What Makes Good Writing?

A straight-talk interview with Christine Whitmarsh of writing firm Christine, Ink.

January 09, 2007
Found in: Articles : Editorial : Web Site Marketing & Strategy : Search Engine Marketing :

Christine WhitmarshEnthusiast recently had the opportunity to sit down with industry writing expert Christine Whitmarsh of Christine, Ink. In addition to being the owner and founder of Christine, Ink., Christine is a nationally published journalist, author, and filmmaker.

Christine, Ink. is a national full service writing firm with expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, film, and professional services. The firm's extensive menu of creative services go well beyond simple copywriting to include public relations, marketing, whitepapers, and technical communications. If it has words, give it more impact with Christine, Ink.

Here is what Christine had to say about writing in another "language". Well, not another language like Hebrew but a language other than the industry-speak so common in business today.

Jon Cline (JC): As someone who writes for many companies, what are your thoughts on the way company insiders try and talk to their potential buyers?

Christine Whitmarsh (CW): The most common tendency I see in these situations is talking and ultimately writing over the reader's head. Company owners, sales and marketing executives are so intent on proving their industry or technical knowledge to potential buyers that they end up skipping right over the basic principles of clear communication – simplicity, succinctness and clarity. They are so determined to pack as much information and insider jargon into each piece of writing (sales letter, brochure, web site, etc.) that the actual writing itself is sacrificed and the reader is quickly lost in the shuffle. I often have to remind my clients – it's a writing piece made up of words before it's a marketing piece made up of calls to action.

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JC: What do you think is the root of this disconnect?

CW: This may sound overly simplified but I think it's largely a matter of misunderstood words. When I introduce myself and my company, a full service writing firm, to potential customers at networking events, I am invariably met with a blank stare followed by "what does that mean?" I then explain that we handle companies' written materials, resulting in an equally blank stare and "I didn't know we had written materials." This is because most companies consider things like brochures, press releases, web site copy, sales letters and the mountain of other paperwork "marketing materials" not "written materials." To clarify, "marketing" is the objective of the piece – not the nature of the piece.

The field of writing and language is simultaneously independent of and the foundation of all other areas of business. Without a solid understanding of the basic principles of writing and language, it's awfully hard to get your message across to your target audience. When you disconnect the writing from the written materials, you are disconnecting from the reader.

Once companies understand that all of their marketing, publicity, sales and all other communications materials are composed of words they are likely to rethink who should be tasked with creating them. This doesn't necessarily mean that all companies should hire professional writers. It just means that the individuals whose job it is to communicate on behalf of a company need to understand that the craft of writing and power of words is at the core of every single communication customers and prospects receive.

JC: What are some ways this mindset could discourage the action step companies desire?

CW: These are the most common copywriting habits in company written materials that should be avoided to make sure that the written piece matches the intended action step:

• An abundance of insider jargon and "techno-speak"
• Use of internal company/industry expressions and abbreviations
• Too many separate topics and ideas introduced resulting in no clear purpose of the piece
• Too many words (long winded writers lead to short attention spanned readers)

What ends up happening is the action steps intended by the companies get lost in a muddled mass of poorly planned and executed writing. It's great to have a well developed and planned objective for each written piece. However, if the written execution of that objective fails – the piece itself has failed and the objective loses all importance.

JC: Are there any types of company or industries that you think are particularly vulnerable to this disconnect?

CW: When it comes to using too much techno-speak, hi-tech companies are of course most likely to disconnect from their readers. Even if you are sending the piece to an audience virtually identical to your company, never assume that these people will appreciate being bombarded with technical information and industry language.

The objective of a written communication is to convey information as quickly, clearly and succinctly as possible. A legendary writing expert once said, "If you can say it in 3 words, don't use 4." Hi-tech companies, or companies with fairly complicated products and services, sometimes feel as if they need to over-explain every last detail in every marketing piece. That's not the purpose of a marketing piece. The purpose is to give the reader preferably one (no more than three) KEY well written piece of information that will spark their interest enough to contact you for the rest.

The other client demographics I've noticed who are vulnerable to this disconnect, are companies with either tons of written materials or absolutely none at all. The ones with mountains of marketing materials fit into the category I mentioned previously – where written materials are called marketing materials and therefore assigned to marketing people with little regard of the writing aspect involved. Companies with barely any marketing materials either underestimate the power of written communications with their target audience, or have essentially given up with the theory that "no writing is better than bad writing – please don't make me write!"

