Tom Johnson offers a great writing tip especially for tech writers and others who write instructions. This method also works well with Web content and forms. Watching people use a Web site, a product, a service — anything is a superb way to get insight on how others use the product or service.

Those involved in the creation of the product or service — whether a little or a lot — see too much and know how to find what they need. So where do you find this user especially if you’re a freelancer? Ask family and friends. While they might not be the target market, they have one important thing in common with the target market: They haven’t seen or used the product or service. It’s better than nothing.

In writing the Brilliant Outlook Pocketbook, the editors assumed the role of the users. While I didn’t watch them read over the chapters — they identified areas where the instructions or tips didn’t make sense. By the time the proofs came to me giving me fresh eyes, I could see why they had questions.

Draw your customers in with a handful of powerful copy. No, no, you don’t have to go to college to make it happen nor do you have to buy a doorstopper-sized book, which gets dusty before you muster the strength to crack it open.

Are you like me? A kid in a candy store when it comes to books? You buy every self-help or non-fiction book to bring in more business. One problem. When do we have the time to read them? This book simply won’t let that happen with its short chapters, personable style, and valuable information on how to keep visitors clicking until they make the buy. This book is the how. How to take all the theories and whys discussed by other authors and make it happen. I have trouble with theories because they don’t help me visualize the application of such theories. This book stays away from whys and shows you how.

Don’t believe me? When I started reading the book, several big projects got thrown my way leading to late night reading being replaced by late night working. Every now and then, I took a break and breezed through this book reading many pages in a brief time while gaining new knowledge and a refresher in creative writing as it applies to online copy.

Non-fiction is my thing when it comes to writing. Over time, I have forgotten creative techniques for adding spice to copy. The authors jolted memories of high school English classes where we learned about the different poetic styles (iambic pentameter, alliteration, meter, etc) and to avoid using passive verbs. Not only that, but also they cover how to write for different personalities.

Already getting high traffic to your site? Good for you! That means you know how to draw attention and interest. But, how are you doing in building desire so that they take action? Hmm… could that be the challenge? The authors drive toward long-term results by engaging your visitors and leading the way for them to get what they need and be satisfied with it.

I’m familiar with a few techniques discussed in the book, but many may not be. It depends on what you do with regard to the Web site. I understand making a Web site usable and getting visitors to the site. My Web site’s weakness is converting visitors into customers. Marketing pros may succeed with creating a desire, but have trouble with visitors taking action. The authors cover all the areas needed to persuade via the Internet from “notice me!” to “be happy with me!”

Are you thinking, “More technology! We need more technology to make this work?” We’ve taken technology for granted, but all it can do is what human programmers program it to do. Technology doesn’t know human nature. It doesn’t know how to feel or need something. People do and can convey what they know with words. Words make the sale. Technology ensures the words get their say (by quickly loading the Web page and functioning the way it should) and to push the sale through the back-end process (taking the order, managing inventory, etc.). This is where conversion principles apply. The authors share simple processes for improving conversion rates.

A splash page is the “introduction” page to a Web site. It’s flashy, colorful, and cool. But it’s a waste of time. It gets in the way of the core material. Customers don’t care how good your designers are, they care about what you can give them and that comes through words and good online copy. It’s time for the online world to get what print mastered many years ago. The authors’ witty writing style makes the book enjoyable to read without sacrificing wisdom. They practice what they preach and it’s no wonder that GrokDotCom.com, the site behind Future Now, Inc. is a success.

Time has come to let go of what’s in it for the company and think of what’s in it for the customer. In time, you shall reap the rewards at the bank.

VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Persuasive Online Copywriting
AUTHOR: Bryan Eisenberg, Jeffrey Eisenberg, and Lisa T. Davis
PUBLISHER: Wizard Academy Press
PUBLICATION DATE: September 2002
ISBN: 0971476993
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 176
PRICE: US$18.00

The online marketing experts, Web designers, and usability gurus have been saying that the content is the heart of a Web site, it’s what connects the readers with the site. Yet, many sites, especially businesses, aren’t getting the message. Even writers who are used to writing for printed publications have to change their habits for online writing.

