What I’ve learned from working with a professional copywriter, after one session

Remco Livain -

I love to work on my writing skills. It does not really matter what the topic is, I just like to write. Yet, writing isn’t something that comes natural to everyone. In the last couple of months, I learned first-hand that my team have great ideas, but make for ghastly copywriters.

I firmly believe that practice makes perfect. However, I also know that I never actually managed to pass a single biology test in high school, either. Me and my biology teacher never really hit it off. Actually, I didn’t hit it off with any of my biology teachers, not just one.

Not everyone is made to be a writer. When you are not passionate about something, it can be strenuous to learn something new, and writing is no exception.

Hire someone with passion

It takes skill, endurance, and perseverance to become a gnarly copywriter. They possess a broad linguistic repertoire, know when it is time to emphasize something and understand the impact of their words, on others.

We decided to hire a full time professional copywriter at GANDT, to help out with our blog posts. We figured, the skill of writing an article is something we cannot grow overnight. Yet, there are so many ideas and thoughts within the group that would be worth sharing, that never see the light of day.

This morning, we kicked off the first project. 2 hours of (team) introductions, discussions and WordPress walk-throughs later, I am more fired up than ever. It did not take long to get the first piece of content ready-to-go. And there are a few things I’ve learned in the process.

What I learned from one session with a professional copywriter

  1. A piece of content is not limited to a certain amount of words. You should write as much, or as little as you need to get the message across.
  2. Professional copywriters know when it is suitable to use a certain type of vocabulary. To understand the audience well, is just as important as getting the facts straight.
  3. The more examples, the better. Whatever helps to visualize your thoughts or ideas to the reader, use it.
  4. Use shorter sentences. Nine times out of ten, you can cut back on filler-words. Have a page with synonyms ready to go at all times.
  5. Just write and think about the structure afterwards.
  6. Write, review, delete, write, repeat. This is something I hardly ever do, and should start. I would rather publish my raw thoughts, than spend hours on one content piece. I just want to get it out of my system. But, that might work for short, personal blog posts –not for professional copy. 😳

Excited, is the word

I don’t need a thesaurus to describe my feelings right now; I am utterly excited about the possibility to work with a linguistic professional. For those of you who have been following my (sometimes daily) blog posts on online marketing, tech-stuff, and me trying to act like a 90 kg “far from professional” bike rider, will know that writing is one of my personal passions.

Over the years, I have become an avid blog writer. It helps me put things into perspective and I love the thought of sharing my thoughts with others (wherever you are).

I’ve never had the liberty of working with someone who actually knows how to write a solid content piece, though. This is a bit of a dream come true for me. So don’t be surprised if my writing appears to improve a little over time. I intend to soak up as much information as I can, in the process.

You have all been warned. 😊

Best, Remco