In the past few months, I’ve had more than one client insist that I remove all contractions from the Web copy I’ve written for them.

I use contractions because I had read somewhere (long ago) that contractions make copy — especially Web copy — easier to read. Contractions make copy flow better, and they make copy sound natural.

After going through yet another project and removing contractions, I did a bit of research to determine why some clients were so adverse to them.

According to Jennifer Alvey at the Word Solutions blog, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers were trained to use contractions only in “casual” writing.

This makes sense to me. I’ve had more than one client over the years come back to me with, “My daughter in college proofread your copy and made the following changes . . . .”

The changes always entail rendering my zippy marketing copy into stuffy, dull, awkward prose that adheres to the rules of standard college English. UGH.

According Roy Jacobsen, in his article, “Contractions and How Not to Abuse Them,” eliminating contractions is a huge mistake for this very reason.

Jacobsen, quoting William Zinsser, author of Writing Well, gives a number of guidelines on when to use contractions. Bottom line: consider your audience, your tone and what you’re writing.

For us marketing types, using contractions is A-ok — especially because we’re usually compelling people to take some sort of action. As Zinsser points out, because we tend to skim content (especially online), we often miss the second word when a contraction is spelled out — i.e. we read “would not” as “would.”

Hence, contractions improve reader comprehension, which in turn increases conversions.

Well-written, grammatically correct copy never goes out of style. Formal academic English, however, has no place in marketing copy.

Do you agree or disagree? And, do you push back when clients ask that you remove contractions?

Edited to add that Copyblogger also has a great article relating to this topic: 7 Bad Writing Habits You Learned in School.

According to a July 30, 2009 post at Dental Blogs, the Pew Internet Project reported 75-80% of Internet users look for medical information online.

This data is right up there with B2B buyers and consumers who use the Internet to search / shop for products, so I wasn’t surprised by the number.

Dental Blogs went on to advise dentists about how to educate these searchers:

If you want to make sure your patients are getting the solid, accurate information they need so that they can make informed decisions about dentistry, consider expanding the education center on your dental website.

This is really great advice — and one any service professional should follow, be she a lawyer, accountant, dermatologist, or marketer.

However, the author of the post goes on to add that dentists can expand their learning center with canned content — and this is where I got my marketing knickers in a twist.

Part of this twist is due to the fact that I’ve been reading Dr. Bill & Carolyn Blatchford’s book, Blatchford’s Blueprints: The art of creating practice success. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Blatchford is *the* coach for dentists — he helps them achieve practice profitability by focusing on developing their unique vision, leadership skills, and goals.

According to Blatchford, “Vision is a positive statement of what you see, how you believe and desire your life to become. Vision is seeing the future of what you hope to be. Personal vision is not about numbers and goals. . . . Personal vision is the bigger picture of you. It is the values and standards that cover you 24 hours a day.” (emphasis mine)

Remember, people do business with people they trust . . . and by communicating your personal vision, no matter who you are or the job you do, you attract people who instinctively resonate with your vision, whether or not they know it.

So, my question is: How do you communicate your personal vision if you’re using canned content that “dental marketing” companies are willing to sell to you — and that any number of dentists are also using?

In the last few years I’ve had the opportunity to work with three dentists: Dr. Helaine Smith, Dr. Steven St. Germain, and currently, Dr. Anne B. Filler. All three have had me write copy for their websites (Dr. Filler’s new site is still under construction).

What has struck me with each dentist is that while each one provides essentially the same type of service — exceptional dental care — each of these dentists is guided, and indeed driven, by their own personal passion and vision (which I hope comes through clearly on their respective sites).

Dr. St. Germain, for example, believes in educating patients about their dental options and providing the “gold standard” in dental care. In addition, he’s pretty passionate about helping others and regularly volunteers his time on mission trips.

Dr. Filler also believes in educating patients as well as helping them maintain healthy mouths for a lifetime. What I love about Dr. Filler is that she’s very active in her local community: she sponsors youth sports teams, donates her dental services to various community organizations, and hosts high school interns, via the New Hampshire Partners in Education, who are thinking of entering the dental field.

