Why is it impossible to write your own business copy?

Do you hear that sound? It’s the sound of a creative copywriter who has slaved over some business copy only to see it live on a website as a slash and hack version of its former glory. Oddly, it happens more than you think.

Beyond genuinely mourning the loss of tight SEO and coherent marketing script, seeing those mutilated words up on screen can be genuinely heartbreaking for your copywriter. But it’s not because us writers are a super sensitive bunch.

It’s because we know what it takes to create copy that withstands a decent SEO audit. And we know the secret sauce needed to both inform and tantalise your customers.

And it’s because we know that even the most self assured, seasoned copywriter can really struggle when it comes to writing copy about their own projects.

When you write your own business copy, you open up a world of problems for yourself.

Don’t believe me? Here are 4 reasons why it is almost impossible to write your own business copy.

1)      Your business blind-spot

Most of us are so close to the day to day running of our business we become blind to the selling points that makes us special.

We do what we do to get the job done and don’t sit around pondering how great these selling points are. Our expertise and knowledge creeps up. We lose sight of the threads that make up the fabric of our business.

Bringing in someone with fresh eyes can make us see the value of what we have on offer. A creative copywriter looks at your business with the same perspective as a new customer. This gives us a natural advantage as we can translate your business copy into a new customer story easily.

2)      Trumpet blowing is cringe-worthy

“If my business were a song, it’d be so sweet it’d make a bluebird weep” said no self respecting business person ever.

Well, unless they have one hell of an over-inflated ego, or a massive cocaine problem (or both). But we’re talking about reasonable business people here.  You and me, we struggle saying that kind of stuff without turning it into humour or dying of embarrassment.

There’s a reason for that. We’re human. There’s a little voice in our head (or in my case, a team of Monkeys in propeller hats riding unicycles) that hit the “Dude, seriously? Do you know how egotistical that sounds?” alarm button.

However, part of selling who we are is walking into your customers head and making them feel like you know what you are doing. They expect you to own the little part of their brain that’s about to part with some cash in exchange for doing business with you. They want you to put on your best swagger and own their imagination.

So it helps to get someone who is great at business copy to capture the moment and weave it into your story. That way you can enjoy the snappy sizzle of your business without the flaming hot ears of embarrassment.

 

3)      Copying copywriting makes for bad copy

There’s a difference between competitor analysis and re-writing your competitors copy. You can admire what they write and you can think wonderful things about them, too. But your customer doesn’t want someone who sounds like your competitor. They want you to sound like you.

Your business copy needs to capture what is great about you. It needs to critically look at what you offer and make your weaknesses seem as though they don’t matter. Great copy is about relaying the tale of why you got into the business that you did and what you rock at.

Looking over the fence to your neighbour and stealing all their differentiation points, product ideas and copy personality makes you seem like a cheap knock-off of the original. Or blend into a sea of choices when you need to disrupt, excite and stand out. You don’t want that.

That’s why you need a creative copywriter who will sit down and take the time to see where you fit into the scheme of things and weave your business story around your differences and what makes you special.

 

4)      Writing copy isn’t a universally loved pass-time

Frankly, most people who don’t do SEO for a living can’t spend time each fortnight watching Google mythbusting videos, subscribing to posts on SEO and re-jigging their copy every 6 to 12 months to avoid bans and losing rankings based on the Google latest algorithm update.

Hell, the thought of weekly blog posts strike enough fear into the average business owner without the rest of it!

Let’s face facts here. I know its super romantic for you to take over this aspect of your business, but unless you are genuinely interested in it, you’ll probably end up pushing your business copy around your TO DO list like a soggy, unwanted vegetable on a kid’s plate.

Why torture yourself?

We don’t need to be a fully versed mechanic to drive a car. So I have an expectation that when it comes to copy, you’ll probably want to know how to drive aspects of your online presence but won’t want to spend copious amount of time on it.

Don’t be ashamed of that fact.

Business copy is important

Looking at your business and putting it into words can be quite difficult, especially if you and story writing haven’t exactly been best buddies in the past. So why risk your first encounter by thinking near enough is good enough?

The reason why creative copywriters and content creators exist is because we love doing this stuff. Just like choosing a doctor to look after your personal health, you can commit to helping maintain the overall health of your online presence and business copy. But nobody expects you to get out the scalpel and start cutting.

Why risk your business when you could email someone who genuinely enjoys writing instead? If you can’t write your copy, that’s what I am here for.

Check out my content services and GET IN TOUCH NOW.