Who Is Your Copywriter?

Kyle Neath’s post on web design and copywriting brings up one point that is often ignored when I read copy on the web: copywriting is your brand. The way you say things is just as much a part of who you are than what you are selling and the logo you plaster over your header.

This fact hit me like an anvil recently when a client of mine decided to re-write all the copy on his website, ignoring the fact that hours of work had gone into finding the exact words and phrases that would not only make his message more effective, but most accurately reflect the organization. There isn’t much I can do — apart from correcting the obvious grammar and spelling errors — to fix the problem since I’m still a small fry in the grand scheme of things, but I will admit that the whole situation is quite frustrating.

What I just realized, however, is that I have been doing a sub-par job in my writing on this weblog. I guess I always thought that this weblog was more of an outlet for my writing than an actual sales or marketing document, but I now know that this approach is inherently incorrect. After all, I am selling something through this blog, conciously or not: myself.

That being said, I’m going back to reread and re-absorb Brian Clark’s Copywriting 101 on Copyblogger. For those of you that aren’t aware of Brian’s weblog, I urge you to check it out immediately: Brian’s writing and tips are a constant source of inspiration for me in my copywriting ventures, and his Copywriting 101 series is a must-read for anyone doing any kind of writing, marketing or otherwise.

Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I will be more conscious of the text I write for this weblog, and make it much more confluent with my overall writing style. I’m not promising big change, but do let me know if you have any suggestions as to any improvements I can make.