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Re: A 4-Stage Proofreading Strategy To Error-Proof Your Copywriting

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:09:31 -0000

Oh, no! I'm an avid ampersand-user. When people are scanning a headline or sentence with multiple items in it, ampersands can really help to guide the eye.

I'm a big believer in using symbols wherever they make things easier or faster than the written word would. I love "$" instead of "money" or "dollars". I also love "+" where the "&" looks too snooty or complex. And, of course, numerals instead of written numbers: "4" is so much quicker to recognize and comprehend than "four".

That said, yeah, they should be used consistently and only where helpful. Problem is that, outside of long copy, it's hard to imagine a case where they're not helpful to the reader. :)

Re: A Showcase of Creative About Us Pages

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:21:24 -0000

I was looking for cool About Us pages the other day to show a client. Bookmarking this now!

The About Us is such a great place to build your corporate brand. Who doesn't want to work with people they'd want to be friends with? Likability is hugely persuasive, which these agencies and startups seem to get. Cool stuff!

Re: The Important Distinction Between Fun and Happiness

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:55:37 -0000

Seriously, Ben, did you make those videos???? I feel totally gullible right now. They look totally professional! Did you make them???

Re: That’s Not A Word, It’s Not In the dictionary

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 30 May 2012 13:59:20 -0000

i love it! i'm a total language purist at heart, but there's a part of me that resents the fact that samuel johnson et al got to sit down and etch in stone the way the rest of the english-speaking world was going to speak and write for generations to come.

language was so fluid before. now we scoff to learn that "rofl" is being considered a word -- in spite of the fact that millions of us have written that acronym more than once. why can't it become a word? because it hasn't been approved by a bunch of academics? have you been around academics lately?----they're generally out of touch with what's actually going on in the rest of the world! (don't get me wrong --- love me my uni profs and PhD friends)

also love your argument against people who say "that's not a word". very nice!

Re: Dear startups, Lobster is the new Comic Sans

Joanna Wiebe — Thu, 31 May 2012 17:17:38 -0000

I don't care. I love Lobster. It's so fun. Please just let the rest of us enjoy it for a while... I'll happily surrender it in about a year or so.

Re: Dash Of Sass – What IS Sexy?

Joanna Wiebe — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 13:18:24 -0000

I recently overheard a man telling someone that sex dies after children are born because men can't see mothers as sexual beings. The problem is, as you say, "What IS Sexy?" There is so much need to rewrite these 'sex' scripts, it's insane... and VS isn't helping. That a woman's body can produce a *miracle*... but then be made to feel 'sexless'. Really, what IS sexy?

Re: There is No Work/Life Balance

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 12:40:12 -0000

I really appreciate this transparency, Rand --- largely because it gives other entrepreneurs like me permission to take breaks, too. A lot of us look up to you and people like you, and the messages we keep hearing are "CEOs get up at 4am and work until 11pm every day", which normalizes a life lived for work/money/biz growth only. The idea that you have to work either constantly or just 4 hours per week is crazy yet pervasive, so I can only hope your sort of transparency will help reset expectations for entrepreneurs / startup founders.

Re: Differentiation: Can Your Visitors Distinguish You from the Other Guys?

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:09:28 -0000

I hadn't heard of TeamBox, Lynn, and it didn't come up in my search (prob because of the keyword difference you noted). Thanks for sharing it with me + the readers here. In comparison to the first 4 mentioned above, TeamBox seems to be doing a tad better -- given that, at least, we can figure out one thing they do well: collaboration. They could certainly push it further, but I agree that it's a step in the right direction. At least they're saying something different (and, hopefully, high value to their target market).

It's really hard to say what TeamBox's strategy might be. It'd be interesting to find out, definitely. That said, if they're using language that's supposed to speak more directly to a persona they've developed, it surely wouldn't hurt for them to beef up that headline with language that actually speaks directly to their targets, such as, "The Most Complete Collaboration Tool for Small Businesses in Global Tech". Or something. :)

Oh, and so glad you could join us at the bootcamp!

Re: Differentiation: Can Your Visitors Distinguish You from the Other Guys?

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 16:15:16 -0000

Agreed - I see it all the time. It's nothing against the peeps who write it. I know damn well how hard it is to write anything down, nevermind writing 'great' copy! I've totally been there. :) But no one ever said to me, "Joanna, you need to stop summarizing the piss out of all your headlines, and you need to start injecting meaty specifics about what makes you different or unique in those headlines". Had they, perhaps I wouldn't've cried myself to sleep so many nights...

Re: Differentiation: Can Your Visitors Distinguish You from the Other Guys?

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 13:10:19 -0000

Thanks, Aaron! Yeah, we've got loads of downloadable free worksheets around here... :)

Re: A Quick Trick for Writing 1 Page for 2 Audiences

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 15:52:51 -0000

Glad you like! Yeah, it's usually the case that, as your startup grows, you can switch from speaking to both groups to speaking to just one ---- but you need to have a solid number of users in X group in order to focus on Y entirely. At least, that seems to be the case if you want to grow your biz. :)

Re: Differentiation: Can Your Visitors Distinguish You from the Other Guys?

