Internet Copywriting

Bloggers spend a lot of time on their computers. They’re posting, reading, commenting on other blogs, sending Tweets, checking half a dozen social networking sites, and generally being web-geeky.

They find something interesting or random, and then clue in other people to that interesting or random thing.

This is how blog posts gain steam on Digg or go viral. This is how we find out about new YouTube videos. This is how we communicate now.

Except we don’t.

We were people before we were bloggers

Think about the blogs that you like the most. Like, to pick a totally random example, mine.

Do you like them because they told you something weird or peculiar that you didn’t know about before? Or do you like them because you enjoy what the post says? Because you like the way the article was written? Because you like the style of the author, the blog?s sense of humor, the way the blogger turns a phrase?

Great bloggers become great because they have a unique style and way of thinking. Here’s the kicker, though: They were that way before they ever became bloggers.

Dave Navarro over at The Launch Coach? He was a pretty great dude before blogging was even invented. He was funny. He was helpful. He had kind of an attitude, in a good way. He was all the things we love him for today as a blogger.

But he wasn’t blogging. Not his fault; blogging didn’t exist back then.

If you want to become a better blogger, you need to have a style and a voice of your own — and you can’t find that sitting at your computer desk. Not enough of a voice, anyway, to make you really great.

You’re not going to develop your blogging awesomeness by re-posting what other people have written or riffing off thoughts they’ve had, or setting up endless list posts pointing to someone else?s content.

Those things are fine once in awhile, but they?re not enough to build a great blog.

Forget blogging for a while (but keep it in the back of your mind)

To become better bloggers, we need to get out in the world.

Start conversations with more people. Find the kind of jokes you like to tell. Listen to the rhythm of your voice as you speak. Pay attention to the way people react when you talk. Notice how they seem more interested when you speak in a certain way or when you discuss certain topics.

Pay attention to what attracts your interest. Does color catch your eye? Do you peek around street corners to find out who’s playing that music? Do you slow down to eavesdrop on people who seem to be having interesting conversations? Do you help people on the bus or pick up things they’ve dropped? Do you go talk to storeowners or to the others standing in line with you?

This is how you’ll find a style of your own, a personality that makes up who you are as a blogger.

Find some activities or events around the subjects you like to blog about. Naomi at Ittybiz wrote a great series about marketing and branding campaigns she noticed while walking around town.

Why? Because she’s into marketing and branding. That’s what she blogs about. It was interesting. It made her interesting.

And she wrote these posts from her own unique perspective using her own voice. There are a couple of really spiffy posts that she would never have written if she hadn’t been thinking of her blog posts as she bought paint from the hardware store.

That?s how you can be a better blogger. You find new things to write about just by getting away from the computer so you can explore the world.

So walk away from that keyboard (after you comment on this post, of course). Get outside. Go interact with a real, live, flesh-and-blood person. Communicate with that person. Observe. Watch. And come back when you’ve found out what sort of blogger you really are.

Then write a blog post that rocks that person?s socks off.

About the Author: James Chartrand is rockin’ socks off over at Men with Pens, thanks to a unique voice and plenty of time away from the computer. Check out his blog, then go get some fresh air and sun.

In a recent Copyblogger post discussing how the king of content is being slowly usurped by the Crown Prince of Context, author Larry Brooks referenced the remarkable opening scene of Quentin Tarantino’s new movie Inglorious Basterds.

There are few writers like Tarantino, and though his verbal carpet bombs and kinetic escalation of violence aren?t for everyone, there is no doubt that the dude follows his muse. Those who love him will eagerly wait in lines wrapped around the block to show their support.

In short, Tarantino sells it every time. And by it, I mean an ironclad belief in the worlds he?s created.

On Larry?s post, a great conversation continued downstairs in the comments, where a second Tarantino clip was referenced, the “Sicilian Scene” from True Romance. Though I love both movies, I was inspired to write this post by a scene from Tarantino’s earliest feature, Reservoir Dogs.

Selling it

In Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino assembles a marvelous scene, on the surface about gaining the confidence of the men the protagonist plans to double cross. Closer inspection reveals the scene for what it really is, a seven-and-a-half-minute love letter to the art of storytelling.

The film itself is about a bank robbery gone bad, though Tarantino manages to turn the adage, “show not tell” upside down by showing only a few seconds of the robbery, while his characters sit around for the rest of the film swapping one slice of story at a time.

Spoiler alert: The hero of the tale is Mr. Orange, an undercover cop, played by the superb Tim Roth, masquerading as a fellow bank-robbing miscreant. The success of his cover hinges on convincing the other criminals of his authenticity. He does this, in part, by reciting “The Commode Story,” a fictitious anecdote that is not only amusing, but also easy to sell to the other delinquents because it deals with a dicey encounter with the law.

