No matter what business you are running, writing is an inherent part of the work we all do. I constantly hear how writing can be a struggle, especially from those who don’t feel they have a natural talent for it. Part of my goal in these blog posts is to help you understand better how writing functions in your business and how you can use the written word to tell your story to your customers. Below are my top four tips (keeping it simple folks!) on how you can wow your customers with your writing.
1. Be personal
A lot of business owners can be so worried about being “correct” with their spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax, etc that it makes their writing come out sounding generic and boring. Our obsession with spell/grammar check software and apps is making online content all sound the same. It’s ok to be yourself. Find your voice and use it in your writing. Obviously some documents, like contracts and proposals, need to sound more formal and official, and you don’t want any typos in those. But in your blog posts, your marketing materials, Instagram captions, it’s ok to write how you would speak. Don’t get overly concerned about if that sentence needs a comma or a semi-colon. Your audience likely wouldn’t notice one way or the other. But they will click off your web page in approximately 3 seconds if your writing is boring. So add some personality and let them get to know you through your writing.
2. Be clear
Clarity (in my humble opinion) is far more important than grammatical correctness. And you can have a document that is technically/mechanically correct but is so rambling and dense that it makes it nearly incomprehensible. Trust me, after two Masters degrees and a PhD I’ve read enough academic writing to see just how badly written a document can be and still be correct by grammar or spelling standards. If you can say something in two sentences instead of a full paragraph do that. Your readers are trying to get something from your writing, they’re trying to make a decision—to hire you, to subscribe to your email list, to follow you on social media—so give them just enough to help them make that decision. When your writing is cluttered and difficult to follow, that’s when people move away from you and on to the next person. So keep it simple and keep it clear.
3. Be generous
Don’t keep everything to yourself. Know something that will help other business owners? Share it. Know other business owners online who do work your following would like? Tell them. Give shoutouts on your socials, if there’s someone you think your audience would like (even if they’re a competitor) share that info. I’m constantly looking for other copywriters/editors who are at a similar stage as me that I can turn to if I need so subcontract or need an emergency cover for a project. Competitors are not your arch enemy, get to know them and befriend them. Knowledge is wealth. Share that wealth.
Now, don’t mistake me, I’m NOT suggesting doing anything or giving anything away that would undercut your business and your success. Exploitation is a very bad thing. But no matter what business we run, we all have things we can afford to share and give away for free. These blogs I write are an example. I could put all this information into a workbook and then charge you to download it—and I’m not ruling that out down the road for advanced level tips—but it helps me more to share this information and connect with other business owners who need it. When you help people out, they remember that, and that generosity comes back to you eventually.
4. Be thankful
Finally, learn how to demonstrate thankfulness. Someone does you a favor? Say thank you. Someone helps you out or shares valuable information? Say thank you. Wrapping up a project with a client and want them to be a return customer and want to make a serious impression? Send a thank you note. I really can’t stress the importance of saying thank you, either casually over social media or more formally in a written thank you note. I like to match the thank you to the experience. So if someone gives me a shoutout on social media, I will publicly thank them on social as well. If someone helps me out or shares information that makes a difference to my business I’ll send them a thank you note and maybe a small gift. And clients should always get a thank you note.
Whether you create something beautiful that’s digital and can be sent via email or you go the old fashion route and snail mail them a formal thank you note or letter is up to you and the amount of time you have. But you should have it as part of your end of business routine/plan and have some templates created that you can tailor to each client before you send it off. Trust me, no one forgets being genuine thanked for something they’ve done and that good energy will come back around to you eventually, one way or another.
So there we go, my four easy tips to wow your customers with your writing. Employ these tips and you should see a change in how people engage with your writing.
Until next time,
Andrea