For information on my coaching service for freelancers copywriters, visit:
For information on my own copywriting, consulting and speaking services, visit:
Get your free copy of the Freelance Business Growth Checklist at AskNickUsborne.com
Discovering that writing for the Web is different... every day, for the first time.
Every self-appointed pundit on the planet is saying that users are the new “owners” of the online medium.
These hip gurus are thinking about MySpace, YouTube and every social networking site that has been launched over the last couple of years.
Well, pardon me for saying, “Duh...”
Users have ALWAYS been the arbiters of writing style on the web. Even before the first browsers appeared, back in the days of Usenet and the like.
And this same observation, of users being in control of the medium, has been made so often, by so many people, time and again over the last ten years.
But still, a new guru feels compelled to raise his or her hand each day and say, “Wow, I have had this INCREDIBLE new insight!”
Spare me.
However...
However, the growth in social networks, blogs and every other kind of site developed for people to group together and interact online HAS changed the landscape.
It has made it even more important for sales and information sites to get in tune with how people talk and interact online.
Users really do judge us by the tone and content of our writing.
A stiff, formal way of writing makes us stand out like a guy in a suit on a beach during spring break.
And an overly hyped-up style makes us sound like a Multi Level Marketing zealot at a family dinner.
However, there is a middle ground, and a tone and style that will connect better with your readers.
No, that tone is not wholly determined by writing styles on MySpace and Diggit. It makes no sense to write in a voice that clearly doesn’t fit your company or organization.
So how should one write for Web 2.0?
It’s not a matter of copying a tone or style.
It’s a matter of understanding how people like to read and how they like to gather information online.
I think user reading behavior is changing a little.
To me, the growing influence of social network sites, shopping comparison sites, blogs and video sites gives us two pointers worth exploring:
1. Web users like to gather information quickly, in simple bite-size chunks... from blog to blog, comment to comment, video to video, review to review, opinion to opinion.
What does this mean for our information and sales sites? I think, to put it simply, it means enabling people to find information written and presented in similarly bit-sized chunks.
Break up those paragraphs. Express yourself simply and clearly. Get to the point faster. Design your page to present information that doesn’t look too dense, or look like it’s going to take ten minutes to read.
In a way, this is simply direct marketing 101. But I think it applies online now more than ever before.
Simplify, simplify, simplify.
2. Be genuine and honest. They’ll catch you out if you’re not.
Web users have not only become the final arbiters of style and content, but have also become consumer watchdogs.
If you are not honest and transparent with your products, offers and text, they will find you out...and they will share their discovery.
But in addition to uncovering dishonesty, users now have BS detectors which are far more finely tuned than they used to be.
People have learned to sniff out insincerity. Online they are becoming expert at discerning when a writer is trying to manipulate their feelings.
This is the area which I think we, as online writers, need to address.
We need to find a voice for our companies and clients which is genuine, honest and transparent.
Concluding thoughts...
If you were talking to a friend over coffee about your company, product or service...
If you respected that friend, and spoke with enthusiasm, but also with honesty and transparency...
If you spoke naturally, without jargon, without any thought to reaching this quarter’s sales targets...
If your tone clearly communicated your personal interest in what you were talking about...
Then your friend would smile.
Then you would have hit the tone of a really good blog.
Then you would have been communicating in a way which, I think, is the best way to write online.
Resource Reviews:
Michael Masterson's Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting
This is the course I always recommend for anyone who wants to learn how to write copy that generates results. Perfect for direct marketers, and also excellent for online copywriters who want to increase conversion rates. Read my review of Michael Masterson's copywriting course...
Self Publishing – Your complete business plan for creating a life without borders. By Gary Scott.
A remarkable program for anyone who is serious about building a self-publishing business. If you just want to write a flash-in-the-pan ebook, this isn't for you.
But if you want to build a self-publishing business, based on a process that has been refined and proven over a span of 30 years, get a copy today.
Find out more..
Sign up for the Excess Voice Newsletter and get this 35-page Guide FREE.
Writing For the Web #1
7 Challenges every Writer and Copywriter faces when writing for the Web
Sign up NOW and I'll send you the link where you can download this 35-page guide...
(Your email address will be used only for the purpose of sending you this newsletter, and you'll be free to unsubscribe at any time.)