Welcome to the April 2005 issue of Compositions, James DeKoven's column about strategic copywriting. This time around:
-- Chocolate-Flavored Copy
-- Web Writing For Consultants and Solo Professionals
-- Distilling the Message
-- Recommended Reading
-- The Composer's Latest
-- Album of the month

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Chocolate-Flavored Copy
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What do you know about chocolate? Like a lot of us, Austin Merrill would answer, "Not much". That is, until he reviewed "Chocolate: A Bittersweet Saga of Dark and Light", by Mort Rosenblum, in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Before reading Rosenblum's study of all things cocoa, Austin's "knowledge of chocolate didn't extend too far beyond M&M's and Resse's Peanut Butter Cups". But reading the book "enlightened" him about dark chocolate. Now he sees possibilities he didn't before.

It makes you wonder what people might not - but should - know about your products or services. What possibilities are they not aware of?

We all understand the need to spell out the practical applications of our offerings. But there are other uses people can't imagine, other results they can't foresee. Tell them. Show them. Enlighten them.

When you go beyond the obvious, you create "I-never-thought-of-that" moments. And in a marketing universe where most messaging is commodity, those distinctions provide an edge and increase the chance of converting readers into prospects.

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Web Writing for Consultants and Solo Professionals
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If you're an independent consultant like me, you probably get most of your jobs through referral. And having a stellar web site makes referral selling even easier. It works like this:

Joanne gets your name from a trusted source, which automatically propels you a couple steps into the sales cycle. Then she visits your site, where you've impressed her with the way you speak about your services, expertise and credibility.

Before she's even called, Joanne's probably thinking you're good for the job. Your site has set the tone for the first interaction: instead of going through dozens of questions, Joanne will be ready to ask, "Do you have availability next week?"

Does your site speed up the sales cycle? Here are some tips to convert your informational site into a closing tool:

-- Be personal: Some consultants try way too hard to sound like corporations. Instead of being personal, they write with a distant, "professional" tone that's more suited for academia. People hire you, not the company you used to work for. Speak like a real person, okay?
-- Show passion: Consulting services aren't cheap. You're worth it, but the prospect has to believe in you. And that means you have to believe in yourself. Say it. It's confidence, not arrogance.
-- Stand out: Study competitor sites and take note of the common messages. If you say the same things, in the same dull tone as your competition, you might as well say, "I'm just like everyone else." Focus on a market. Discuss how you solve a specific problem. Stand out.
-- Share your opinion: When you're at the consultant/professional services level, you get hired as much for the way you think as for your skills. Don't wait for the first meeting. Say it on your site - create short articles, a listing of viewpoints, your process, any content that displays your methodology and the thinking that fuels your work. Just make sure these highlight your differences rather than lumping you in with the competition.
--- Answer every question: As an expert in your field, you know the qualities your audience looks for. Make sure you site represents those qualities. Think of all of the questions you typically get asked. Answer them. Consider potential objections. Overcome them on the site.

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Distilling the Message
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All of us buy things based on clear promises. Save money. Save time. Look younger. Protect your family. Be happier. Quench your thirst. Get your boss off your back.

But marketers are funny creatures. Sometimes we make those ideas unnecessarily difficult to comprehend. Copywriters learn a story that perfectly illustrates the point:

When the telephone was considered new technology, two salesmen were scouring the farms of the Midwest for customers. Hank was selling to everyone; Fred couldn't sell to anyone.

Both men were enthusiastic. Both were well dressed. Both had clean breath. So what separated Hank's success and Fred's failure? The angle of their messages.

Fred talked to farmers about wires and electricity and connections and switches. All Fred got were blank-eyed stares and mumbled directions to the nearest hotel.

Hank, on the other hand, simply pointed out to farms in the distance and said, "With a telephone, you can talk to your neighbor WAY over there." Hank racked up sales and second helpings of peach cobbler. All because he distilled his message into one compelling benefit, and then built his entire sales pitch around it.

Hank understood one of the basic tenets of persuasive communication: don't make the simple sound sophisticated when simple is what sells.

Of course, you don't always want to be as pedestrian as Hank, but the root message should be the starting point. Don't let the fancy words and esoteric concepts obscure the core idea. Speaking of ideas...

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Recommended Reading
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Looking for a good idea? Start by getting "How to Get Ideas", by Jack Foster. It's a book that always recharges my creativity. Spare, conversational, thought provoking and funny, Foster (a copywriter) points out where ideas really come from and how to get better ones.

Foster's book isn't just for writers. Everyone needs ideas - art directors, business owners, IT Directors, gardeners, chefs, and others who build, create, develop, and collaborate. Get a copy or two to pass around the office.

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The Composer's Latest
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Compositions readers have been asking: James, what have you been working on lately? For starters, check out this recent project - www.blueandgoldfleet.com

If you've ever visited Alcatraz, you probably took a Blue & Gold cruise to get there.

Kudos to the outstanding work by my partners on this project:

Web design: Pylon Studios
Contact JP Collins or (415) 775-4126

Database and content management development: Six Feet Up
Contact Gabrielle Hendryx-Parker or 1.866. SIX FEET

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Album of the Month
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Eddie Hazel's psychedelic/funk/rock guitar style gave the early Funkadelic records a distinctive sound. Hazel's lone solo record, "Games, Dames and Guitar Thangs", just got re-issued a few months ago. He goes from searing guitar-hero antics to introspective jams to inventive covers of the Beatles and the Mamas and the Papas. There's nothing like it, truly amazing music by one of music's most mythical figures. Only 5,000 copies were distributed -- get your copy soon.


Until next time,

James