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Getting The Words Right

If you haven't already, you will eventually notice that there is a common theme running through most of the small business marketing tactics we're discussing. Words. And not just any words, the right ones.

Your advertising copy has to be great. Your promotional materials have to capture and maintain interest.

Everything that comes out of your mouth or that shows up on your website or blog must be on-message, attractive and custom-tailored to accomplish your goals in order for you to experience optimal marketing effectiveness.

Sure, you could go through the motions with less-than-stellar material, but the end result would be disappointing. Even if that approach did pay off, you would always know that you could have done so much better had you paid closer attention to the quality of your message.

Getting the words right is essential. "Fine," you might be thinking, "I will make sure I proofread everything very carefully." That's a great idea. A good proofreading will help reduce some embarrassing errors and will probably increase the quality of your materials.

However, fixing your spelling errors and creative semicolon use won't transform your words into a smash hit if they weren't good to begin with.

You are going to need copywriting skills. Copywriters are the folks who spend their days dedicated to learning everything they can about what makes certain words, structures and phrases result in sales and who then translate those findings into just the right text.

If you were the CEO of a giant corporation, getting the words right would be easy. You'd just hand the project off to your in-house marketing people or the seven-figure-a-year Madison Avenue advertising agent with whom you deal. "Work your magic," you'd say and something pretty effective would cross your desk later.

As a small business owner, you don't have that luxury. You really have two choices. Find someone with the right skills who can write effectively at a reasonable price or learn to do the job yourself.

Finding a copywriter isn't that hard. Finding a good copywriter is a bit more challenging. Finding a good copywriter who won't force your bottom line into the red is even tougher. It is, however, possible.