Copywriting turns words into action.
But which words? And which action?
Often, copywriters take a strategy for granted. They don’t take the time to think about what this sentence or that paragraph might be for. They hesitate to describe the foundations of their method, and instead resort to time-tested tricks and phrases.
We have a word for the strategies involved in creating a product or service that fills a niche and solves a problem. That’s what designers do. The pretty part comes next (and it’s confusingly called design as well, when it should probably be called craft.)
Design leads to leaps and breakthroughs. Craft ensures that great design accomplishes its mission.
Designing effective copy begins with the presumption that you can then craft the sentences that support that strategy.
But beginning with design ensures that good craft won’t go to waste.
[Check out my friend Margo Aaron’s breakthrough Copy Workshop. It’s cohort-based, peer-to-peer and live, and signups begins today. She’s doing it with the folks at Akimbo, and I’ve seen how powerful this work is.]
If it’s worth writing, it’s worth writing effectively.