Dr. Smith is passionate about educating consumers about the connection between one’s oral health and one’s physical health as well as helping people transform their lives. She provides her patients an unsurpassed level of care (she once told Yankee Dental workshop attendees that she will visualize a cosmetic procedure from beginning to end before she begins any work). Like Dr. St. Germain, Dr. Smith gives freely of her time and has been on over a dozen missions to third world countries where she provides dental care to children.

Because each dentist took the time to actually develop a website based on their unique values, passion and vision, they come across as authentic, caring providers — something you’re just not going to get with canned content.

Bottom line: If you’re a dentist (or any type of service professional) and you want to create a website that basically says nothing and sounds like all the other dental websites out there, use canned content. (It’s also a whole lot cheaper than hiring someone to write it for you.)

However, if you’re passionate about what you do and want to stand apart from your local competitors, consider hiring a copywriter who can help you craft your unique message that will actually get people in your office door.

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Does canned content have its place? Or should companies strive to create unique content throughout a website?

While in college studying for my Masters degree in English, I was fortunate to have a wonderful professor who literally beat us over the head with regard to pruning wordy copy.

She absolutely hated sentences that began with “there are.” My papers would come back with this phrase crossed out in red ink. I learned pretty quickly to not use it.

Beginning a sentence with “there are” takes away the power in a sentence and the thought being expressed ends up sounding weak.

Plus, beginning a sentence with “there are” is just plain lazy — especially if you call yourself a writer.

Next time you write something, go back through the piece and search for the “there are” constructions and eliminate them, then reconstruct your sentences. I guarantee your copy will read 100% better.

Received junk direct mail from Verizon Wireless today.

Normally I tear this stuff up and throw it away. I don’t need a new phone or additional services.

However, the envelope teaser made me pause:

“You’ve been exceeding your plan minutes. We can help. Please open immediately.”

So I opened the envelope. Inside was a simple letter explaining that because I’ve been exceeding my plan minutes, I should call to see if I need a plan upgrade.

Of course there’s a plug for the Friends and Family(r) plan, but that’s ok because the letter really was all about me.

Great teaser. Great letter. It’s simple, to the point, and it worked for me.

What was the last piece of direct mail that got you to take action and why?

If you’re a relatively new freelance copywriter — or even a veteran one — you may be worried about the current financial crisis. I know I was very worried once the technology boom went bust in 2001. I went from being fairly busy to twiddling my thumbs.

Why?

Because I didn’t know how to market myself effectively.

Don’t make the mistake I did — or spend months using trial and error tactics.

Instead, attend the first ever Copywriting Success Summit 2008 where you’ll learn how to earn a great income as a no-hype copywriter.

This is one event for copywriters that I can honestly endorse simply because I know almost everyone on the panel. I know their work, their philosophies, and their outlook on life — and in the case of two of the panelists, Steve Slaunwhite and Bob Bly, I’m on a “pick up the phone and chat” basis.

I’ve also been a teleclass guest of Mike Stelzner and Steve Slaunwhite — as well as a featured guest on Bob Bly’s teleclasses and audio programs, including one where I was co-guest with Peter Bowerman, another Copywriting Summit expert and author of the Well-Fed Copywriter book.

You won’t find more informative people who can help you grow your business. They’ve been in the trenches for years (if not decades) and know what works — and what doesn’t — and can help you with the following:

• Turning contacts into contracts and contracts into clients
• Automating your marketing
• Becoming the go-to expert in your niche
• Gaining exposure on social networking sites
• Learning how to quote a higher rate — without giggling

Best of all, this Copywriting Summit is presented entirely online! I personally have paid thousands of dollars, not including travel expenses, to attend conferences like this one.

You can learn how to grow your copywriting business in the comfort of your own home — on your own time — and save some serious cash to boot.

To learn more and to register, visit the Copywriting Summit Website.

LinkedIn member Cory Fossum posed an interesting question about the problems people have with copywriters.

The eye-opening responses include missed deadlines, not asking questions until delivering the first draft, and not being able to communicate core messages.

The other biggie? Not being a good enough writer (a few people stated they were better writers than the copywriters they hired — and hence, had to rewrite their stuff).

Thankfully, a few good writers weighed in to talk about problems with clients.