In reality, all companies require written messages to communicate with their present and potential customers. Therefore all companies are vulnerable to this disconnect at some level when they underestimate the power of the written word.

JC: Can you give us a couple examples of how you have seen this trend reversed for positive results?

CW: I have seen countless examples of clients who don't realize the power of the written word to impact their audience until we actually provide them with "writing with impact" and their audience responds more significantly than they ever expected. Seeing is believing, right?

One of the most dramatic case stories I can recall is the owner of a medium-sized technical/computer firm who didn't quite understand what we could do for him. Nevertheless, he gave me the opportunity to write a simple 30 second speech for him to use as an introduction at networking events (our ever popular "elevator speech" service). Well, 68 well crafted words have never created such a buzz! That gentleman became a regular client after that and has since used us for all of his company's written materials. This is an example of why we are called "our writers," "my writer," "my wordsmith" and many more terms of literary endearment.

Here is a recent client story that demonstrates how working alongside another creative services provider such as a graphic or website designer, or in this case a cutting edge web and marketing solutions company, added value to our work, streamlined a large project and helped the client meet multiple goals simultaneously.

MAP (Management Action Programs) has been a very successful national executive coaching and management training company for over 40 years. In preparation for the launch of their CEO's book and a major national publicity campaign, MAP decided to redo and expand their entire website. The project would require high level graphic and web design, significant back-end website programming and copywriting for over 50 separate website pages. Thankfully, MAP had the sense to hire Enthusiast, Inc. for the job. Enthusiast, in turn contracted my company's services to handle every last word for the new website. Quite a job, but thankfully I am not the only writer in my company! Our entire team found it so fulfilling to create such a comprehensive written product alongside the other talented creative professionals that Enthusiast assembled for this project. I also enjoy being handed the responsibility of a project of this size, where we are quite literally the proprietor of a company's entire bank of communications. This is where a full service writing firm can really stretch its legs and shine. Once the website was complete, I received a phone call from our contact at MAP, stating that they would like to keep us on as their full service writing firm for a bevy of new writing projects! This is truly what makes creative partnerships rewarding for everyone involved.

JC: What are some resources available to help companies assess their disconnect and start to connect with prospects with greater clarity?

CW: The obvious answer is to hire or at least consult with a professional writer, or a full service writing firm for more flexibility of writing styles, a team approach of writers and editors and the all important project management aspect. Remember that a professional writer's specialized industry expertise is words – the words you use to represent your company. As experienced, professional writers, we have the ability to quickly learn ANY industry, topic area, style or writing product that your company needs. Being an accountant doesn't necessarily make you the best person to WRITE about accounting!

My company offers virtually every type of writing, editing and creative consulting product under the sun. I won't go into too much detail, as all of our services are listed in more detail on our website: www.christine-ink.com. Customers have the option of purchasing "a la carte" services such as one page sales letters, press releases, or what I call 1+ page "copy banks" of marketing copy that can be used for everything from brochures to web sites, depending on the client's needs.

For a more streamlined approach to acquiring a large amount of written materials at once (new companies, revamping companies, etc.), we offer "Ink Packages." These are customizable writing packages based on a client's specific goal or where they are as a company (year 1, 3, 5, etc.). Again, there is a lot more information about all of our products and services, along with client success stories on our web site.

JC: If you had some vital issues for marketers reading this to address, what would they be?

CW: I would say that marketers need to recall the vital points from this interview:

• Marketing is composed of writing first and objectives second
• Any written pieces require concise, clear writing with impact to get your message across
• Many times the company writing is what people see first and make their judgments based upon
• When doing your own writing, avoid an overabundance of technical jargon or any other content heavy habits that are likely to distract the reader from your core message or action item
• Consulting with a professional writing firm is a great way to get an outside viewpoint of your writing and finding out how well your message is actually being communicated and then making the necessary adjustments

JC: Thank you Christine. I know we work with you on projects but if a reader wanted to contact you directly, how should they get in touch with you?

CW: Thank you Jon. I enjoy working with Enthusiast very much - you guys are great! Here is my contact info:

Christine Whitmarsh
Owner
Christine, Ink.

Writing with Impact

L.A.
Reno
Fax

christine@christine-ink.com
www.christine-ink.com

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Christine, Ink. is an Enthusiast Partner. Quality experts like Christine work with us with enthusiasm and insight to create web solutions to overcome sales and marketing challenges. Do you have an Internet initiative to grow your business this year? Enthusiast and partners like Christine, Ink. would love to help you get there.