It is in the Commode Story where Tarantino becomes the teacher.

It’s all in the details

“An undercover cop’s gotta be Marlon Brando . . . . you gotta be naturalistic as hell — ’cause if you ain’t a good actor — you a bad actor, and bad actors is bullshit in this job.”

It?s the details that sell your story, according to Officer Holdaway, played by Randy Brooks, delivering lines obviously written for a Sam Jackson Tarantino could not yet afford.

Holdaway instructs Mr. Orange on the finer details of selling the story.

“You’ve got to memorize what’s important so you can make the rest your own.”

He then continues to expand his point with something Copyblogger has frequently preached:

“Remember, this story’s about you and how you perceive the events that went down.”

He wraps up with a version of the same sage writing advice Brian’s been posting for years:

“The only way to do that is to keep saying it and saying it and saying it and saying it.”

As the scene unfolds, we watch as Mr. Orange rehearses the story in his room with slowly mounting confidence until he owns the narrative enough to deliver it without flinching in a smoky bar populated by criminals, any one of whom could end him in an instant.

Eventually, we find ourselves breathlessly watching as the Commode Story unfolds via flashback and Mr. Orange’s voiceover.

We watch as a man packing massive amounts of marijuana finds himself entering a bathroom containing not one, not two, but four police officers and a K-9 unit. As the camera pans the officer’s narrowed eyes, the dog’s fervent attention, and follows Mr. Orange as he tries to casually go about his business without getting busted, the narration adds to the palpable sense of danger.

We feel the tension even though we know Mr. Orange has manufactured every word and was never actually in danger of being busted.

Why?

Because Mr. Orange owns the story.

Own your story

The more you write about a particular topic or in a specific genre, the tighter your work will naturally become. Your expertise will grow. Better words will come to you, and they?ll show up more quickly.

If you write about widgets, write the hell out of your widget copy.

Loving your widget is a great start, but you also have to know your widget inside out and upside down. You must know every surface, every detail. Knowledge and passion will shine through the copy and accentuate the differences between you and everyone else writing about widgets.

If you want to be a great writer, you?ve got to own the story. Fiction or sales copy, know your story like nobody else and you will write words that no one else can touch.

About the Author: Sean Platt is a direct response copywriter and independent publisher. Follow him on Twitter.

Do you feel like you’re fighting for every page view your blog receives?

Do you wonder why you’re struggling to find readers when other bloggers seem to just hit “publish” and the world comes running?

It may be tempting to throw up your hands and say, “those other guys have all the luck,” but it won’t get you anywhere.

The truth is, those “lucky” people are doing something you’re not doing.

(Or they’re doing what you are doing, but better.)

If you want to get lucky, you’re going to have to give up the “poor me” attitude and make some changes. Here are some ideas.

Listen before you talk

Two guys walk into a bar (humor me here). The first guy walks up to a woman and says, “Hi. I make a lot of money and drive a really fast car, so you will definitely want to go out with me. Here’s my number. When you’re ready to go out, call me.”

The second guy sits down at the bar and listens. He hears the woman next to him complain to the bartender that the last Italian restaurant she tried was terrible, and that she couldn’t seem to find good Italian food nearby. When there’s a break in the conversation, he says, “Excuse me, but I couldn’t help overhearing about your bad experience with some of the local Italian restaurants. Have you tried Davio’s Cucina? It’s really excellent.”

Which guy is more likely to end up with a date?

I’m betting on guy #2. Instead of just blathering on about himself, he waited and listened for an opening. He started a conversation based on a shared interest. And because he?d been paying attention, he found a great angle to quickly capture the woman?s interest.

When you’re trying to get people to read your blog post, newsletter, or free report, the biggest mistake you can make is to assume that other people are just dying to learn about you and your product (or service). They don’t care about you.

Figure out what they do care about and start there.

Don’t try to be someone else

You know those cheesy pick-up lines you occasionally hear in bars? Lines like:

• “Are you an angel? Cause I think I just died and went to heaven.”
• “If I could rearrange the alphabet, I would put U and I together.”
• “Do you have a map? I keep getting lost in your eyes.”

Each of these lines must have worked for someone, somewhere, at some point in time. But that doesn’t mean you should use them.

There’s a lot you can learn by studying successful copywriters and marketers, and you should learn as much as you can. But you can’t blindly copy what they’re doing.

Swipe files and traditional copywriting techniques are only useful if you can intelligently translate them to your market.

That means you have to figure out how to apply those techniques while still being yourself. And you have to make sure that your content is still something your audience wants to read about.