Personally, I was a bit nonplussed regarding those people who thought they were better writers than the writers they hired. I have had clients rewrite my copy over the years — the results have not always been pretty.  

The other “problem” that I found interesting? Copywriters who specialize in one thing only (i.e. B2B) and therefore are not strong enough writers for all types of projects.

I admit it — I am not a B2C writer and happily send these prospects on to other copywriters. Spread the wealth, I say.

If you’re a member of LinkedIn, you can find the question under Marketing and Sales –> Advertising and Promotion –> Advertising.

Let me know what you think!

My good buddy, Tom Ahern, is a genius. No, I mean that really.

He’s taken the lowly newsletter — the one put out by non-profits — and has built an incredibly successful consulting business telling said non-profits how to make their newsletters better (i.e. get people to write checks).

Tom also puts out his own terrific e-newsletter — and the most recent issue, “Dear Untrusted: Show This to Your Boss,” is one of his best yet.

In it he talks about a certain client who rewrites everything his staff writes.

In this particular case, the boss had rewritten his staff writer’s press release. She had written it just the way Tom had trained her and others in a workshop.

If you’re a writer, this scenario is familiar. The boss (or client) fancies himself a writer and loves to get in and muck around in your copy. (Can you feel your stomach already sinking?) Tom writes:

Praise to the boss. Answering to a board of directors, and its occasional fire-spitting rogue members, isn’t a job I’d wish on any enemy.

But here’s the thing: being executive director does NOT make you a capable writer. Occupying the top box in an org chart grants you no special powers.

On the contrary: Being executive director mounts you on a pedestal where you can SAFELY mouth ONLY lofty-leaning vagaries which take all sensititivies into account. Job #1: Offend no one.

That is not the job a writer. In fact, it’s exactly what effective writers DON’T do.

Tom then goes on to talk about the differences between “normal” writers and “effective” writers.

“Normal” writers are literate — they can read and put together sentences and paragraphs BUT their job does not depend on them writing effective (successful) communications.

“Effective” writers, on the other hand, be they non-profit, B2B, or B2C, work their asses off for one goal only: to get people to take a desired action (write a check, download that white paper, sign up for a Webinar, place that online order).

And the reason “normal” writers aren’t “effective” writers is because they lack the understanding and training to write effectively (or “make the cash registers ring,” as Bob Bly says).

Tom’s newsletter hit home for me because even though I don’t have a boss who rewrites my stuff, I have had clients over the years do so.

It usually goes like this — Client: “I showed your copy to my daughter — she’s at Harvard – who made a bunch of corrections.” (Me — Groan.)

The “offending” copy has usually been stripped of its marketing voice — leaving it to sound like something written by well, like an English major. (Trust me — I used to write hard-hitting thesis paragraphs too.)

So what’s an effective writer to do?

Tom concludes that there isn’t much you can do if a boss (or client) doesn’t want to know the truth. Which is why he advocates printing out his newsletter article and leaving it on the boss’s chair. 

What do you think? Is Tom right? Have you had situations where the boss or a client has rewritten your work? How did you deal with it?

I’m fortunate enough to live in New Hampshire, an early primary state.

This means my household, consisting of two voting adults (not including the kid and the dogs), gets postal mail from the various candidates — particularly two candidates, Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney.

(Full disclosure: My husband and I have what we call a “mixed marriage” — I’m a Democrat and he’s a Republican.)

After reading both candidates’ direct mail for a few weeks now, I’ve concluded Hillary could use a good marcom writer — one that can help her better articulate the benefits of her potential presidency.

In a recent mailer she laid out a “blueprint to rebuild middle-class prosperity”:

Restore fiscal responsibility and pursue balanced budgets. Work to ensure the federal government lives by the same rules as American families — don’t spend what you don’t have on what you don’t need.

Create millions of good American jobs, restore our infrastructure and use innovation as the engine of economic growth. Institute trade policies that work for American workers.

Restore economic fairness. Provide tax relief for middle-class families. End giveaways to corporations that ship our jobs overseas.

She has three additional points, but in the interest of brevity, I’m not writing them out.

The point is that her copy / message is vague, lacks specifics, and begs the question, “How will you accomplish all of this?”

