Rubber Ducky Copywriter

Being a good anything takes the right kind of person. I’ve been a copywriter for more than 15 years. I’ve met people who think they can write copy (they can’t) and people who want to know how.

Not much anyone can do about the first group, but for anyone who falls among the second group, here’s a quick rundown of basics you need to be a good copywriter. Not a generic on; a good one worth paying.

Ingredient 1: Knowledge of what copywriting is

A copywriter assembles words with the intent to catch the reader’s attention, create a certain emotion and prompt an action for the benefit of the company or organization who’s paying them to do it.

Copywriting is the writer’s equivalent of commercial art.

Wanna pour your heart out in flowery prose? Make your voice heard? Bare your soul for the world to see? Copywriting is the opposite of that. Copywriting has certain standards, best practices and intentions, and none of them involve your soul.

Room for creativity? Absolutely. But in a problem-solving way that needs to work well with design, marketing strategies, click-through rates, metrics and ways to drive revenue. Understand and get on board with that, you’re on your way.

Ingredient 2: Empathy

Good copywriters put themselves in the reader’s shoes. We’re mind readers (almost). We write with the audience first and understand how not to talk down to them. What we write needs to resonate with the audience, in their world.

Without empathy,
a copywriter’s work won’t connect.

Like it was written by someone who only talks about themselves at a party. Only unlike a captive audience at the party, readers can easily move on with the speed of light on a sugar high.

Ingredient 3: The right way with words

No surprise here. Good copywriters know when to use which words correctly with precision, and when to break rules with intent and precision.

We know the difference between the Associated Press Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style.

(I once failed this test of knowledge during a job interview. Do yourself a favor: look them up and know the difference.)

Copywriters live in a world where words are also fun. We are always working on our craft, even if that’s mentally editing closed captions on tv. We edit out of reflex.

Ingredient 4: Toddler-like curiosity

To be a good copywriter, you need to know what you’re selling. And you need to know more than necessary to write whatever you’re writing.

Good copywriters revel in research like a honeybee in a flower field. We want to know everything.

• Knowledge gives you a richer vocabulary to use for the copy.
• Wider context gives you more approaches to effectively communicate.
• Information helps you avoid making mistakes that ruins your writing’s credibility.

Know your subject, your intent, your audience and your competitors. The stronger your knowledgebase, the more credibility and ideas you’ll have.

Ingredient 5: Storytelling in the veins

Humans are wired for stories—we crave them like chocolate on a bad day. Good copywriters know how to transform simple messages into tales that inspire the reader to take an action.

And we know how to do so in a short, 3-sec timeframe because time is precious and your copy has a lot to do, quickly.

Ingredient 6: Adaptability

Copywriters are at the service of those who hire them. Strategies change. Points of contact change. Products change. Features, prices, purposes, and who-knows-what all change. Yes, it can be annoying. But diva copywriters don’t make a good living.

Good copywriters are part of the solution,
not additions to the problem.

Last week, I was handed seven pages of new direction that impacted several brand voice guides I’ve been writing for the past several weeks. Know what? It happens. I sipped my coffee and sallied forth.

Ingredient 7: Chameleon-like wordsmithing

One day, you might be writing for non-profit organization dedicated to saving the earth. Next day, you might be working for a tech company. I’ve written for tech, search, finance and fleet transportation. With some hometown banking and hydroplanes in between.

Good copywriters can change tone, voice, style and editorial standards without breaking a sweat. We have a wardrobe of writerly costumes and can switch between as easily as breathing in and out.

Ingredient 8: A thick skin

This comes back to copywriting being commercial art. During the review and approval process, quality and success are subjective. End results are easier to measure when the metrics roll in, but initially your copy is run past several sets of eyes for several differing opinions.

You will hear it all,
but you will not like it all.

Copywriters work for businesses. Revenue and end results are what matter. Not your feelings. Don’t tolerate inappropriate treatment, but embrace feedback, humility and objectivity. Those are part of the job.

Ingredient 9: Growth mentality

These are the basics. Good copywriters will always be working on their craft. Growing their knowledge, people skills, technical skills, curiosity, writing flexibility, pretty much everything, including time management systems.

Copywriting is a business, not a passion project or hobby. Approach it like one, and you’re on the way to being one of the greats.

Until next time.
Ducky