How to Write About Your Business: Three Tips from Zimmerman's In-House Copywriter
Y’all know that when it comes to business, you’ve got to have a website.
P.S You’re reading this blog right now because I prioritize my website!
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1,000 times, but if you really want to grow a business that’s profitable and has staying power, it’s all about communicating who you are and what you do on your website, not just your Facebook page or Instagram profile.
If you’ve gone to create or edit your website tons of times, publish an IG post, or write a product description and you find you just… don’t know what to say, you’re not alone!
When you’re a business owner, you have to be a jack of all trades, and one of the big things every business owner has to do is copywriting!
What does that mean? Copywriting is basically just writing for the purposes of business and marketing.
Like most Zimmerman students, early on in my business, I wrote basically every word on my website, my email, my blog, my instagram, my facebook… you get it. But as my business grew, I realized that the more time I personally spent typing away, the less time I had to teach and interact and connect with students. I couldn’t show up in the ways that only I could if I was spending every minute of my work day at the computer.
So I decided to hire a professional copywriter, Rachel, who had read all my stuff, taken my courses, who knew me, my personality, and my coursework. Rachel knew how to take me and my teaching and communicate it just like I would, formatting it for my online business. These days, Rachel transcribes, edits, and gives feedback on written copy so that you all get the best of what I have to say! It’s a collaborative process that lets me multiply my time and my reach. Basically, Rachel helps me help you! And she’s a Bloomer! So it’s a win-win.
While not everyone is a professional writer or is at a place where they’re ready to hire one, everyone needs to know how to write for business and marketing! If you have a business, odds are you’ve had to write about it in order to make sales and get paid, whether that’s in the form of product descriptions, IG captions, website page copy, facebook ads, or blog posts.
Today, I’m having Rachel share some tips for how to overcome that first roadblock in your business copy journey— where to start.
Jess: Rachel, there are so many things that work together to create a strong business. Why is copy — or what and how you write — when talking about your business, so important?”
Rachel: “Jess, you’re so right. Copy is essential to a business because if you can’t communicate who you are to your ideal clients, it doesn’t really matter how great you are at what you do! What we’re seeing more and more is that people would rather buy from someone they know, like, and trust, even if it means paying a little more. That’s great for makers, creatives, and entrepreneurs, because it means that if we can communicate our value effectively, we can build loyal customer bases who buy from us again and again. The hard thing about that is if you’re not naturally gifted at communicating effectively, especially with conveying who you are and what you do in writing, it can be hard to build that following, and therefore make money. Which is, ya know, essential!
Jess: Exactly. But let’s be honest, not everyone can afford to pay someone to write for them, and not everyone feels comfortable writing! I had years and years where I wanted to focus on copy, but it just kept getting pushed off to the next day and the next day. So for people who are still in the DIY phase of their business copy, what suggestions do you have for them?
Rachel: Totally! So writing something that can be read by literally anyone who has internet access can be scary! I literally have a degree in writing, and it can still be intimidating at times!
Here’s what you need to do before you jump into writing anything specific.
Take a deep breath.
Remember, you’re not getting graded! This isn’t a spelling test or the SAT. Communicating who you are in your business is more of an art than a science. Of course, spelling and grammar matter if you want to be taken seriously and seen as a professional, but that’s just one piece of the puzzle. When it comes to your copy, communicating who you are is more important than having perfect sentence structure, using impressive vocabulary, or avoiding slang.
In fact, contractions, colloquialisms, and slang can go a long way in conveying who you are, where you’re from, and the mood and feel of your business!
Quick Tip: If you’re having a hard time sounding like “you” when you write, try talking through what you want to say while you record yourself. It’ll feel more natural! Then, transcribe your recording and clean it up, cutting out unnecessary words or sentences and adding in paragraph breaks. It can be the little cheat you need to get started!
Don’t rush the process.
You can’t expect to sit down and get everything out in a google doc all at once. That’s just asking for writer’s block!
How do you eat an elephant? Well, hopefully you don’t eat elephants, but the traditional answer? One bite at a time!
Set a timer for five minutes. Write anything that comes to mind for five minutes, and then move on. In another hour or two, do another five. By the end of the week, you’ll have a good chunk written, and you won’t have freaked yourself out!
Quick Tip: Keep the notes section of your phone open throughout your day, and have a note dedicated to your business copy ideas. If you’re out and about and you have a lightbulb idea for an Instagram caption or line for your website, jot it down! Those one-liners add up!
Rewrite.
All writing is rewriting— no one writes well on the first try!
Think of a sculptor molding clay. They start with a gray-brown blob of nothing, and they keep adding and taking away until something beautiful emerges. You can do the same with your writing, but you’ve got to start with that blob! You can’t carve beauty out of nothing.
Quick Tip: Perfect the mumble. Ever watch the show Songland? It’s a favorite of mine. Famous songwriters work with fledgling artists to write hit songs for chart-topping groups. Every expert songwriter has perfected the mumble, which essentially means that when you’re working through a melody and haven’t found the right words just yet, you just mumble through it until the melody is solidified, and you’re ready to focus on the lyrics. If you don’t, it’s easy to hit a roadblock that stops any and all progress. How does this translate to writing?
Example: “Lone Dove Studios is a something something event planning design house dedicated to bringing luxury elopements to life.”
I didn’t know where I wanted to go with those adjectives describing the event planning design house, so I left in filler words until I’m ready to edit. I’ll go back later and fine-tune. It’s a life-saver, and totally legal!
Those are my best beginner tips for getting ready to write! Even if you’re not an expert at writing, you are the world’s foremost expert on you! Trust that the authentic communication of who you are and what you do will bring the right clients to you and make it easy for you to keep them.
And if you’re wondering what to start working on first, I’ll be back in a few weeks with my best tips for writing “About” pages!
Thanks for having me, Jess!