Cathy Stucker - The Idea Lady

Attract Customers and Make Yourself Famous

Do You ‘Think’ or ‘Feel’?

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right-left-brainTwo Stanford researchers set out to discover which is more persuasive: “I think” or “I feel.” For example, would it have a bigger impact on you if I were to say, “I think this is what you should do?” or “I feel this is what you should do?”

They conducted the study by writing two almost identical pieces on the merits of blood donation. One started off with, “My feelings about blood donation: I feel that donating blood is one of the most important contributions I can make to society…” etc. It used the word “feel” or “feelings” several times. The other message was identical, except the words “my thoughts” and “I think” were substituted for the words “my feelings” and “I feel.”

So which message was more persuasive? [Read more…]

Create a Catchy Tagline

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Looking for a catchy slogan to tell people why they need your product and what it can do for them? Have you spent hours wracking your brain to find the words? It doesn’t have to be that hard. There is a simple shortcut to writing the perfect tagline that will grab people’s attention and let them know immediately that your product is right for them.

So what’s the shortcut? [Read more…]

B2B Copywriting – Writing for the B2B market

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business-word-cloudThis is a guest post from Mitt Ray of The White Paper Blog.

When you write white papers, website copy, brochures or any other marketing material for the B2B market you need to keep certain factors in mind.

Writing for the B2B market has many similarities with writing for the B2C market. But there are certain factors you always need to keep in mind.

Some of these factors are:-

1. Always address the reader as you: Many people make the mistake of addressing the company as a whole or addressing them as many people. This is not how it should be written as your copy is normally read by one person at a time.

These people are normally sitting alone in their office or cubicle and reading it to themselves. So always address them as a single person using “you”. This will make them feel a special personal connection with your copy.

2. Write using the simplest words: It is important that you write using the simplest words. I have seen writers use complicated terms sometimes to make their copy sound more sophisticated. This is because many people think that using complicated material will make the company look sophisticated. But using these sophisticated words could actually work against you.

When you write for the B2B market you are usually writing for busy people. These people don’t have the time to read a document that is full of words that are hard to understand, as this will take up a lot of their time.  They want to read something that is easy to read, something they can finish quickly and get back to work. If they find it hard to read, they will just give up reading it and read something else, that is easy to read.

Therefore it is important that you keep everything in the copy as simple as possible, so that your client can finish reading the document quickly. Keeping it simple improves the chance of it being read completely.

3. Mention all the benefits businesses look for: One person or a group of individuals will be making the decision whether to use your service/product or not. What you need to keep in mind is that they are not making a personal decision, but they are making a decision for the entire company.

They’re looking for ways to save the company money, time, improve profits, reduce staff etc. So make sure that you work on these benefits and include them in your copy.

You also need to keep in mind that though they are making a decision for the entire company and are mainly looking at the welfare of the company. There will be certain personal benefits and emotions that will be involved in their decision.

If they make the right decision, their chances of getting a promotion or a raise go up and if they make a wrong decision it could cost the company’s future and their job. You need to keep these factors in mind too.

So whenever you write white papers, brochures, emails, or any other marketing materials for the B2B market always keep these factors in mind, as it will help you write a copy that works.

Mitt Ray is a copywriter. He specializes in writing and marketing white papers. He regularly posts articles on writing and marketing white papers on his blog at http://www.imittcopy.com/Thewhitepaperblog/what-is-a-white-paper/. He’s also the author of ”Understand and Write White Papers” which is a white paper on how to write white papers.

Writing Powerful Headlines

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Your headlines may be the shortest writing you do, but they are the most important words you will write. Great headlines arouse curiosity, promise benefits, and draw readers in.

Attention-grabbing headlines are necessary for ads, sales letters and brochures, web pages, press releases, articles and more. Here are some tips for writing headlines that will grab your readers and not let them go.

Use a question. Readers will have to learn the answer to your provocative question.

Use numbers. Seven ways to! Six things you need to know before you! Ten reasons to! This one is used by women’s magazines all the time!

”Do this to get that.” Tell how to do something that will bring a wanted benefit.

Promise little-known information. What…doesn’t want you to know. Insider secrets about!

Don’t make headlines and titles too cute. Something that you think is a clever play on words may go right over the heads of your readers.

Keep headlines and titles short. Use a sub-title if needed for clarification.

Your Marketing Shoebox

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shoebox

My marketing shoebox is one of my most valuable possessions. What’s inside the shoebox? The secrets behind the Idea Lady’s ideas. 

Yes, even the Idea Lady has days when the well runs dry and inspiration is hard to come by. That’s when I bring out my collection of ads, brochures, clippings from newspapers and magazines, sales letters and other marketing materials. Some were created by me, some are the products of the creativity of others, but all help get my brain in gear.

Start your own marketing shoebox and you will never be at a loss for ideas again. When you see an ad that moves you to act, pull out your scissors and clip it for the shoebox.  Save those brochures, business cards, fliers, etc. you like, and add them to your collection.

The next time you are putting together a new marketing piece, take a look at your marketing shoebox. What did you like about each item you saved? Maybe it was the color, the headline, the way they used a bulleted list, a phrase, the call to action…whatever it was, use it as inspiration to create your piece.

Let me be clear that I am not suggesting you duplicate what someone else has done. Use your shoebox for inspiration to create something that is uniquely yours. By the time you take the color from one item, formatting elements from another, the font from a third, and a phrase from a fourth, put your own information and style into the piece, then edit and revise it, it won’t look like anything you started with. You have made it your own. Your shoebox just got you going!