We’re bombarded with tons of email and more than half is most likely Spam. It’s tough for businesses to build relationships through email with all the other email garbage in the way. Nick Usborne shows how to break through these barriers and build relationships through words and good copywriting.
Most agree that online advertising has failed. The people who have done offline advertising are applying the same rules and concepts when creating online advertising. The first rule that online experts learn: writing for the Internet is not like print journalism. The second rule: you can have all the whiz-bang graphics and flash you want, but words make the sale. Words load faster than graphics-laden Web pages.

But wait! How do people arrive at Web sites? Sure, some of the biggies like Amazon and eBay need not worry about search engines as they’ve established themselves with online presence that everyone knows. Small businesses and lesser known companies have to rely on search engines to lead the troops to their sites. Email newsletters are another way to reach people, but how do they find out about the newsletter in the first place? Unless it’s a referral, it’s most likely through the Web site.

Search engines love words. They can’t search graphics. Once the visitor finds your site through a search engine, the next step is to build interest… FAST. We scan pages and if we don’t like what we see within a few seconds, bye-bye site and the opportunity is gone in a flash.

Usborne provides examples of how to write great copy on Web sites and in newsletters and explains the whys to support his arguments. I remember the first time I went to Southwest Airlines’ Web site to look up flight information. It was nothing like I expected – dry, boring corporate-style writing. This is the company that “loves to fly” and that wasn’t represented in its online content. They’ve since redesigned their site and now greet us with, “We are a company of People, not planes.” That sounds like the fun airline on which its reputation is built.

Even if a company doesn’t have a pre-Web site reputation like Southwest Airlines, its content doesn’t have to sound like a cold company with no soul using generic corporate-speak. Usborne encourages writing like real people, to show there are humans behind the company and the site.

Many companies think they’re doing the right thing by sharing their missions, visions, and all that other corporate “have-to-haves” to their sites. Fine, but put it in people-speak not the way your English professor taught you and encouraged big words in your papers style. Simplicity is what matters and Usborne shares before and after examples of writing. It clearly makes a difference. Yes, a company wants to maintain professionalism and decorum when representing itself, but that is still possible with great copy and Usborne shows how to do that in many situations.

Though I often research and write about online content and copy, I’ve learned new stuff from the book. Most companies don’t want the expense of hiring expert writers and copywriters, even though it does pay off to have well-crafted words. However, if that’s not possible in this thin economy, then the price of this book is small change compared to the rewards to be gained from the implemented results.

VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Net Words: Creating High-Impact Online Copy
AUTHOR: Nick Usborne
PUBLISHER: McGraw-Hill Trade
PUBLICATION DATE: November 26, 2001
ISBN: 0071380396
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 224
PRICE: US$16.95

Dianna Booher, communications expert and author of over 40 books shares her expertise in her latest book on E-Writing. She focuses on how to improve the quality of business and personal communications.

Booher offers advice to fix where it hurts in electronic communication whether it is writing emails, responding to customer service inquiries, or writing technical documents. This is not just a book about writing for an electronic medium. Rather, it helps us improve our writing skills because the electronic medium has increased in such a way that it’s almost impossible for anyone in any job to avoid writing.

Furthermore, the book references a survey USA Today newspaper conducted with 3000 hiring managers. It indicates that the number two item that employers look for is communication skills. Number one is attitude.

Email. Can’t live with it. Can’t live without it. It has become a powerful application, so powerful that employees have gotten fired for email abuse. Email has replaced quick phone calls and reduced the need for some face-to-face meetings because it’s easier to reach others in email and share complex topics. Business and employees have gotten thrown into the communication tool without learning how best use it.

The first part of the book covers email basics and etiquette. Learn how to manage your emailbox, how to write appropriate email, and what to do and not do when replying or forwarding email messages. Many should read this section so the email world can be a better place.

In the Counterproductive Communication Habits chapter, Booher identifies academic training as one of sources of pain. It’s a short, but important section that everyone who has been touched by an academic institution should read. The writing habits for producing academic papers do not carry over well into the business world. This user-unfriendly writing style is noticeable in the business world whether or not the writer has been to college.

Next comes the meat, how to effectively write on paper or online. Here, she offers clearly written steps and supporting examples on effective written communications. Remember or still use the traditional outline before writing? It may not be the best way to organize thoughts before writing. The book explains why and offers two other methods: the Random List and the Idea Wheel. Booher explains the outline process during the detailing of her trademarked MADE format. MADE takes you through the process of outlining your message. It’s easy to adapt whether or not you’re a skilled writer.

