I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard a copywriter say something like,”For copywriters, sales skills are WAY more important than writing skills.”

Sorry, but I’m here to say that the writing skills are very important too.

Obviously being a good writer doesn’t automatically mean you’ll know how to write copy. But even if you have a lot of knowledge about persuasion, being a poor writer will cost you sales.

For example, when I see the phrase “loose weight” (the most common typo on the internet) in an article or sales page about weight loss, I stop taking that person seriously.

And let’s not discuss all the glaring apostrophe errors I see in sales copy.

Above all, let’s not discuss how often I see “could of” instead of “could have.” Aaarrrgh!

When your sales page has sloppy grammar and typos, it’s like showing up for a job interview in flip flops and distressed jeans. You disrespect your reader.

Here are 3 ways to put the writing back into your copywriting:

1. Regularly read a grammar blog, such as the Grammarphobia blog and FWJ’s Grammar Guide.

2. If you can’t afford a proofreader, ask a friend or relative to proofread your copy for typos and basic grammar mistakes.

A friend once spent an hour on the phone with me going over a sales letter draft and I was amazed at all the great suggestions she had for improving the wording of certain sentences.

3. Read  The Elements of Style by William Strunk & E.B. White once a year. It’s a very slim book but packed with suggestions about how to write clearly and also outlines the basic grammar rules. If you have a different favorite book about writing and grammar, read that one once a year.

Saying that the writing portion of copywriting isn’t important is like a carpenter saying nails aren’t important. I like for my carpenters to care about little things like the proper use of nails. So you should care about little things like typos and grammar.

Also, part of the fun of writing is occasionally breaking the rules. But you have to know what the rules are first before you can break them. So go to it!

Perhaps the most indispensable tool for a copywriter, right behind the computer, is a thesaurus.

A thesaurus is a simple but powerful way to make your writing more compelling and persuasive.

As Strunk & White said in The Elements of Style, “Do not be tempted by a twenty-dollar word when there is a ten-center handy, ready and able.”

If you find yourself using a twenty-dollar work, or you notice that you use the same word too often on a page (I try not to use the same verb more than once in a paragraph, for example), whip out a thesaurus.

Let’s take a look at some print/offline thesauruses:

Rodale’s Synonym Finder The Synonym Finder is terrific. An Amazon reviewer sums it up well: “There are 1.5 million words in “The Synonym Finder”, including variations on the same root word. That’s more than 4 times the number of words in “Roget’s International Thesaurus”. If you simply want to find synonyms, this is the book for you. It isn’t as versatile as a thesaurus that is organized by subject, but it’s more to the point and easier to use if you are simply looking for word alternatives.”

Roget’s Thesaurus Roget’s International Thesaurus, 6th Edition
is the classic thesaurus and is also organized by subject in addition to alphabetically. It’s a bit more scholarly than Rodale’s Synonym Finder.

Here are some online thesauruses:

Answers.com has a thesaurus and much more. In addition to giving you the synonyms for each word it gives you the dictionary definition and a description of the history of the word as well as information about foreign language and idioms. It’s a complete reference for words.

Thesaurus.com is similar to Answers.com. It gives you encyclopedia and dictionary information in addition to the thesaurus.

If you enjoy mind maps you’ll enjoy Visual Thesaurus. Go to the website and in the white box type a word. Then select “look it up.” A box will come up. Select “try.” After a few seconds it will expand and grow. It’s like a living thesaurus. The desktop version works faster than the online version. It’s $19.95 per year or $2.95 per month.

If you have a favorite thesaurus please share it in the comments.

Oh how I love a good metaphor.

You already know how important stories are.

Metaphors are like mini stories.

I would argue that the right metaphor is even more powerful than a story.

A metaphor is a comparison between two or more unrelated objects.

A friend of mine regularly uses metaphors in her emails to me and they are brilliant.

They are so good I copy and paste them into a document filled just with her metaphors.

Here are a few examples:

“Her blood pressure was lower than the Mississippi Valley.”

“There are more wires involved in that desktop than there are pit vipers in India.”

“He ate like a human forklift at a three county landfill.”

“He started snoring like Gunga Din’s chainsaw.”

“…eating like Kirstie Alley in a Fettucini Alfredo factory.”

“I feel like I’m trying to teach Aristotelian logic to Mike Tyson.”

I’ve asked her how she thinks up these metaphors and she just says that they pop into her head spontaneously as she’s writing.

Here are some other metaphors I’ve found from various places:

“”The sun was behind the wood, very red, looking over the paling of trees like a farmer inspecting his own hogs.” (Flannery O’Connor)

“Burst of energy just hit me like a train carrying 10 tons of espresso.” (Dooce.com)

“The landing at JFK was like being on the back of a motorcycle when it crashes through a brick wall.” (Dooce.com)

“All over me like melted cheese on a radiator.” (Elizabeth George)

“As loose as the rivets on a Southwest Airlines 737.” (source unknown)

I’m no expert on how to write metaphors but I do know that the more specific they are, the better.

For example, saying “You look like a madman” just wouldn’t have the same chops as “You look like you might have swallowed a mad dog.” (Flannery O’Connor)

I also know that you should read Gary Bencivenga’s bullet about metaphors.

He says you’ll be one of the most persuasive people on the planet if you master metaphors.

Or, as Aristotle said, “The greatest thing by far is to be a master of metaphor.”