Vol. III, Issue 5: 11 March 2008
Editor & Publisher: Tracey Dooley

You are receiving this newsletter because you requested it. Please help us grow together and forward this issue to any friends, peers and associates you think would benefit. Thanks!

In this success-packed edition:

1. Publisher's Preamble
2. ANNOUNCEMENT: Update On This Newsletter's Future
3. Toxic Clients: How to Save Yourself From Them
4. FEATURE ARTICLE: What Your English Teacher Taught You Could Be Damaging Sales
5. About the Word Doctor
6. TIP: How to Move Your Prospects Beyond Wanting to Buying
7. SUBSCRIBER SPECIAL: Grab Your Ad Critique & Consultation
8. RESOURCE: Free Online Fax Service
9. Join My Affiliate Programme
10. Business-building Marketplace

Well, we're truly into spring, although you'd be forgiven for thinking that we're just going into winter: As I write this, we're experiencing some of Britain's worst storms, and we're left feeling somewhat battered and bruised. Worse, there's more to come... Makes me grateful for being able to work from my home office. I only have to brave the weather when I can no longer stand the sad, pleading look on my dog's face.

I'd like to take this opportunity to say a big congrats to one of my clients, Lynn Kingelin. Lynn was one of last year's competition winners, and has just scooped some top accolades for her modern ceramic fuel design, FireJacks. Says Lynn: "I won the Homes and Gardens (design) Award last night and was shortlisted for the Innovation Award. My design will be on display in Harrods for the Design Icons event in conjunction with design week coming up... I am so excited and your press release was key to getting my launch off the ground. Thank you!"

You're welcome! I'm truly stoked for Lynn, as I know how much of her heart and soul went into this fun, contemporary design. Let's hope it will become a design classic.

(Shameless Plug Alert: Ask me for an informal chat about getting your company or product publicity off the ground. You name it; I can help you with it on an efficient, friendly, cost-effective ‘as-needed’ basis. )

Why You Need to Ditch Old-School Rules in Your Business Writing

I’ve written an extra-special feature for you this issue. If you’ve ever been struggling to get the most out of your business writing, then this is a must-read. It could help boost response rates, too. Hope you enjoy it.

Till next time

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A little while ago, many of you very kindly helped me out with a survey on subscriber preferences. An overwhelming majority (a whopping 89% of respondents) of you told me that you wanted to hear from me more often. And I've listened...

Starting with this issue, you will be hearing from me a little more often. (No, this won't be daily or every other day. I don't know about you, but I tend to ignore messages from those people who send out dailies, else I'll simply unsubscribe, but only IF they haven't genuinely something of value to offer (most don't, sadly). But I will be complying with your wishes and sending out this newsletter at least once every two-three weeks (more than 78% of you wanted to hear from me on a weekly basis, so please bear with me – I DO hope to get there).

I hope that this will help you to learn more, apply more, and make your business the success is deserves to be.

In the meantime, do feel free to get in touch should you have any queries or comments about the new format. I always welcome your thoughts.

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"The battle with toxic clients can be won before the relationship even starts." –– Barry Morris Are your clients a true joy to work with, always paying on time, and bringing out the best in you? Or do you feel as if they are driving you down a road to ruin? Stop Working With Deadbeats! Attract IDEAL Clients & Knock Out The Competition Instead is an easy-to-follow and implement ‘ideal client’ tool. It will help you bring focus to your business, enabling you to attract better clients more quickly and easily. And all while putting an end to wasted marketing budgets, time, and efforts chasing the wrong type of client. Grab yours here.

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The good thing about copywriting for business is that – contrary to popular belief – you can ditch most of the formal English grammar training you received at school. Why? Because one of the main goals of copywriting is to make copy understandable and readily accessible to the reader. And that usually means writing the way you speak.

