Divorce Your Copy

Your business and everything that goes with it, your copy, your website, your product line and business model grow and change as you learn more. To quote Barbara Winter, ”The business you start is never the business you end up with.”

Sounds a lot like the rest of life, huh? Your interests and tastes change. Your relationships grow and change as you go though different phases of life. Sometimes you grow apart. Relationships end. Friends drift way form each other. In business your website feels old and stale. You lose enthusiasm for your business model. Your copy is boring. If that’s where you are, it might be time for a divorce. A divorce from your copy. Like most entrepreneurs, I got attached to a business model, site design and copy. Eventually, I realized it was time for a change. I divorced my copy and started over.

Like any transition, its not always easy to face the mistakes you made in the past and recreate something new. Trust me, when you get to the other side, you can see it was all worth it.

Not sure if it’s time to cut your losses and make some changes? Ask yourself these questions:

Is my copy clear?

Cute metaphors and clever phrases are fun, but if you aren’t CLEAR you won’t convert visitors to paying customers.

2. Is your blog full of mental masturbation?

When you write to amuse yourself, not for the benefit of your audience, they will lose interest. The copy on your sales pages, website and blog should be about your customer. The goal of good copy, like the goal of good sex, is to create an amazing experience. The focus should be on the customer not on yourself. No one likes a selfish lover.

3. Do I know my audience?

You can’t appeal to everyone. Don’t bother trying. Figure out who you want to work with, then write to that person. Keep your ideal client in the front of your mind when you write.

4. Am I using correct spelling and grammar? Or is bad grammar as part of my branding?

I’m picky about grammar and spelling. (In 10th grade I had an English teacher who made us copy rules form a grammar text book every time we got in trouble. I copied a lot of grammar rules.) You can get away with using bad spelling if that’s part of your brand. If not, it just gives people an excuse to ignore you.

Looking for more help? My upcoming free resource Divorce Your Copy will help you figure out if you need to make changes to your message and give you tips to bring the love back. Available soon! (by soon, I mean when I get it back from the designers).