Once you write your masterpiece, next comes rewriting and editing. This is the potatoes accompanying the meat. Here learn how to edit for content and layout, grammar, clarity, conciseness, and style. Yes, we’re all in a hurry, but editing is a required step in the writing process. Editing is not to be confused with proofreading. The purpose of editing is to look for flaws beyond the typographical and grammatical errors found in proofreading.

Strong writers will still find this a valuable resource for the reference library. Rest assured, Booher practices what she preaches in organizing the book. Each important idea has its own title heading which makes the book quickly readable for busy professionals.

Managers, investing in the book for employees will help reduce frustration and provide a quick return on investment. Educators, add this to the required reading list so we can stop the sloppy email and writing epidemic.

VITAL STATISTICS
Title: E-Writing: 21st Century Tools for Effective Communication
Author: Dianna Booher
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: February 2001
ISBN: 0743412583
Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Price: US$14.95

How often have you read online articles that annoyed you with poor grammar and other mistakes? How often do you arrive at a Web site that makes it difficult to scan the page to find what interests you? We all make mistakes in writing, but recurrent mistakes are a turn-off for some readers.

Considering there are millions of Web sites and hundreds covering the same topic, no one can afford to lose readers over such issues. Enter Writing for the Web: Geeks’ Edition to guide you through writing for the Web.

The book seems to be aimed at experienced Web designers who need help with content. According to the introduction, the book targets three groups:

* Strong writers with some technical skills
* Technically skilled people who write content
* Content developers for whom English is a second language

This is a broad audience, especially for a book that has “Geeks Edition” in its title. It offers common sense advice and much of the same strategies you’ll find in style books like Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style as well as the Web strategies in Jakob Nielsen’s Useit Web site.

Those who are comfortable with writing will not learn anything new. I think the book is best suited for writers with little experience and people getting ready to put up a Web site for the first time.

For that audience, the basics are covered. Kilian recommends that Web text follow three principles: orientation, information, and action. Simply put: make sure your site visitors know what the Web site is about, can find their way around, can understand and trust the information, and do what you want them to do while visiting. Again, this is all common sense, but often overlooked.

The book is a good reference, especially the list of troublemaker words. Too often, I’ve seen writers use “insure” when it should be “ensure” or “affect” for “effect” and vice versa. You’ll also find abbreviation descriptions and a list of Web clichés and expressions.

Kilian gives pointers on what makes a well-written Web site and what makes a bad one. You’ll recognize advice you heard repeatedly in grade school, such as avoiding passive voice and clichés. He mentions a few things that I learned the hard way on my own. One example is to never depend on your spell checker!

Writers for corporate Web sites may value the Corporate Writing chapter. These sites are a challenge because individuals or departments try to do their own thing on the Web site. In today’s environment, companies are rushing to get to the Web. Sometimes during the mad dash, they forget to consider the audience.

If you work on a smaller scale, there’s a chapter on Personal Pages, Resumes, and Self-Marketing. You’ll get ideas on how to present a Web-based resume or portfolio of your work.

Kilian includes exercises and case studies to help the new writer absorb and remember the material. He also provides many links to Web sites for information and reference.

This is a book about writing, so I give him credit for walking the walk. I’m a proponent for consistency. For example: “email” vs. “e-mail.” I’m not going to shoot anyone for selecting one over the other, but I expect a writer to choose one and use it consistently. I did catch the use of “snail mail” two different ways in the book (one word and two words). But his use of other Web terms remains consistent.

The book touches lightly upon a wide variety of topics. It’s good to see there are resources popping up in book format to help improve the writing out there on the Web. I hope in the near future we’ll see more in-depth books on this topic as the Internet matures.

If writing is not your forte or you’re just putting up your first Web site, then this book could help you be better prepared.

Title: Writing for the Web: Geeks’ Edition
Author: Crawford Kilian
Publisher: Self-Counsel Press
ISBN: 1551803038
Date: December 2000
Format: Paperback
Pages: 194
Cover Price: USD: $21.96 Amazon: $18.66