Content Writing and Copy Editing
Have you ever spent hours and hours trying to find exactly the right phrase? Ever been surprised by an unfortunate typeo or frustrated that your phrasing sounds a bit clunky? Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about any of that?
Copper Moon Media now offers both content writing and copy editing. Whether you need articles, blogs, website content written or edited, our professional staff is here for you.
Copy Writing
Before we do any copywriting for you, we will sit down and talk through your goals and your plans, because your writing needs to reflect your voice, and the voice of your company. Even formal, professional writing can be tailored to suit you and your target audience. Have every confidence that every piece of writing on your website will be smart, carefully edited, and custom-tailored to meet your needs.
Content Writing Process
If you want me to write up a new piece of content for the webpage, I just need some basic information to transform ideas into content. This kind of format will be most efficient, so that you’re not paying extra money for my writing time:
- Format: (Blog, Newsletter Article, Announcement, etc.)
- Intended Audience: (Internal Staff, Existing Clients, Potential Clients, etc.)
- Tone: (Formal, Informal, Humorous, etc.)
- Rough Word Count:
- Timeframe: (We need this posted in three days)
Bullet pointed information that you want included in the writing. (Don’t worry if this isn’t refined writing, as long as the details are clear.)
For example,
- Format: Announcement
- Intended Audience: Internal Staff, Existing Clients, Potential Clients, and Business Competitors
- Tone: Formal, but Personal
- Rough Word Count: 500 words
- Timeframe: We need this next Monday.
Bullet Points:
- Our CEO, Mark Walberg is retiring
- The current VP of Marketing, Jennifer Reims has been appointed to take his place.
- Transition scheduled Nov 15, 2016
- Rimes has worked with Walberg for six months to ensure transition
- Simultaneous launch of new project…
Translated into text, it might look something like this:
After 15 years at the helm of Our Business, Mark Walberg is delighted to announce that his retirement will be leaving the company in excellent hands. Our recent VP of Marketing, Jennifer Reims has been working with Walberg for six months to ensure that she will be able to continue the innovative practices that have kept Our Business at the forefront of…
Copy Editing
Business practices and resources change all the time; are you sure that the language on your webpage is current and compelling? We can not only refine the content, but make sure that the nuances of your language are carefully calculated to demonstrate as well as articulate your business assets.
Copy Editing Process
If you want me to refine existing content for the webpage, you’ll get feedback and suggestions formatted something like the following. (Just so that you have a sense of how much this writing will cost, it took me about 20 minutes to generate both the comments and the suggested alternative phrasing. If you just want suggested phrasing, this would have taken less than 10 minutes.) My comments will be in bold, your original language is in plain text.
Below is an example of the process used for one of our clients, Draker Cody.
Process Example
I love the design of the website, and the homepage looks professional and smart, but I do think that the text could use a bit of refinement. Right now, there are a number of grammatical errors, and a few ways in which the language could be adjusted to better impact your target market.
People make decisions with their limbic (emotional) brain, not their rational brain, which is why “We sell computers” is a less compelling marketing phrase than “We sell innovation.” A computer is a useful thing, but innovation is a way of life, and one that audiences want to be associated with. If you can refigure your own language, you can effectively and efficiently transform your message from a logical argument to an emotionally compelling one.
To start with the homepage—for each bullet point, you’ve made a list of what you’re offering clients: 1. Objective assessment of routine business practices, 2. The ability to streamline those practices and make them more efficient. 3. Outside ideas that offer new possibilities for business practices. 4. Training for leaders and successors that can help them more efficiently manage their business resources, including employees.
Translated to the terms that appeal to the limbic brain, you’re selling security, efficiency, innovation, and power. You need to emphasize those three emotions through the adjectives that you choose. Remember that you’re ultimately selling a concept, not just a product or skill set.
Take the first blurb for an example:
Analysis: Helping You Realize Potential
Highly successful leaders and organizations have got to where they are by working hard and seeking advice from people they can trust. We are such people. We will help you clearly identify the potential that exists and the greatest points of leverage you have to influence change.
The grammar needs a bit of tweaking:
Analysis: Helping You Realize Your Potential
Highly successful leaders and organizations have gotten to where they are by working hard and seeking advice from people they can trust. We are such people. [Grammatically “we are such people” would refer to “highly successful leaders and organizations,” not “people they can trust,” so this phrasing is somewhat confusing.] We will help you clearly identify the potential that exists [This phrasing is passive, and undirected, so it’s not clear whose/what potential you’re describing.] and the greatest points of leverage you have to influence change. [Also ambiguous. I understand that you’re trying to keep the word count down, but this feels like a meaningful paragraph that was cut down awkwardly. Instead of working from large sentences to small, start with something concise.]
But a fully revised vision of the same language would look something like this:
You already have good business practices; we can show you how to make those practices outstanding. Rest secure knowing that you have the best objective evaluation of your practices, and access to the innovative suggestions that will empower you to maximize your company’s potential.
There are a couple of details that I’m trying to draw out here:
-I’m using precise pronouns like “you” and “we” to define a personal, interactive relationship.
-I’m emphasizing the key emotional terms like “secure,” “innovative,” and “empower.”
-I’m minimizing jargon like “leverage…to influence change.”
-I’m minimizing ambiguity. (Not all “change” is good.)
-And I’m using only positive, active phrasing. (No passive voice.)