Stop talking to yourself

Let’s say you’ve just moved to a new city and want to throw a party at your place. Should you (a) sit in your condo and yell, “Hey! I’m having a party!” and then wait for people to start showing up, or (b) go to the next condo association meeting, mingle with the neighbors, and invite them to come by this Friday evening for drinks?

If you think the answer is (a), you seriously need to get out more.

If your blog is getting 20 visits a day, you can’t just keep posting stuff there and praying for more readers. You’ve got to get out and meet some new people.

How? Join a LinkedIn group in your niche and start answering questions. Write a guest post for a popular (and relevant) blog. Comment thoughtfully on other bloggers’ posts and start to make friends. Ask your Facebook friends to forward your stuff to people they think might enjoy it.

The point is, you have to go where your people already are before you can get them to come to you. Find them, talk to them and then invite them back to your place.

You might just get lucky.

About the Author: Traci Feit Love is a writer and communications consultant specializing in content marketing and smart copy. Visit her website for more information or to sign up for her free e-course, “How to Get More High-Paying Clients.”

There?s a new version of Thesis out that has our customers excited, thanks to some really cool new features. And it occurred to me that there are a lot of new Copyblogger subscribers who might use WordPress, and yet not really ?get? what this Thesis thing is all about.

So in this post I?ll tell you what?s brand new in Thesis 1.6, and also bring everyone up to speed on why Thesis makes WordPress way better.

What is the Thesis Theme for WordPress?

Thesis is the flagship product of DIY Themes, a partnership between Chris Pearson and I. It?s the theme framework that powers Copyblogger and many other high-traffic sites.

In a nutshell, Thesis is software that delivers rock-solid SEO website code, plus unprecedented design flexibility for WordPress — without requiring the novice user to code anything.

For sophisticated users, Thesis is a search-optimized development framework that allows designers and web developers to build sites better and faster than ever before.

* SEO

Search legend Danny Sullivan, Google?s Matt Cutts, and Microsoft search engineer Jeremiah Andrick all use Thesis for their sites. So does search and affiliate marketing entrepreneur Rae Hoffman, SEO guru Michael Gray, top bloggers Darren Rowse and Robert Scoble, web-hosting entrepreneur Scott Beale, social media darling Chris Brogan, and thousands of others.

To find out why the Thesis approach to site code results in maximum search engine crawlibility, watch this quick video I put together.

* Design Flexibility

With most WordPress themes, you?re stuck with the basic look and feel that the theme designer decided on. With Thesis, you can choose between one, two, or three column layouts (and the size of each column), change font types and sizes, create a magazine-style layout, and lots more. Again, watch this video for an overview, and then dive into the three demo videos listed below the general video to see what Thesis can do.

* Support

Even with everything that Thesis makes easier, we know that people don?t want to be hung out to dry. Our support forums have evolved into a truly supportive community of over 10,000 of your fellow webmasters and bloggers. You?ll have help from DIY Themes support professionals, Thesis Certified Designers, and tons of your peers who simply enjoy lending a helping hand.

What?s New in Thesis 1.6?

Now, here?s the new goodness. Thesis 1.6 offers a lot of improvements throughout, plus two major innovative capabilities ? you can now change colors throughout the theme without getting into the CSS markup, and you can create drop-down interactive navigation menus right from the control panel in the WordPress dashboard.

* Change Colors Throughout the Theme Without Code

This is huge for someone like me, who would never mess with CSS in order to change background colors, column colors, etc. I only know enough code to be dangerous, but now if I want to throw up a new site with a varied color scheme, I can do it without bugging Chris or Tony.

Watch this video to see how to build a site with Thesis 1.6.

* Create Killer Navigation Menus

This is another awesome feature for people who don?t code. Now you can create interactive navigation menus with drop-down subpages for each choice, all point-and-click from the Thesis design panel. It was cool the other day when Mark McGuiness proudly emailed me to check out his new interactive navigation menu (Mark?s a poet and a creativity consultant, not a coder).

Watch this quick video that shows how to work the navigation options.

What About Thesis 2.0?

The buzz is already building about the highly-anticipated Thesis 2.0 ? a complete next generation approach to an already innovative theme. From what I?ve seen so far, it?s hard to believe this is the natural evolution from what we started with a year-and-a-half ago.

But don?t think you have to wait. Our current model and pricing provides all Thesis customers with every future update and unlimited access to support? so you can get started with Thesis today and never miss out on what?s coming next.

(And if you caught the hint by my use of the word ?current,? you understand that this will change in the near future. Come join the Thesis community today).

About the Author: Brian Clark is founder of Copyblogger and co-founder of DIY Themes, creator of the innovative Thesis Theme for WordPress. Get more from Brian on Twitter.

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Written by admin on November 6th, 2009 with no comments.
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