" for you and your business.

1. Your website.

Seems like a no-brainer, right? Wrong. A lot of thought needs to go into the copy on your website. It's not enough to have a rudimentary explanation of your service, or a bland product description. You need to ensure that visitors understand how they can benefit from your product or service. What part of their life or business needs help, needs fixing? How does your offer fit into their story? Are you making it easy for them to understand you and see why they need you?

2. Your blog.

The centerpiece. The point of departure; the point of arrival. Your blog is where your story takes shape, and where people come to understand you. They visit your blog to learn. They will come to respect you and follow you. You bring people into your tribe through your blog, and all the other social media should hang from this fruitful tree. The better the writing, the more likely it is that people will stay, and, crucially, the more likely it is that they'll actually understand you. You need to be absolutely sure that what you write really says what you mean. That's where good grammar, punctuation, and spelling is critical; as is a good helping of rhetorical skill.

3. Business copy.

All of it: your brochures, your company reports, your letters. They must read well. Your marketing materials need to be catchy and informative. If not, they simply will not do their job. Selling is a dirty word these days, but selling is what you do. It doesn't have to be like bad daytime TV though. Well-worded copy has a magical ability to persuade without annoying the crap out of people.

4. Editorial content.

Many businesses (and people) write articles and other content for magazines and other publications (both in print and online). Well, they should, that is. Getting your words under somebody else's masthead lends credibility and prestige to your name. It builds your reputation as an expert in your field. Again, those words will need to be well crafted. In fact, you probably won't get published if they're not.

I'm not kidding about the importance of doing all this, and doing it well. Perhaps the only thing worse than not getting your message out there is hashing that message so badly that people actually think you're talking about something else (or worse still, they have no idea what you're talking about at all).

Here's some ideas for working all of the above into a STRATEGY. (Yes, you need one.)

 A. Think about what your business really is. Where do you fit into the life of your customer? How will you change their lives? Or, better, how will understanding your customers change you?

B. Get advice. Find a writer who can look at all the aspects of your written content, talk with you and your team, understand you and your business. Then let them at it for a while. You'll see improvements from day one.

C. Get help on any of the above. Don't have time to write a blog? Get it written for you. Why not put out a regular newsletter? Include your market commentary, talk about local events. Send it to your client list. Send it to your leads. Do it regularly. A good writer will even be able to suggest topics and ideas, making it easy for you to get good content out there regularly.

The internet age has reinforced the importance of writing. Google seeks out good writing and grammar in their search. It's more important than ever. Do it well, and do seek help if you need it.

It's also a lot of fun to tell stories. Make yours great.