Strunk & White, authors of Elements of Style wrote one of the best chapters ever anywhere (about composition). It reads: “omit needless words.” that’s it. And really, what more do you need to know? OK. a little bit more. But the idea still stands. Write less… get more. Write less… and get better copy.
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These days though, people are doing the opposite. In an all-out SEO onslaught, they’re stuffing their copy with as many (key) words as possible. I wrote a paragraph for a travel agent the other day that read: “My name is John Fortson. I’m a travel consultant - I help travelers get good deals, and have good vacations. It’s what I do, and what I like to do.” Pretty good, right? Well, now it reads: “My name is John Fortson. I’m a leisure travel consultant - I help leisure travelers get good deals, and have good vacations. It’s what I do, and what I like to do.” It’s still alright, but it has two too-many words in it now. The timing is gone, and with it, so is some of its’ effectiveness.
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Now, I’ve come a little way from my why new tech doesn’t need SEO post… I get why you should use SEO, and really, I think it’s a good idea. I even think a good SEO writer (which admittedly, I’m not) can find a decent balance between what appeals to spiders and what appeals to people. But the reality is that it’s always a tradeoff. You can’t ‘omit needless words’ while at the same time ‘adding important words.’ It’s just not possible.
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So, though I’d like to tell you to screw SEO, I won’t. I’ll tell you to consider it. But, I’ll tell you that if you’re in the position to trade SEO for readabililty (and I think a lot of people are), then you should. You should omit needless words, and you shoud write better stuff.
I’ve done some work on the blog in the past few days… mostly in re-doing the pages up top. Check out my new About Me page, or my new Services page. Yep. You definitely should check out the Services page.
My favorite comedian died yesterday… gone from a heart attack. However, like almost all people these days, he’s still around on the web. Namely, on YouTube. Here’s some of his his best:
But this post is about more than the video (though that’s good); It’s about Carlin’s writing. I really think he was one of the best… he wasn’t writing novels or poetry, wasn’t even writing copy. But he had a great sense for timing, and a great sense for what sounded right (regardless of what was right). Most of all, he was always willing to say what he thought, and say it plainly. He was honest, and upfront… he was everything I talked about in the last post. As a result, he was good. One of the best.
I really think we could all learn from Carlin… we could learn to enjoy funny (realistic) stuff, and learn to write better copy. But that’s probably not all. Anyone else have something you learned from him? Something I’m missing here?
Bad copy pulls punches, and sneaks around the point. It tries to sell people without telling them - tires to sell by trickery. And really… it just comes across as weak. On the contrary though, good copy is real, and it’s honest. If it’s sales copy, it asks for sales. If it’s fundraising copy, it asks for money. It backs it up, sure - it tells you why you should give money. But it never shirks from the point. Good copy isn’t ashamed of what it is. It stands on it’s own, self-validated (and more powerful).
Example: I wrote the following for a client the other day: At the Auditory Oral School of New York, we’re doing some amazing things. We’re teaching deaf and hearing-impaired children to listen and speak normally. We’re teaching them to interact normally in the world, and we’re giving them the ability to live normal lives. Lives not hindered by what’s regarded as a tragic anomaly… but lives enriched by sound, and lives open to whatever experiences these children seek.
…However, as you can imagine, doing amazing work is difficult. It takes persistence, energy, and money. We’ve got the first two covered, but we need more money...
I think it’s good. I think it’s to-the-point, and I think it’s powerful. But, the response came back negative - they thought it was too “aw shucks.” Too informal. Translation? It made them uncomfortable, and they didn’t want to make their donors uncomfortable. Translation? They didn’t actually want to ask for money. They just wanted to imply it, and wanted rich people to comply. That’s bullshit. It’s waste of time (for me and for them). If you don’t want to ask for money, don’t hire a writer to do it. If you do, than go ahead and do it. Be comfortable with what you’re doing, then write stuff that backs it up. Don’t write stuff that compromises what you’d like to say… write stuff that enhances it. Have some personal power, and write powerful stuff.
Good copy gets ideas across. It’s as simple as that… you write to communicate ideas, and people read to consume them. I think novelists get that, I think poets get that, but I think a lot of copywriters miss it. I think they get so caught up in creating ’stuff that sells’ - so caught up in ‘relating to the customer,’ and creating ‘urgency to buy’, that they miss the point. They work so hard to convince you that you NEED something, they forget to tell you what it is. That’s dumb.
It’s dumb, especially in the startup world. Startup copy is ALL about the ideas. That’s because most startups (at least in new tech) are developing a new one. You’re not peddling blenders here… you’re selling a new way for people to relate and interact around RSS feeds (for example). Really, that’s what makes new tech so cool, and if you do it right, that’s what gives your copy (and your brand) life. But it also means you have to explain the ideas, and it means you have to explain them well.
Of course, this isn’t easy (and that’s why I have a job). It’s not easy to explain ideas well, and if you do, it’s not easy to explain ideas well in context… with the proper flow and the appropriate snark. That’s why I think the guys over at Ignighter and I did a good job with their landing page copy. I think we communicated the idea - that they’re a new company offering a new idea (of group dating), and I think we got across what it was without being too wordy, and while still being casual (and a bit snarky). Check it out to see what I mean.
The ideas come first… that’s the important part. That’s the straight-forward part too… anyone can do it. After that, it’s a matter of making it sound right, and work right. Do that, and you’ll have good idea-based copy.
