Kranz On Copy: Insights and answers on copywriting and writing copy

I had a delightful e-mail exchange this morning with one Catherine H., a self-described neophyte who sought my advice on marketing her copywriting services.

I was delighted to respond, partly because her e-mail was so polite and articulate (many of the requests I get are not; often they're little more than electronic pokes in the chest -- "I'm a writer. Tell me how to market myself."), and because I keenly remember what it was like to be in her position.

Time for a flash-back:

Way back when I started, I was delighted with a new computer -- a 75Mhz Pentium -- my brother Christopher had been kind enough to give me. Like a kid with unlimited credit in a candy store, I was thrilled with all the new flavors available to me, including this mysterious virtual highway called the Internet. In fact, I discovered this service, Compuserve (remember them?) that even had forums, for people like me, dedicated exclusively to freelance writing.

What a wonderful thing, I thought. A community of like-minded souls, sharing advice, experience, even emotional support.

Talk about naive...

In one of my first posts to the group, I explained that I was a newly minted freelance copywriter examining his marketing options. Given their experience, would the forum participants recommend cold-calling? Mail? Had they any success with advertising?

Within minutes, I got the following message: "I don't mean to seem rude, but if you don't know how to market yourself, how do you expect to market others?"

Bang. Another illusion bites the dust. If the Internet dream was of a virtual community of mutually-supportive citizens, the reality is something else entirely. Often, it's the playground of weak people who use the medium's anonymity to give themselves power they couldn't otherwise acquire.

So today, I make an effort to offer what support I can. If you're new to copywriting, I'm glad to help. I appreciate it when you buy my book, but that's not a prerequisite. Just be nice.

In business, the first week of September represents the real beginning of a new year. People return from vacation; new plans spring into action; new budgets get tapped; new employees take on new roles. Business associations that had been dormant over the summer pull the sheets off the furniture and initiate a new wave of events. Once again, the wheel of economic karma turns.

For me, last week's vacation is already receding far into the distance while the projects I've lined up for September loom ominously over my head. It's truly the beginning of a new year of activity.

I can't help but think how topsy-turvy this all is. Today, we plant our seeds in Septmember and anticipate the distant summer as a time of rest (for at least part of it anyway). In an agrarian age, we planted in spring, worked like dogs in the summer, then looked toward Octoberfest as a post-harvest celebration of bounty -- one we prayed would carry us through the long, dark winter.

What seeds are you planting this September?

As you may know, I offer one-day, in-house marketing seminars that bring my writing training directly to your department. Now you can get a taste of that training on a smaller scale.

On Thursday, September 15 at noon, I will lead a 90-minute MarketingProfs.com Virtual Seminar titled, B2B Web Power: How to Find, Create and Write the Content You Need, Fast. The preceding link leads you to a course description and registration info. I hope you'll join me!

Then just a week later, I will be the featured speaker at a Boston Business Marketing Association(BMA) event Thursday, September 22. (This is new news -- you may bookmark the Boston BMA website now, though the event description hasn't been posted yet.) Tentatively titled, Collateral with Conviction, my presentation will focus on the formation of sales support material prospects and customers will actually want to read. If you're in the Boston area, I hope I'll see you there.

It's here: After months of impatient waiting (on my part -- I couldn't wait to see it in print), my friend David Scott's new book, Cashing In With Content has arrived!

Subtitled, "How innovative marketers use digital information to turn browsers into buyers," Cashing In features 20 real-life case studies that illustrate the value of developing content . . . the way to develop content . . . and the lucrative consequences of creating content people genuinely want and use.

Al Ries calls the book, "A treasure chest of ideas for making your website more interesting and compelling." Seth Godin says, "Don't let the title fool you! This is an important riff on a basic truth: The web is not TV. Marketers beware: Hype will lose every time because consumers now have a choice."

And yours truly weighs in with the following: "In the Information Age is it possible that the best web strategy is one that gives visitors -- gasp! -- something meaningful to read? Scott says it's not only possible, it's probable and, most importantly, profitable. Cashing In With Content is a must-read book that shows you why and how."

What are you waiting for? Go order a copy.

. . . you wouldn't believe me!"

That's the response my friend Ken Lizotte would give to clients who wanted to know what to do with the rest of their lives. Today, Ken's the principal of the Emerson Consulting Group, a consulting firm that helps turn professionals into thought leaders via publishing book and articles.

But back in the day, Ken was a career counselor. And like any responsible career counselor, Ken led his clients through a battery of tests, surveys and interviews to help them arrive at deeper self-knowledge -- the kind of understanding that shapes responsible career choices.

But that's a lot of work, isn't it? And it means taking a lot of (read: all of) responsibility for your life. So, many clients would throw up their hands in frustration and say, "Geez, this is hard! I wish someone would just look me in the eye and TELL me what to do!"

Hence, Ken's response.

I call it the "Ruby Slipper Syndrome": As the Good Witch said, Dorothy had the answer within her all the time -- "There's no place like home." But it wasn't worth anything until she BELIEVED it.

I see this Syndrome as both "patient" and "doctor." Many times, people have told me the truth -- truth that should've been deeply useful to me -- but because I wasn't prepared (emotionally or intellectually) to hear it, it fell on deaf ears. And I had to learn the hard way. . .

And as doctor, I often find my best advice -- tested by my experience and confirmed by the experiences of others much wiser than myself -- flat out ignored. Because it contradicts the assumptions my clients "know" must be right, my advice must be wrong. Has to be. No two ways about it. Otherwise, the assumptions are wrong. And that just can't be, can it?

"I could tell you, but you wouldn't believe me." It's the perfect epitaph for the gravestone of a wise man.