Comments for Word Nerds

Comment on How Aristotle Can Help You with Your Business Writing by Simon

Simon — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:10:47 +0000

Hey Michael,
Good article and a good read. Those three words – authority, emotion, reason – really resonate as critical and comprehensive elements of any business writing, be it CEO speeches, corporate video scripts or the good ol’ press release.

Comment on How Aristotle Can Help You with Your Business Writing by Speech Writing — How to Use Quotations in Your Speeches and Presentations | Word Nerds

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 03:54:09 +0000

[...] a previous post we looked at logic, emotion and credibility as essential elements of persuasion. While facts and statistics support the logical element of an [...]

Comment on Simple Tips to Improve Your Business Writing by Deepak

Deepak — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:24:19 +0000

Excellent, short, sweet & effective.

Comment on Copywriting — why you should make your words visually appealing as well as persuasive by Judith

Judith — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 05:53:30 +0000

These tips are spot on. People looking for information on the web have a lot of websites to choose from. So attracting people isn’t the only thing you have to focus on. Getting them to stay and read through what you wrote poses an even greater challenge.

Comment on Is Ineffective Graphic Design Diluting Your Copywriting? by Pozycjonowanie

Pozycjonowanie — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 08:50:40 +0000

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.

Comment on Freelance Copywriting – What’s a Fair Price? by Danielle Lynn @ Clear Copywriter

Danielle Lynn @ Clear Copywriter — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 15:03:48 +0000

Very true about having a contract copywriter work at the business. I’m currently a freelance copywriter, and I believe I get a lot more done when I work from my home office – not the employer’s office.

Comment on How storytelling helps your copywriting deliver ‘happily ever after’ by admin

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:37:29 +0000

Hi Cathy,

Thank you for your comments. My suggestion is to include stories about what happened to people when they didn’t have the right car insurance and stories about people who had the right insurance for their needs.

Here’s how I opened an article I wrote about travel insurance.

‘You are about to embark on a trip that you’ve been planning for years. Your bags are finally packed and you make a mental check of luggage to make sure nothing has been forgotten. You’ve packed clothing, toiletries, a camera, guidebooks and medication. You’ve had the necessary vaccinations and your ticket and passport are in order. Then you realise that you’ve forgotten one of the most important items for your trip — travel insurance.

‘Each year the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade handles over twenty-thousand cases of Australians experiencing serious problems overseas. These range from minor theft to serious injury and death. Travel insurance can reduce the financial risk of travelling by covering a variety of situations including trip cancellation, lost luggage, illness, injury and evacuation back to Australia.The necessity of travel insurance has been well documented by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

‘In one case, a young man worked in a US ski resort for four months and then took time off to travel around the US. His 12-month travel insurance policy expired just a few days before his departure for home. He was hit by a car while crossing a road and suffered serious head injuries. He was admitted unconscious to intensive care and was hospitalised until he was able to be flown back to Australia. The cost to the family for the medical evacuation alone was A$80,000 and they have taken out a second mortgage on their house to raise the funds.

‘In another instance, an Australian surfer was seriously injured in a competition in Hawaii. He was flown to the local hospital and underwent two major operations. He had taken out travel insurance before leaving Australia and the A$290,000 medical bill was paid by his insurance company.’

Many motivational speakers and writers use stories to make their points. Read and listen to the works of the old-time motivational writers like Earl Nightingale (Lead the Field) and Napoleon Hill (Think and Grow Rich). They constantly use stories to support their ideas – and do this very effectively. Seeing how others do it will help you develop your storytelling skills.

Comment on Freelance Copywriting – What’s a Fair Price? by admin

admin — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 00:07:42 +0000

Hi Anna,

Thank you for your comments. I believe that 1,000 words of copywriting per day is a reasonable amount. Remember that you have to research the products or services you’re writing about, find the best angle to present it, then organise your ideas. After the first draft, editing and redrafting are essential. From concept to completion, you might be able to write 170 words per hour and write six hours per day. If you are running a freelance copywriting business (and answering enquiries, creating quotations, etc), you’ll be lucky if you get six hours of productive writing in an eight-hour day.

People are mistaken when they think copywriting can be done quickly and easily. Fast writing isn’t good writing, and it requires much more editing in the end.

As the great novelist Thomas Mann said, “A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

Comment on Freelance Copywriting – What’s a Fair Price? by Anna

Anna — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 03:27:30 +0000

Thank you, good article. I know what my rate/hour is (it is on the contract with the client), but I am not an experienced copy writer and my client is extremely tight-ass and somewhat unpredictable.

Additionally, the arrangement is a partnership. I set up and manage his online store and get a percentage from the sales (hasn’t been any yet). Part of ’setting up’ the online store is the copy writing. The work is done, just waiting for the remaining products to arrive.

What I can’t figure out is what is a fair speed. I have written 5 websites with information (About Us, Terms & Conditions, Contact Us etc) plus adjusted a few product descriptions. I took me quite a while to write it. However, I want to log it according to the average writing speed for an experienced copy writer.

The client is not fussy. I am working independently, and deciding the content and how much text is necessary.

How much text per hour is the norm? If I know, then I will go with the corresponding number of hours times the rate, and feel confident that my bill is fair.

Anyone knows?

Thanks.

Comment on Copywriting Basics – Aim for a Short Average Sentence Length by Aaliyah Kennedy

Aaliyah Kennedy — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 15:10:15 +0000

Cool blog post, This story was tipped by Christian Dillstrom – you are doing a good job as mobile and social media marketing veteran is pointing towards you?