First!

Here’s the first bit of blogging that should give you a free peek into the mind of a copy writer. On these pages I'll be keeping you up to date with what's going on here and most likely ranting and raving a fair bit too!

So let's get started!

Often when a website needs to be made, the owner will have a go at writing the content themselves. Sadly, this is often the kiss of death to their business.

Here are a few examples. These are real cases that I’ve disguised a little. The circled and underlined parts are the most obvious problem areas.

“Our Customer Acquisition Program capitalizes on learning the basics in the Advertising Industry, specializing in Client Representation, in a happy culture atmosphere.”

How does that read to you? Remember, this is a real piece of copy, most likely written by the company owner. It…is…bad.

Why?

The word ‘capitalizes’ is wrong. This is an example of someone using a word that they think sounds clever and businesslike, when it just comes off as a little pretentious.

A better choice would be “relies” or “depends”. These are good solid words. Anything that sounds even slightly flashy should be discarded as it stinks of desperation. (Would you rather buy a used car from the man in a simple clean white shirt, or the man with a sparkling gold tooth and a cheap shiny suit?)

The above piece of copy is from a UK business, so I would expect the use of the word “Specialising” not “Specializing”. If they were aiming at clients from the US, perhaps this would make sense, but in this case they were not. They have simply done what their spell checker has told them to do. To me, this screams of a lack of self-confidence.

And don’t even get me started on the “ happy culture atmosphere”. What does that even mean? Are they saying it’s a fun place to work? And what is the word “culture” contributing here? Nothing. Get rid of it.

“Our Organisation provides an environment where people can stand out within their responsibility”

Their responsibility? What does that mean? Are they trying to say that workers will have the chance to stand out? Are they hinting at promotion opportunities? Then why not say that?
Even if these changes were made, it would still be a weak piece of writing. This could have been easily avoided by handing the job straight to a copywriter.