Marketers: Looking to get the attention of a specific type of person? Open by calling out their role (did it work?)
Hard to ignore a post written specifically for you.
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Submitted by Stewart Hillhouse
The two questions on my mind when I do funnel reviews for clients are:
So what?
Who cares?
If ya don't answer these clearly and QUICKLY, you've lost your reader.
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Submitted by Meg Harris
Put your copy through the classic “so what?” filter.
Write the answer. Do it again. Refine the original to make sure you truly articulated the value for the reader.
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Submitted by Cody Lee
Got an important somethin' somethin' you wanna highlight? End your text with a P.S.
Your goal is to hook your reader off the bat, but they may end up scanning the rest of your content... especially if it's a bit lengthy.
So add this simple "but wait! there's more!" attention-grabber and ensure your Reader doesn't miss out on that important CTA or announcement.
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Submitted by Kaleena Stroud
Read your copy backwards for spelling/grammar mistakes.
This helps your brain focus on individual words rather than clumping them into sentences.
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Submitted by Erik Davidek
You can also configure the grammar checker in Microsoft Word to check for passive voice.
Just go to File > Options > Proofing > Grammar and Refinements settings (under “Clarity”).
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Submitted by Denise Atkins
Workshop your headlines.
I try to come up with 10 - 20 different versions of my headlines before settling on one. It gets all the crappy headlines out of my head and allows me to combine ideas I never would have connected before.
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Submitted by Jason Vana
Don't write “we seek to help…” or “we look to improve…”
“We help...” and “we improve...” are much stronger and more confident!
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Submitted by Denise Atkins
Whenever possible, address the reader directly (e.g., “you”). This goes for all copy including website texts, blog posts, social media captions, etc.
It makes any text more relatable and engaging.
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Submitted by Juliana Hahn
Using the active voice is so important because people relate better to products, stories they can relate to. As soon as we start reading the text, we create images in our heads. And the passive voice shuts this down.
Hemingway Editor is a useful tool for identifying passive voice.
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Submitted by Tjasa Pele
Read your copy out loud.
You will notice tense changes, misspellings, and grammatical mistakes more than just proofreading the copy.
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Submitted by Jason Vana
Cut your copy down. I learned this trick in college — if your copy seems long, go through each paragraph and try to cut the copy down by 25-50% while retaining the message.
It helped me to become a much more concise writer.
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Submitted by Jason Vana
Another good one to CTRL+F for is the word "is" — then you'll get all those "is run" "is built" & "is founded" 's which can often be replaced with single, stronger verbs.
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Submitted by Orit Wittenberg
A tip from 30 years of writing is to read your work out loud.
Your ears will hear things that need fixing; things your eyes didn’t see.
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Submitted by David Allison
Cut the first 500 words of your blog post.
It usually takes that long to "ramp up" and get to the good stuff.
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Submitted by Tommy Walker
My high school English teachers always told me to never start a sentence with a conjunction. But you can. And you should.* If you want to.
*Sometimes.
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Submitted by Elvin Matos
Install a screen reader. It has helped me tremendously.
Hearing the words out loud helps me catch mistakes I otherwise would’ve missed as well as things that just don’t come across as I intended.
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Submitted by Meisha Bochicchio
Ask a friend which words you're known for overusing when speaking.
Hit CTRL + F again and type it in…
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Submitted by Ryan Stevens
Use the simplest word, unless you are 100% certain your audience knows the terminology.
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Submitted by Will Brennan