Why Your Ego Could Be Damaging Your Copy

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Chris Hoole.  Please read more about Chris in the bio footer.

Being an online copywriter allows you to enjoy a flexible lifestyle in which you get paid to do what you love. Every new project you receive broadens your industry knowledge as your research sets you up for your next challenge. There is no denying it, for those that love to write creatively, producing online copy is a dream job.

But copywriting is not a vacation…

However the wonders of copywriting can lead some copywriters to see their work in the wrong light. They become so indulged in their creative flare that they forget about their duty to their employer. If you are a copywriter it is very important for you to remember that you are not producing content for a novel. In the same way, no matter what you are told, you are never producing content solely for Google. I cannot stress this enough. Google is never your only customer. It seems that many copywriters are damaging their chances of success because they lack discipline.

If in your work you are showing any of the following symptoms I believe you are suffering from copywriting-egoitus. (It does exist!)

• Your clients often ask you to reproduce work because you have drifted from their brief.
• You waffle your way through copy, convinced that it is just your creativity shining through.
• You proofread your work and declare it fine, yet when you share it with others they question the content’s flow. You ignore their criticisms.
• You forget about the keywords you were meant to include in your work and find yourself crow barring them in at the end.

The prescription

Now I understand that my diagnosis may seem a little over exaggerated but hopefully you understand what I am trying to get at here. If you can relate to any of the symptoms listed above then the tips I have listed below should work as a cure:

Planning: You remember back in the school days when you used to write essays for English? Your teacher always told you to spend time planning but you always resisted against it. When it comes to copywriting planning is just as important. It is vital that before you dive into a piece of copy you have a firm grasp on your goals. From the details in your clients brief you should be able to work out who you are writing for, and why. If you have keywords to inject make sure you plan around them so they can fit seamlessly into your work.

Proofsharing and listening: All writers are subjectively biased towards the quality of their own work. When you proofread your work it is very possible that you have failed to spot syntactical errors that may seem fine to you, but incredibly distinct to someone else. In order to combat this problem you must share your work with fellow writers or friends to ensure that it flows well in the real world, and not just in your head. Then of course you must listen to the advice given.

Varying your sentence structures: This tip applies both to those creatively inspired wafflers and to any writers who like to get straight to the point with their copy. Failing to combine a mixture of simple and complex sentences will see your readers lose interest. The key is to produce rather long and packed sentences that thrive off of creativity, and then follow them with much shorter ones. It works. Trust me.

Keeping the illness away!

I think the key to being a successful copywriter is discipline. If you can’t manage to reign in the author inside of you then you will see your client’s numbers diminish week by week. You have to stick rigidly to their briefs and always keep in mind their aims.

I do not want to damage your creativity, because that is something that the online world needs more than ever right now, but I do want you to remember that all art is subjective; and that includes copywriting.

Tagged as: copywriting