Article for Copywriters: Long, Scrolling Copy, Part 2

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July 2003
Issue # 35

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In this issue:

>> Intro: How Flexible is Your Writing Style?
>> Article: Long, Scrolling Copy, Part 2
>> Readers Write Back: On Flexibilty and Ethics
>> Survey: Do You Declare the 'Authorship' of Your Writing?

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Greetings,

In response to my article in the last issue, Jonas Söderholm asked me about my sources regarding the claim that it is harder to read text on a monitor than it is on paper. No, I didn't make that comment simply because 'Jakob Nielsen says so'. To be honest, when it comes to copy and content online, Jakob Nielsen is not a source I run to. For usability, perhaps (although I prefer Jared Spool at uie.com), for copy, no.

I imagine there are countless other sources I could find to support my comment. However, my 'source' is the knowledge that I and many others I have spoken with tend to print out long text, rather than read it online. We all have different tolerances for how much we will read online before hitting the print button. But we print it for a good reason...because reading from paper causes less eye strain.

As for the results from the last issue's survey, the feedback was almost unanimnous -- the vast majority of us remain flexible in our writing style, to reflect the needs of our audience and the voices of our clients.

Finally, an interesting question is raised in this issue's Readers Write Back section. It's about outsourcing work to other writers, and how you handle that with your client. This is also the subject of this issue's survey...which I hope you will complete!

Until the next issue.

Nick

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@nickusborne.com

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ARTICLE: LONG, SCROLLING COPY, PART 2

Why is there such a stigma attached to long copy online? How has it become associated with the psychotic Ginsu saleman approach to making sales?

The easy answer comes in two stages.

First, in the mid-nineties, while online usability and design ‘experts’ were stressing over the length of copy online, offline direct marketers ignored the rules and just dived in, doing what they did best...selling with long, sequential copy. And they discovered that it worked.

Later, those self-same early experts looked at the copy approach being used by these ‘Ginsu’ upstarts, and decided that their original instincts were right, because they could never use that kind of copy for their Fortune 500 clients.

And that’s how things got confused.

Today’s online experts still judge long copy by how they see others using it.

Long copy has become tainted by association. It is being ignored by business online because of the way in which it is being used within that genre of Ginsu salesmanship.

That’s a shame, because long copy really does sell. Not only that, but it can also build strong relationships. And underlying everything, long copy fits perfectly within the natural ecology of communicating online. People write long emails to each other all the time. We read long posts in discussion lists. We enjoy long-copy newsletters that inform and entertain us.

Long copy fits perfectly within the Web which, contrary to some expert opinions, has always been and still is primarily a text-based medium.

And for sure, I would never write that kind of breathless, pushy, one-way copy that bombards my email inbox each day.

But I would write long copy that is respectful of its readers and mindful of their needs. Can you still sell while being respectful of your audience? Sure you can.

And that is the point at which I part company with most of the long sales copy I see online today. It shows no respect for the reader. Too much of it seeks to bully, push and take advantage of people’s hopes and dreams. It’s is cynical, greedy and manipulative.

No thanks.

That said, there will come a time, hopefully soon, when we can start writing long copy that serves our commercial needs, respects our readers and fits within the medium of the Web.

If you enjoyed this article, check out 'The Best From Over 200 Articles by Nick Usborne' - an edited compilation of the best of my articles for Clickz.com, between 1998 and 2003.

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READERS WRITE BACK: ON FLEXIBILITY AND ETHICS

Part of what I love about my status as an independent contractor is that I get to work with companies of all shapes and sizes. (It's so great learning about new things all the time - last month I wrote for web sites for a Christian organization, a luxury vodka seller and a manufacturer of steel siding products!) In order to serve those companies well, it's necessary that I'm as chameleon-like as possible with my writing style. Additionally, I find that potential clients are impressed by my breadth of industry experience.

AND NOW ... here's my question for you:

I've been busy enough this month that I've subcontracted another writer to help out. From an ethical standpoint, am I required to tell my clients that someone else is co-writing copy? I'm doing all finals edits before submitting material to the client, so I'm still the "expert" on the other end of the line. But I feel guilty saying, "Oh, here's the copy *I* wrote." (I'm fine legally - none of my contracts prohibit this.)

I prefer to write in my own voice because it's just more comfortable and I'm lazy, but, since I'm lazy, I take what contracts I can get most of the time and that means adapting my style to the client's needs. Which is perfectly legitimate. I think it's important and vital -- not to mention enjoyable and rewarding -- to develop one's own voice, but it's a fun exercise in mimicry to take on the persona of another writer. It's like an acting job, and it keeps things from being too monotonous.

As a writer for an integrated agency, I have a variety of clients in very different industries. For each company, I do try to create a voice that is authentic to their current position in the marketplace and yet conducive to achieving their strategic objectives.

And often enough, I have clients who are perceived quite differently by customers and prospects than they would prefer. This is why we have to fight so hard in the revision process to keep corporate B.S. from sneaking into a piece and screwing up this voice.

That said, both my agency and I have core beliefs about marketing communications that permeate everything we write, such as seeking an emotional connection (even in b-to-b), using proven techniques of rhetoric and producing a strong call to action with a measurable target.

>> Feedback: mailto:nick@nickusborne.com

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SURVEY: DO YOU DECLARE THE AUTHORSHIP OF 'YOUR' WRITING?

Do you outsource any of your work to other writers?

[ ] Yes
[ ] No

If Yes, do you let the client know that there was another writer involved?

[ ] Yes, I always say if another writer was involved
[ ] No, I do some edits and let the client assume it is my own work

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