So even though your English teacher told you to avoid using slang, colloquialisms, sentence fragments, contractions and so on – it’s actually fine to use them with copywriting. Indeed, it is actively encouraged. (Warning: Just as over-zealous website owners can go overboard on littering their pages with far too many keywords in an attempt to attract the search engines, your business writing can run into similar dangerous waters. So by all means use sentence fragments and the like, but don’t put greater importance on them than on readability. Your aim is to not to alienate your reader.)

Let’s look at this a little more in depth.

Some Rules Are Meant to Be Broken

According to the ‘rules’, real sentences must have complete subject-verb-object constructions; anything less than that is called a ‘fragment’. And it absolutely must be rejected.

BUT what I’m telling you is that as long as your fragments are clear and communicate complete thoughts, then there is no reason NOT to include fragments in your writing.

Fragments are perfect for introducing pauses that bracket your thoughts or ideas for greater emphasis. Kind of like this one. However, if you use them at random just for the sake of it, then that’s when things go belly up. They simply won’t work. Instead, they’ll do little more than cause confusion.

An example of well-placed fragmentation is: “Brighton. City living by the sea. The hippest bars and cafes. Plenty to see and do. Why miss out? Visit the next time the sun shines.”

An example of a weak fragment is: “Brighton is the place. For pure entertainment wherever, whenever. And indulgence. You know. It’s time… To get away. Visit today.”

OK, that last one was slightly exaggerated, but I hope you get the idea.

It’s a Preposition, Jim, But Not As We Know it

Let’s look at prepositions... The dictionary definition of preposition is a member of a set of words used in close connection with, and usually before, nouns and pronouns to show their relations to some other part of a clause. All the staunch grammarians insist that you should not and must not end sentences with prepositions. Well, that’s nonsense! As long as your intended meaning is clear and the preposition isn’t redundant, then prepositions at the end of sentences are just fine.

For example, which flows easier to the ear as well as on the eye?

“Who are you writing to?”

“To whom are you writing?”

Well, I hope you thought the former; else my point has just been blasted into space!

Put simply, yes, it IS perfectly acceptable to put words such as “upon”, “for”, “by”, “of”, “with”, “which”, “up”, and “to” at the end of a sentence. It isn’t bad grammar to do so. It’s common sense.

Yet another no-no that should definitely be a yes-yes is using the words “and”, “because”, “which”, or “but” at the beginning of a sentence. Sometimes starting a sentence with these conjunctions makes for a really effective transition from one sentence to another. And it keeps things short, simple, and to the point.

At the end of the day, copywriting is all about writing in a conversation style. It’s about writing how we talk. It’s about helping to establish and build rapport. It’s about using correct grammar when appropriate, and hanging loose on a few of the antiquated rules.

As long as you make sure you choose the right words in the right context, and you don’t confuse the reader, then all’s well that ends well.

Adapted from Better Writing Skills 101 – Write Your Way to Blockbuster Results and BOOST Business to Boot.

By Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley, Creative Consultant | PR Guru | Marketing Diva.

(C) 2008 T Dooley, All Rights Reserved

Want to use this article (or any tip in this newsletter) on your website, blog, a message board or in an ezine? Not a problem! But please give credit where it's due. You MUST include the following:

Tracey "Word Doctor" Dooley of MediaMinister (www.mediaminister.co.uk) is an experienced copywriter, editor and marketer. She has spent almost 14 years crafting compelling copy that successfully sells, informs, educates or entertains. =====>To sign up for her freebie business-building tips, marketing and publicity pointers, visit www.mediaminister.co.uk.

***wnat to know how to write your way to great clients? How your closest competitor can improve your business writing? Of the five steps to getting great people to work for you using the written word? You need my business writing 101 live workshop transcript and recording.

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Tracey Dooley is a copywriter, marketing strategist, and editorial and creative consultant. She helps entrepreneurs, authors, publishers and FTSE100/250 companies boost response rates and attract new customers. Enjoyed this issue of CfS? Well, I practically guarantee that you'll LOVE this easy-to-follow foolproof system that shows you the EXACT steps and strategies to follow to build up your own database of prospective customers and, more importantly, instill trust. Click here to read more about this powerful tool now. The ‘Word Doc’ also offers FREE reports, coaching, insider tips, and other no-nonsense resources to help entrepreneurs and small business owners market themselves more consistently and effectively. Learn more now at www.mediaminister.co.uk.