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:19:27 -0000

Hey, Carla - Sorry, I totally responded to this (and to another comment here), but it seems Disqus had some sort of issue with my comment. Not sure wassup there. :) Anyway, thanks muchly for your kind words! It's awesome to hear that you'll be working on value props with your clients ------ it's a topic that definitely deserves exploration + time. Good luck! (And see you around Victoria? :) )

Re: A Quick Trick for Writing 1 Page for 2 Audiences

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 22:28:22 -0000

Oh, Noely, you and I could share a "not trying to be a super feminist but" pulpit! :) I am in a shockingly male-dominated world --- copywriting + tech startups --- and I have a humanities background with major emphasis on women's studies / feminism, so I feel like I notice / question *everything* to do with gender... and I end up holding my tongue about 99.5% of it.

Yes, agreed that it's strange that they focus on dudes only in their images... but maybe the cold hard truth is that the app world is currently male-dominated. If so, then I suppose they're as right to use male-only images as a mother-focused site is right to use female-only images. Yes? That's the trouble with marketing and targeting audiences --- well, that's one of the points of contention with mktg and it's definitely one of the things I struggle with in the world of selling + creating messages that shape how we look at the world. Great point to bring up!---I'm glad you did.

Re: A Quick Trick for Writing 1 Page for 2 Audiences

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 12:07:51 -0000

It sounds like a good idea for a test, Penny! If you're not sure whom you should target, then a split-test of a page that targets the harder-to-attract group (your control) against a page that targets both (your treatment) might really clear things up and ensure you don't have to "make a call" without knowing it's the right one.

Re: There Are No Such Things as "Best Practices" | Brooks Bell

Joanna Wiebe — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 12:57:14 -0000

Ric has a great point --- are there high-level best practices (e.g., always be testing)?

We like to refer to the more tactical activities, that have previously been called "best practices", as "better practices".

Better practices are things that have been proven in experiments for X product with Y audience and, thus, are *better* than simply guessing... but they are not the *best* because only a test on your unique page for your unique product with your unique audience can tell YOU what YOUR best practice is (at this moment in time).

Re: Running A/A Tests is a Waste of Time and Money

Joanna Wiebe — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:08:57 -0000

Agreed with Optimiste --- we're also looking for variance (in addition to reliability and everything you mentioned above) when we run A/A tests.

I think what you're saying is very true, Gregory, for businesses with a lot of qualified traffic. Perhaps A/A tests aren't a great idea when you have enough traffic coming through to rely on the results you're seeing. (Although I don't think worrying about the cost of your testing tool should be reason not to do what it takes to run the best test. Opportunity cost, sure.)

In the small biz and startup world --- where testing is just as popular as it is for larger businesses but CRO consultants are a luxury few can afford --- traffic is spotty. And that can give us unreliable results. But if you are running your own test, you may not know that what you're looking at is unreliable 'cos the tool's telling you you've got a winner... even though a CRO consultant would tell you you don't.

When you A/A before you A/B, you can get a sense for what to expect from your traffic. It's not perfect. But if you see that, say, your A/A test data got really funky on the weekends and one of the As actually beat the other A on Sunday, then, when running your A/B test, should you see one of your treatments beat the other on Sunday, you might be more likely to wait the test out rather than stopping it. (Because you could say, "Hold up, Sunday's are weird 'round these parts.") That's a rudimentary example, of course, but the point is there... Great post, Gregory! :)

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:27:11 -0000

I think if your copy could be replaced by "blah blah blah", you've become too specific and detailed. ;)

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:30:40 -0000

Company intranets --- what fun. Too bad they're often boring as white bread. Doesn't it seem like they should be more engaging??? I mean, if your brand is semi-relevant and you've got this huge team signing in to the same space, you'd think things would get interesting. Alas, every intranet sucks. Good luck though, Hugh!

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:31:21 -0000

Yeah --- a mix of show and tell, done intentionally, can go a loooong way. All show is bad. All tell is bad. Gotta mix 'em up!

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:32:40 -0000

Or do both. :) I find that copywriting disciplines me to write regularly, on demand and for an audience. All of that is totally applicable to your creative writing. It's just that very little of your creative writing lessons can be applied to copywriting --- though surely some things can, and that's a post unto itself!

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:33:19 -0000

Cool, R! :) Speaking of wannabes, an anagram for my name is Joie Wannabe... Don't you love anagrams??!!

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:35:07 -0000

Hey, Diederik --- thanks! :)

Re: Differentiation: Can Your Visitors Distinguish You from the Other Guys?

Joanna Wiebe — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:36:03 -0000

Then we've probably already crossed paths! I live in coffee shops.

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:33:04 -0000

You're probably right!

Re: Copywriting: 2 Big Reasons “Show Don’t Tell” Is BS

Joanna Wiebe — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 13:34:00 -0000

My daily goal is to do something to make someone pee their pants. So you've just made my day. :)