Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Why We Write Badly
You want what you write for your business to sound professional, don't you? We all do, but often in that desire, we accomplish nothing more than writing dull, detached, lifeless copy. Why do we do this?
When we set out into new territory, like writing copy for our business, we're painfully aware that our efforts are not going to be as polished as those who have written copy for years. We fear we won't measure up. So we retreat into writing detached, generic copy in the hope that we'll at least sound professional.
So we stick strictly to facts—no attempt to speak to our potential customers with any hint of our own personality, no attempt to communicate our own enthusiasm for what we're promoting. Just dry, emotionless facts and figures.
In doing so, we try to protect ourselves. If we display our inner selves out on the page and people don't respond, it feels like a slap in the face. It feels like they've rejected us personally.
But if we do nothing more than recite facts about the product and people don't respond, we can tell ourselves that people find the product lacking, not us personally.
Putting ourselves on the line, however, is one of the risks we take when we start a business. That business is not something detached from us, it's something we're pouring our hearts and souls into.
If we, who chose the products that we offer them, are not passionate about those products, why should they be? Being professional does not equal being stodgy and emotionless. Whatever you may think personally about high-profile business owners like Donald Trump, people are drawn to him because of his passion for what he does. He believes one hundred percent in what he does. You'd never see him write a namby-pamby listing of dry facts to try to persuade a potential customer.
Don't be afraid of rejection when it comes to writing copy for your business. I can guarantee that you'll get some. Be passionate, though, about your business and you'll find that you get acceptance as well.
Jeff
You want what you write for your business to sound professional, don't you? We all do, but often in that desire, we accomplish nothing more than writing dull, detached, lifeless copy. Why do we do this?
When we set out into new territory, like writing copy for our business, we're painfully aware that our efforts are not going to be as polished as those who have written copy for years. We fear we won't measure up. So we retreat into writing detached, generic copy in the hope that we'll at least sound professional.
So we stick strictly to facts—no attempt to speak to our potential customers with any hint of our own personality, no attempt to communicate our own enthusiasm for what we're promoting. Just dry, emotionless facts and figures.
In doing so, we try to protect ourselves. If we display our inner selves out on the page and people don't respond, it feels like a slap in the face. It feels like they've rejected us personally.
But if we do nothing more than recite facts about the product and people don't respond, we can tell ourselves that people find the product lacking, not us personally.
Putting ourselves on the line, however, is one of the risks we take when we start a business. That business is not something detached from us, it's something we're pouring our hearts and souls into.
If we, who chose the products that we offer them, are not passionate about those products, why should they be? Being professional does not equal being stodgy and emotionless. Whatever you may think personally about high-profile business owners like Donald Trump, people are drawn to him because of his passion for what he does. He believes one hundred percent in what he does. You'd never see him write a namby-pamby listing of dry facts to try to persuade a potential customer.
Don't be afraid of rejection when it comes to writing copy for your business. I can guarantee that you'll get some. Be passionate, though, about your business and you'll find that you get acceptance as well.
Jeff
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