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When you reach for that bag/chocolate bar/golf club you’re not thinking of buying it because of any practical, rational thought. Rather, your ‘want’ comes from the feeling that the object gives you.

Same with your prospective customers.

So use your words to let your prospects experience the joy of owning or using your product before they buy it, and you'll move them closer to buying it. 

Got an event, tip or resource you'd like to share? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!

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When it comes to advertising you win some, you lose some. The winners are the big players who seem to do very little to persuade the readers of the reason to act now. They rely on their branding, which will incorporate years of building rapport and trust.

The losers seem to be, well, everyone else. Not least because research shows that nearly all ads have several serious errors in them, some considerably more...

It needn’t be that frustrating, though. For instance, have you made sure your ad is effectively targeted at a specific audience? Is there a compelling call to action? Do you know what one is, even?

If you’re unsure or just tired of lackluster results, do not give up. Your ad might have the potential to be a big winner...

The next five subscribers who send in their advertisement (up to 50 words in length) will each receive a complete ad analysis at just £45, that’s a fraction of the original cost.

More than a simple checklist, my critiques give you a thorough roadmap to success. I'll show you what you can do to dramatically improve your ad’s response rates, and even tell how!

Plus, you can use my critique consultation report to transform your existing marketing materials and improve the ROI you're currently getting.

But...don't wait. This offer is limited to the first five subscribers (only one ad per entrant) and I reserve the right to pull or modify the offer without notice if my schedule gets too crazy.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
For a detailed evaluation of your advertisement, complete with my recommendations, email your ad (or its URL) to me, putting ‘CfS Draw’ in the subject line, along with the following information to :

• Your contact details* (full name, company name, address and phone number).
• Describe your target market – whom are you trying to reach?
• What is the reason for your ad?
• Describe the product/service/offer you are presenting.
• Why should people buy from you and no one else?

* I respect your privacy and will never disclose or share your details.

If you’re among the first five to send in all the above, I’ll let you know straight away. If not, then I’ll get back to you with a no-obligation quote.

Need Help With Writing Your Ad In the First Place?

High-Powered Ads that Generate Sales shares the insider secrets of getting great response rates from your advertising, as well as how to write order-pulling ads – step by step, and much, much more: http://tinyurl.com/winningads

Got a burning question you want answered? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!

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Here's a simple, yet extremely useful and FREE fax service you will want to bookmark...

[Continued on my blog.]

Got an event, tip or resource you'd like to share? Email it to me and I'll include it in a future issue of Communiqué for Success!

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To find out more just go to ==> www.mediaminister.co.uk/affiliate.htm

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TRACEY DOOLEY’S SERVICES

Yes, in fact I DO more than write articles and publish newsletters. : )

Ask me to write for your blog, emails, marketing communications, newsletters, or website:
http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/services.htm

Hire me as your business copywriting or marketing coach:
http://www.business-marketing-advice.mediaminister.co.uk

Ask me for a second opinion on your marketing-communications materials: http://www.mediaminister.co.uk/consult.htm

Disclaimer: Neither Tracey Dooley nor MediaMinister endorses the accuracy or reliability of any of any third-party advertisements in this e-newsletter. Rest assured, advertisers are carefully selected and sometimes personally known, which can only be a good thing for you! However, I simply can’t (and don’t) investigate the legitimacy, validity or legality of any item advertised. It therefore always makes sense to check each one out using your own diligence.

Feel free to FORWARD COMMUNIQUÉ FOR SUCCESS! in its entirety to anyone you think will find it useful. When doing do please add a note explaining why you're sending it to them, else they might think I've sent it to them without permission – thanks.

Join my email list (your privacy is totally safe)!

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