Everyone’s A Writer

The first thing you learn in the copywriting business is that everyone’s a writer. And… they all think they’re good. Some of them are…but most are not. Some…should never be allowed to hold a pen in their “hot little hands.”

You’ll meet some who like to “bloviate” in print, thinking that everyone will be impressed with their command of the English language. (They won’t.) There will be others who treat English like it’s not their native tongue.

Oft times when you write for a large organization your copy passes through many hands. Each of those hands is just twitching to “tweak” your copy, so they can impress someone up the line. The version that lands on the desk of the final decision maker will be entirely different from what you wrote. You might not even recognize it. (This happened to me. If it hadn’t been for the title, I would not have known I wrote it.)

The easiest way to avoid this is to involve all decision makers right from the beginning of the project. Explain what you’re going to write and why. Let them know that this is writing in a “conversational tone” and is designed to be read, not to be grammatically correct.

Once they know where you are going, it’s easier for them to understand what you are trying to do.

Keep all parties in the loop. Email copies to everyone, even when you make changes. When they want changes that go against all the rules of sales copy…make them. Make them cheerfully, but explain (in a nice way) why you’re against it.

If the copy gets results even with their changes…be humble. Thank them for showing you a new way of doing things. If it bombs, be considerate and helpful. Resist the urge to say, “I told you so.”

Finally…let it go and be happy, knowing you’ve done your very best.