25: What is copywriting and why is it important? (Plus a bonus tip!)
Wouldn’t you like to have an easy button to generate new content ideas? Something that could instantly generate ideas that would appeal to your audience? And wouldn’t it be great if that button was free?
In this episode of ill communication, I’m sharing that easy button content generator with you and I’m providing a live example of how to use it!
There's a funny thing that happens when you're writing copy and creating messaging and getting ready to hit publish. Either you completely forget all of your great ideas or you second guess all of your ideas and talk yourself out of using them. Sometimes we just can’t summon the creative juices we need to write the copy we are going for.
In using this easy button in my business, I learned that a lot of people are curious about what copywriting actually is. So I’m also going into the basics of copywriting to help you get a better understanding of what it is and why it’s so important for your business.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
The free copywriting tool you need to try out
How to use this tool in your business
What copywriting is
Types of copywriting
How I became a copywriter
You need good content to build your authority, share your ideas and nurture your audience, and you need good sales copy to move your audience from reader or follower to subscriber and buyer, which is why copywriting is so important. Writing raises your brand awareness and your authority, so it’s always a good investment.
The next time you’re feeling brain-dead overwhelmed with what to write, use this easy button! You’re sure to get tons of great ideas!
If you’re looking for a way to write more magnetic copy, make sure to download my free Magnetic Copy Checklist here.
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Welcome to Ill Communication. Copywriting Tips and Sales Strategies for Small Business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soul mate clients. Let's get started.
Wouldn't you like to have an easy button to brainstorm new content ideas, something that could instantly generate dozens of ideas that would appeal to your audience? And wouldn't it be great if that easy button was free? Today I'm sharing that easy button content generator with you, and I'm going to provide a live example of how to use it. Hello and welcome to the 25th episode of L Communication. And I got to begin with a confession. When I set out to start this podcast, I had 1,000,001 ideas about what topics and content I could share with you. I remember writing pages of notes when I was brainstorming one day, But there's a funny thing that happens when you're writing copy and creating messaging and getting ready to hit publish. Either you completely forget all of your great ideas or you second guess all of your ideas and talk yourself out of using them. As a busy business owner or a marketer. Sometimes we just can't summon the creative juices we need. And wouldn't it be nice to outsource some of the thinking and brainstorming and validating the quality of those ideas with a simple push of a button? And my friend, that easy button exists. It's a free web based tool called Answer the Public. It collects and organizes all the search terms and questions people type into Google. It's a search listening tool that's handy if you're wondering what people are searching or what questions they have about your industry. When you visit, answer the public dot com, a search form pops up, you enter a single word or two describing your topic or your industry like financial planning or graphic design or life coach.
When you press search, an amazing list of questions pops out and it's organized into different categories of questions. It's visual, so you can see which questions get asked most frequently. And as you dig through the data, you'll see common themes pop up in the questions. For example, I ran a graphic designer for a client of mine who's a graphic design coach. I discovered lots of questions around salary and revenue, like how much money does a graphic designer make? What is a graphic designer salary or how much does a graphic designer charge? This inspired us to create a free resource or a lead magnet around pricing and packaging To answer the questions graphic designers or wannabe freelance graphic designers are asking. We're still in the creation phase, and she'll be testing this new resource along with her existing lead magnets and free offers. And I recently ran the data for my industry. I searched copywriting. Among the top questions that popped out are what is copyrighting and why is copyrighting important? And as you can see from the title, I've turned this into today's podcast episode because if people are searching, what is copyrighting? I want my brand to be one of the possible answers that pops up. And over the last couple of weeks, actually, a few listeners and followers have reached out to me to ask about some of the terminology I use to describe myself and this podcast.
So it's a great reminder to us all not to make assumptions that everyone knows what we're talking about all the time and to make sure we take the time to cover the basics in our content and copy. So what is copyrighting copywriting is writing for advertising or marketing purposes. It's the act of writing copy and copy is a term used to describe the text of an ad, a promotion or a commercial. In today's world, you write copy on your website because your website should sell your brand and your services. You write email copy and ad copy to announce your promotions and sell your products. Now, copywriters can specialize in different areas. You'll find ad copywriters, email copywriters, website copywriters, and you'll find copywriters who specialize in a specific niche like financial copywriting, health copywriting or tech copywriting. I specialize in direct response copywriting. Direct response is a form of marketing with the goal to get your reader to take a specific action to give a desired response to the copy. And that's usually to buy your product. But it could also be to sign up for your free offer or book a call. I use the term direct response copy interchangeably with sales copy where you're selling the action you want your reader or your lead to take. Another term that pops up is conversion copyrighting. This is a term coined by Joanna Wiebe of Copy Hackers, which is one of the top copyrighting schools and one I've studied with. She describes herself as the original conversion copywriter. Conversion copywriting is data driven and grounded in research with the goal to get someone to take action.
So it's very similar to the direct response. What can be confusing to many business owners and marketers is the difference between sales and conversion copywriting and content writing. Content writing or content marketing is less focused on persuasion and sales or driving action. Content writing is more focused on delivering value sharing information, ideas and education. Content writers can also specialize in different industries, or they can become experts in a type of content like blogs, video scripts, social posts, or white papers. Now, if this little breakdown and description of copywriting is new for you, you're not alone. In fact, even though I've been performing the act of copywriting for decades in my various jobs with government and environmental agencies and charities, I didn't know what I was doing was called copywriting. It wasn't until several years ago when I was exploring my options for becoming self employed and starting my own business that I discovered the field of copywriting. Back in 2017, I started following Marie for Leo, who is an online personality and the creator of Marie TV. She shares content to help you build the business and life you love. That's her tagline. It was when I started following her that I discovered this whole new world of online business. And while I always understood the need for email marketing and having a website, I didn't know there was an entire ecosystem of business conducted online where you find and work with clients completely online. And keep in mind, this is now several years before the pandemic.
So what's a way of life? Today was completely new to me back in the past. Anyway, it was through Marie for Leo's community and later through her online business program B School that I discovered, quote unquote copywriting and develop the skills and confidence to launch my own business. And as a side note, it was truly one of the best decisions I've ever made because it's really changed my life and created amazing time and financial freedom for me and my family. And that's the power of copywriting. If you run a business or you're in marketing or customer relations, you need to write copy. You need good content to build your authority, share your ideas and nurture your audience, and you need good sales copy to move your audience from reader or follower to subscriber and buyer, which is why copywriting is so important. Writing raises your brand awareness and your authority. Copywriting gets clients and generates business revenue. Whether you write your own copy or you hire a copywriter like me to help you, it's always a good investment. Well, my sweet friend, that's it for today. The next time you're feeling brain dead or overwhelmed about what to write, head to answer the public. Enter your industry or product type and get dozens and dozens of questions you can answer in your content. And keep on listening to this podcast because every week you'll get a tip, a hack, or a prompt to help you become your own amazing copywriter. I'll see you next time.
Thanks for listening to this week's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you enjoy these snack sized strategies and tips, you'll want to join my VIP Copy and Cocktails club. It's my email newsletter where I share more coffee tips, sales strategies, and the occasional recipe for my favorite beverage or appetizer du jour. To subscribe, visit Kim Qualcomm slash newsletter. Thanks for tuning in.
Resources Mentioned
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Additional Resources
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