Copywriting UK | TENFOUR blog

TENFOUR is positively sure about this: putting on your positive head when writing for business is a good idea where possible. Yes, we are repeating ourselves (see Eden Project post). But this is important folks.

We saw an email pitch recently which told us about the ‘common mistakes sales people make’. A long list followed with of phrases like ‘failing to recognise’, ‘ignoring warning signs’, ‘wasting time’… and the last line explained how picking up the phone to this company could help recipients to ‘avoid repeating these mistakes’.

It can be good to admit our own mistakes, of course. But we’d argue that telling someone else about theirs can strike the wrong note in a sales pitch. Does this person really want to hear that they are essentially hitting themselves over and over again with the same plank of wood?

Just a small change of angle can help. Rather than ‘don’t get stitched up’, how about ‘reduce the risks you’re taking’? Equally, ‘be more confident about taking on the right employees’ has to be better than ‘don’t take on any more no-hopers’.

We might be exaggerating here. And, horror of horrors, this post might be a bit negative too. But we do have positive intentions at heart… we promise.

What’s in a business email address - you know, the address you ask clients to contact you on? Well, TENFOUR thinks it’s quite important.

Are we being a bit harsh in saying that info@ and enquiries@ prefixes are a bit boring? Adding a name rather than a generic info@ seems so much more personal. Even if it’s a made up name - as in the case of youth drugs advisory organisation Talk to Frank.

We’ve seen some other nice alternatives too. Hello@ was one our favourites. It doesn’t have to be too clever.
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You really need to watch for repetition when you write - especially short articles.

TENFOUR was editing a press release recently, and within six short paragraphs we counted 11 uses of the word ’scheme’.

It’s easily done, and we all have our favourite words. Sometimes it’s just about getting someone else to have a read over what you’ve written before you publish.

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During a recent copywriting job, TENFOUR suddenly remembered how important templates can be as part of the copywriting process.

What do we mean?

Well, let’s say you’re pulling together a number of separate factsheets that describe similar events, services or products. In cases like these, it can be helpful to fix some of the page elements across the set - things like headings or sub-headings.

Why so?

Putting yourself in the reader’s shoes for a moment: with these fixed elements in place, you start to notice a pattern once you’re onto your second or third sheet. Firstly, you realise these separate sheets form a set - which may be beneficial. Secondly, and more importanly perhaps, you start to be able to navigate the pages better. You begin to learn what information you’re looking for and where it’s going to be on the page.

Information navigation is an interesting concept. It’s something that people pay a lot of attention to when creating websites - there have been books written, let us tell you. But navigation is something that can easily be forgotten when we’re tackling printed materials.

Think about our cheeky TV friends, Ant and Dec. It’s no coincidence that you’ll find them on the same side as each other when they’re on TV [have you heard that one?]. It means you know where to find them. And that’s always helpful, heh?

TENFOUR did a short presentation to a group of business breakfast friends the other morning. We woz forced, guvnor!

Anyway, it seemed to go alright. But, one piece of constructive feedback we received from a member - Paul Dutch (from Harold Benjamin) - was that we could perhaps have shown some examples of words we’d drafted in the past.

Of course, TENFOUR thought. It’s the sort of thing that, as copywriters, we advise clients to do all the time. Namely, to show examples of what the company does well in any presentation (e.g. a standing-up-in-front-of-a-room gig, content on a website, or words in company literature).

It goes without saying, for some types of businesses it’s easier than others. But, if you feel it’s possible in your line of work, can you think of any work examples that cover off all the different aspects of your product(s) or service(s)? If so, it’s worth keeping them up your sleeve for the right time. Actually, no… wear them on your sleeve for all to see. Why not? It’s what you do best.