Compare Hillary’s copy with Mitt Romney’s (his mailer arrived the same day, so it was fun to compare both side-by-side — and talk about them at the dinner table). His “plan for a strong economy” includes:

Lower income tax rates across the board.

Eliminating taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for anyone with Adjusted Gross Income under $200,000 — making it easier for middle class America to save.

Eliminating the death tax.

Fight for a Presidential line-item veto to allow the President to strip out unnecessary spending.

He has a few more, but again, I’m trying to be brief.

When I read Romney’s mailer, I immediately thought, “Now this message has some teeth to it.” Especially the last sentence: “Mitt Romney is the only major Republican candidate who has pledged to oppose any attempt to raise taxes on Americans.”

As any good marcom writer knows, benefits oriented action statements get one’s message across fast.

With Mitt Romney’s mailer, you know what he stands for and how he plans on getting it done.

Do you agree or disagree? Is Hillary Clinton’s copy lacking in specifics? Does Mitt Romney’s copy effectively use easy-to-understand benefits statements?

I’m the featured guest blogger next week at the International Association of Online Communicators blog where I’ll be talking about SEO voodoo search engine friendly copy.

In his introduction of me at the blog, Morty Schiller writes, “Is SEO magic? manipulation? a myth?”

It’s none of the above, Morty. It’s really about giving people content that helps them make decisions.

Case in point, I received this email from my client, Dr. Helaine Smith, this morning.

I had a woman come in yesterday. She works across the street and was looking for a cosmetic dentist. Her boss told her I was great, but she looked up “cosmetic dentists boston” in Google first, found me, read all about me and then called. So even my storefront sign did not get to her — it was the web.

She accepted my treatment plan and booked her appointment in ten minutes. Thanks!

What’s really significant is that Dr. Smith’s patient wasn’t swayed by her boss’ referral — she went to the Web and only when she found Dr. Smith’s site (which is optimized) did she call.

So no mojo or voodoo — just good copy that’s optimized!

Want to know more about how to develop search engine and people friendly copy? Join me at the IAOC blog next week.

I have a good foundation in marketing writing and techniques: I’ve read John Caples, David Ogilvy, Bob Bly, and Claude Hopkins.

Actually, I’ve read far more than these four experts – my bookshelves are overflowing with marketing and business books.

However, I hadn’t heard of Milt Pierce, until I read about him in Denny Hatch’s review of the book, Marketing Success Secrets, in Target Marketing Magazine.

Milt, for those of you who don’t know, was one of the 1980s big-name, mega successful mail order copywriters the young writers of the time, such as Bob Bly, worshipped and were in awe of. In fact, it was Bly who put together this e-book of Milt’s ”lost” articles, sales letters, and private files. (Milt is retired now — and when Bob asked him for samples of his work, Milt handed over a shopping bag full of material.)

Instead of giving you a review of the book, I’ll use what I learned reading it to tell you why you should read it.

7 Reasons Why You Should Read Milt Pierce’s Marketing Success Secrets

1. Milt Pierce is quite the character — and it shows in his writing. I especially loved his article, “Twelve ways to drive a copywriter crazy” where he writes about the occupational hazards of being a copywriter. Hazard number 7: The client wants to set a direct response TV commercial to Ravel’s Bolero. Why? Because he loves it. (You can just hear the copywriter grinding her teeth.)

2. You’ll learn how to develop your writing talent — because as Milt says, skillful writing isn’t developed out of thin air.

3. A swipe file is your foundation for wealth and business success. Don’t know what a swipe file is? I didn’t either until I read this book.

4. Do you think a formula exists for writing headlines? Milt doesn’t.  As he says, there are many roads to Rome and many ways to write a great headline. He gives you fourteen tips.

5. Learn how much you really don’t know by taking Milt’s direct marketing quiz. Out of 23 questions, I knew the answer to . . . one.

6. Study Milt’s collection of direct mail letters for M Magazine and Good Housekeeping. Learn his techniques and then put them to work in your Web copy and landing pages.

7. Milt’s book — and the ideas it contains – is worth far more than $39 selling price.

You can order Milt Pierce’s Marketing Success Secrets here.