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Do You Break These Rules in English? Part II

In my last post, I unleashed my inner rebel and gave you permission to break 5 of the big rules your English teachers taught you. Why? Because they’re probably holding back your efforts to write winning sales and marketing copy.

As you recall, the goal of sales copy is to get your readers to effortlessly consume the information you are sharing and then take action! They shouldn’t be thinking about how nice your copy sounds or how well the words flow together. The only thought on their minds should be, “Hey... I really need that!”

This time we’ll take a look at 5 more ways you can break the rules and write better copy.

6. Keep the tone conversational

Try to write like you would speak. In most cases, this means tossing formalities out the window. You don’t want to come across as uptight and frigid because this usually results in long, convoluted sentences that are hard to read. If your readers have to stop to figure out what a sentence means, they may very well stop reading altogether.

7. Write to “you”

Can you imagine your grades if you had written your essays directly to your English teacher? They wouldn’t be good because we are taught to write in the third person (“they,” “them,” etc).

But your sales copy is going to be read by an actual person, not a company. You want to make sure that this person knows you are speaking to her specifically, even though you both know the same message is being read by many other people, too.

So when it’s appropriate, acknowledge that person by writing in the second-person and using “you” and “your” -- just as you would if you were talking to her.

8. Use subheads

Strategically placing subheads throughout your copy serves two big purposes. First, it helps to break apart the copy into easily digestible chunks, especially in long sales letters and content-rich web sites. This makes it easier to read and helps to move the eyes down the page.

Second, if you’re subheads are well-written, timecrunched readers should be able to scan your sales copy, read only the subheads, and still have a solid idea of what you’re trying to get across. This acts as a preview and helps them decide whether to invest more time into your message. If you don’t give them this option, chances are much higher your message will end up in the trash before it is ever read.

9. Bold the important points

This would never fly with an English teacher, but it can make a huge difference in your sales copy. Just like with subheads, bolding your key points can help people get the big ideas even if they are just scanning your copy.

And if they are reading it more closely, the bold elements can help drive an important point home and make it really stand out. Just be really selective about what you bold and how often you do it. Too much bold copy can scream “hype!” and push readers away.

10. Don’t show off your vocabulary

Remember how your English teachers wanted you to use all those big new vocabulary words in your essays? That was fine for class, but it can work against you in your copy. Even if you know a bunch of large and sophisticated words and your vocabulary would make the greatest academic green with envy, keep it to yourself when you’re writing copy.

Remember, the key to successful copy is to keep the flow going. And nothing grinds the flow to a complete halt like having to reach for the dictionary.

(c) 2006 by R. Cory Fossum. All rights reserved.

Do You Break These Rules in English?

In no small part, I owe much of my career to the English teachers I had growing up. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were paving my path towards a life of words.

They spent years teaching me all the rules of English... how to diagram a sentence... how to modify nouns... how to write properly.

There were lots and lots of rules. And I spent a lot of time learning them.

Which is why I’m sorry to report that I break just about every rule they taught me on a daily basis.

But I can’t help it. You see, I’m a copywriter. It’s my job.

I’m not writing magical prose. Or crafting fine pieces of literature. Or aiming for high art. I don't aspire to be featured in Oprah’s Book Club or the New York Times Bestseller list.

The More You Tell, the More You Sell

The goal of sales copy is to sell something. And to hopefully sell a lot of it. It’s to get the reader of your copy to effortlessly consume the important information you are sharing.

And then to act just as you want them to, whether it’s whipping out their credit card, signing up for your list, or putting your product on their holiday must-have wish list.

You don’t want your readers to be thinking about how nice your sales copy sounds, or how the words flow together and sound pretty when read aloud. In fact, your copy is like a special effect in a movie—if your reader is noticing it, you didn’t do your job.

Instead, you want them to be shocked by the facts you present to them. So much so that they will do exactly what you tell them to do. You want to (ethically and honestly) whip them up into a buying frenzy. And to do this, you just have to break the some of the rules they taught you in school.

So when you write your own advertising and marketing copy, turn down those old English teacher voices in your head. It’s time to unlearn everything they taught you.

Here are 5 ways you can start breaking the rules right now.

1. Start sentences with “but,” “and,” “because,” and "which."

But why should you do this? Because it’s much more conversational. And it can help break apart long sentences and ideas. Which makes the entire passage much easier to read.

2. Write short paragraphs.

The goal is to keep your readers' eyes moving along the page. Long paragraphs can seem overwhelming for people with limited time on their hands. Keeping your paragraphs short—even just 1 or 2 sentences—makes your content much more digestible.

3. Exploit the ellipsis.

Nothing creates drama and drives the point home quite like the ellipsis (“. . .”). Used effectively, an ellipsis breaks apart long sentences... allows you to convey multiple ideas at once... without having to worry about segues. It draws the eyes onto the pages... moves them along like an usher... and acts as a dramatic pause before a critical point is made.

4. Use plenty of bridge phrases.

Bridge phrases help effortless glide the reader from one thought to the next. They may be the empty calories of literature, but they play a huge roll in sales copy. Some of the more frequently used ones include “On the other hand,” “What’s more,” “You see,” “By the way,” and “Meanwhile.” And don’t forget the classic, “But wait, there’s more!”

5. End sentences with prepositions.

If you need to brush up, a preposition is a word that expresses a relation to another word or phrase (ie: about, above, from, over, beyond, etc). We were taught to never finish a written sentence with a preposition. But we always finish sentences with them when we talk, so go ahead and break that rule when you’re writing copy. Maybe you know what I’m talking about. If not, read that last sentence over. You’ll see where I’m coming from.

Does your inner rebel need more rules to break? Stay tuned, because there are five more coming your way in the next post!

(c) 2006 R. Cory Fossum. All Rights Reserved.