IF YOU CAN'T WRITE, DON'T

Here's a hard truth. If you can't write, don't try. Do the
research. Provide every tiny detail. But hire a professional
to write your pages.

This costs. But not as much as poorly written copy. Face
it. How long do you linger on a badly written site? It simply
won't work. Period. Hire the help you need or find another
line of work.

It's Not Fair

Surfers become more demanding with each passing day. They
simply won't tolerate errors on web pages. You can get by with
one or maybe even two on an occasional page, but only if the
balance is flawless.

At first glance, this seems unfair. Most do not write well.
How can such people demand that you do so?

Simple. They do know how to read. And they demand copy
that is easy to follow. An error brings a stumble and
annoyance. Much of either brings hasty exit.

Your visitors are, after all, volunteering their time to
look at your site. Beyond a hasty glimpse at art work, unless
it offends, their focus is on the content.

That's what they came for. And that's what they want. You
will be judged, and quickly, by how well you provide what they
are looking for. And the copy simply must shine. People won't
linger long unless it does.

Bad Examples Give You An Edge

The abundance of poorly written sites offers opportunity.
Put your site together in solid fashion, and you can put a lot
of your competition out of the running.

One of the problems on the Web is that most pages are
self-published. There are no editors protecting against
blunders as there are in the print media.

As a result, sloppy or bad copy abounds. And if pointed out
to the webmaster, the response is likely to be, "Hey. I wrote
this. And I worked hard. If you don't like it, go away."

The point missed in comments such as the above, is that
visitors do go away. In great big bunches. They flee from
patronizing or self-congratulatory drivel even more quickly.

It's a grave mistake to look at such sites, and assume you
can be successful with such copy. Further, there's a hidden
assumption you accept when you do so. You accept as fact that
the webmaster is "successful." Bad thinking, to put it mildly.

What's Required

You don't have to get fancy. Some who recognize their
writing skills are not first rate, tend to become formal, even
pedantic, when writing. That is, they put on the "top hat and
tails." Which is exactly the opposite of what is required.
For only great writers can pull such stunts.

You know your Perfect Customer. So just think about what
you want to say, and how you would say it to him or her. In
your shop. Over the phone. Wherever. But just you and your
customer. Nobody else.

Chances are you'd chat as you do daily with others. Do
the same in writing. If this doesn't work, say it out loud
into a tape recorder. Then type what you recorded.

In speaking, we use a lot of incomplete sentences. And we
have body language reflecting back at us that points out right
quick anything not clear, the misuse of a word, and so forth.
But beyond cleaning up these kinds of things, write as you
would speak to your Perfect Customer face to face.

To do otherwise, as in pretending to be profound, is to
risk all.

Some Writing Tips

Here are some ideas often overlooked. Each notion can be
greatly expanded. However, it is not appropriate to do so here.
If you'd like more information about writing for the Web, visit
my site and click Topics in the navigation bar to the left.
Then select Writing Skills. You'll find lots of good ideas and
references here that may offer just what you need. Now to those
tips, ...

Your Perfect Customer Comes First - Hold your focus on this
person. Everything you write is as closely targeted as possible
on this person's needs, hopes and dreams. If you can sustain
this interaction, the rest is just mechanics.

Talk With, Not To - Telling people what to do never works.
Whether selling or providing information, your only hope is to
persuade readers to buy your product or accept your point of
view. In short, always talk *with* your Perfect Customer.
Never talk *to* them.

Forget About Maybes - A common mistake on many sites is the
attempt to please all visitors. It won't work. Talk and sell
to your Perfect Customer, and nobody else. That is, never
include even a comment in hope of converting maybes.

Use "I," not "We" - If you're just one person, stick to
yourself as the subject. There is something pretentious, kind
of phony, about a fellow who is a one man show speaking of
himself as "we." It's as if he is trying to appear bigger or
more important than he is.

Believe In Your Product - If you do, if you enthusiastically
endorse it, your excitement will shine through. Conversely, if
you don't believe in it, ditch it. Only professionals can sell
in this circumstance. Lack of enthusiasm of itself will destroy
your copy.

Never Offend Or Annoy - Offending people is always a
deadend street, a truism that hardly seems worth mention here.
I did so in order to point out that accumulated annoyances
amount to offending. Seek to eliminate any copy that might
annoy anyone.

Avoid U.S. Jargon - The Web is rapidly becoming an
International marketplace. However, many outside the U.S.
who read English, are reading in a second language. U.S.
jargon and slang really confuse such visitors. Use dollars,
not bucks. Use men, not guys. "Behind the wood shed" has
no meaning for those outside the U.S.

Be Specific - Your writing will be stronger if all is aimed
at making a very specific point clear. Only when accomplished,
is it time to move on to another. "Stainless steel is an
exceptional material," says little. If this is the point you
want to make, break it down into parts that collectively explain
why the generalization is so.

Write As Fiction - The better I come to know the Web, the
more convinced I am of the parallels between writing a good
story and a good page. Pace matters. And emotional impact.
And there's more. Grab a book you like, and try to figure how
the author sucks you into the next paragraph or page. If you
can do the same with a web page, you'll have a winner.

Editing Is The Secret - Edit and rewrite as often as
required. Ask any good writer, and they'll tell you that some
of what they release has been edited and rewritten a dozen or
more times. Editing is the key, really. The final result may
only vaguely resemble the original draft.

Get A Second Opinion - While there may be little need to
hire a professional editor, do ask at least one other person
to read what you have written. If possible, ask them to read
it out loud to you. If nobody is handy, record your work, then
listen to it. Hold off on this until you feel the work is ready
to go. There's too much error in draft copy for this to work
well.

Be Clear, Straightforward, And Friendly

Hold to the above in all you write, be certain you are
speaking one-to-one with your Perfect Customer, and the results,
given editing, will be sufficient. As you gain experience, you
can improve from "sufficient" to "good." "Great" is the goal,
but it certainly is not required.

About the Author

Bob McElwain, author of "Your Path To Success" and
"Secrets To A Really Successful Website." For
info, see
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