In Business Communication:
Competence Counts

If It Involves Words ... or Messages —

• Whether It's Your Business Website...
• An Important Business Report...
• A Direct-Mail Promotion...
• A Technical Paper...
• Yellow Pages or Print Advertising...
• A Catalog or Product Brochure...
• An Important Speech or Presentation...
• Or — If All You Need Is A Professional Review
  or an Edit Of Your Own Work —

Make certain it's done right...
and done well

In any B2B or B2C communication — online or off — print or electronic — be sure you're looking your very best and communicating your message with maximum effectiveness.

If you're tempted to think you can communicate with pictures alone and skip the words ... think again.

Or if you expect you can do it yourself and save a lot of money ... that could be a very expensive mistake — unless you've had a lot more training and experience than the vast majority of business owners who create and maintain their own site or write their own copy for advertising and other business publications.

Also very important:
If you decide to engage the services of a professional, do yourself a favor. Choose one with years of solid experience and a broad, diverse background — so you don't overlook or miss any important little details that can kill your effectiveness.

Protect Yourself

Hire A Seasoned Professional —
Because...
You Need and Deserve Nothing Less

Make Sure Your Message Is:

So You Get Maximum Effectiveness ... plus ...
Maximum Return On Your Invested Time, Effort, and Money.

Now You Can Strengthen Your Business
By Getting A Top-Rated Professional
To Help You With Your Business
And Internet Communication Needs

There are tons of people out there claiming to be copywriters or web designers. Some have been doing it for several years. Maybe they have a college degree in English ... or journalism ... perhaps art — possibly even a business degree.

Others have taken a few HTML classes, thinking they're ready to build websites.

Then come the web-design companies who claim to be able to provide you with "leading-edge solutions" that solve all your Internet business needs so you don't have to deal with other firms.

But if you know how to inspect their websites carefully for the right things, it becomes obvious they're stretching the truth ... sometimes well beyond believability.

Even on their own sites, they violate fundamental principles of effective site architecture, navigation, and ease-of-use. Their copy isn't crisp and solidly written. Their site may look good, but internal design architecture is sloppy — and overall usability stinks.

Their mistakes may not be obvious to a non-professional who doesn't know what to look for, ... but they're there — often in abundance ... even on some high-dollar corporate sites where the site creators learned their craft in college, not in the "real world" of rough-and-tumble marketing.

I have some very good advice for you.  If you heed it, you'll save a lot of time and money.  I'll even give it to you for free ... even though I shouldn't:

If a company claims to be good at web design but they don't do top-notch copy ... Run! — As fast as you can — The other way!

Rest assured: You're far better off with top-quality copy and mediocre design, than if it's the other way around.

If funds are tight ... Invest in solid copy and economize on design. An "ugly" web site with good copy will outperform a "pretty" site with second-rate copy every time.

But good copy with decent or good design can be like a dream come true.

Copy is the most critical element in any effective website!

It's also one of the most powerful tools available to build business credibility.

Call a Plumber?

They might have the absolutely very best of intentions ... but hiring someone who builds low-price websites is too often a lot like hiring a plumber to do surgery when you have appendicitis.

So why not hire the local plumber instead? After all — your appendix is attached to the intestine — and the intestine is a lot like a pipe — well, isn't it?

And plumbers do work on pipes, you know...

Then he can just wire you shut when he's done and cover it with duct tape...

And chances are — you won't even have to worry about one of those hospital staph infections!

Just think of the money you'd save...

Yeah, right.

Let's Quit Kidding Around...

Business is not a game.

Marketing isn't a game either.

Especially when times get tough and you feel like your business has severe appendicitis, but you don't want to call a plumber instead of a surgeon.

Business communication isn't a game either — whether we're talking about your website ... business letters ... advertising and promotion ... reports ... instruction manuals ... procedure handbooks ... speeches and presentations... or anything else that involves words or communicating messages to other people.

Mistakes in copy and presentations can damage your effectiveness ... and prevent you from getting maximum benefit through better sales volume and lower overhead. They can also distort or damage your business image by conveying the wrong impression.

Or cost you a pile of money thanks to a lawsuit, because you made a claim you can't fulfill, or you committed some other error in copy.

And that costs you money — money you don't see so you don't notice it. — But it's still money, and it should be yours. So why would you willingly throw it away by not taking proper care in crafting your business message?

Mistakes can cause difficulty for your customers too — further diminishing your reputation in the marketplace. You already know that a lot of user manuals aren't very good — And a lot of computer manuals are notoriously unhelpful.

For example, think about this sentence:
Be smart — Don't let errors, sloppy wording or other problems in your marketing materials shoot you in the foot by leaving a bad taste in a reader's mouth.

For a moment, just imagine your business — caught in the middle of a mental image like that! — A shot foot ... and a bad taste in one's mouth ... from reading words!

See what I mean? — a perfectly legitimate sentence that makes absolutely no sense ... all because of an awful use of figures of speech.

Here's something else to consider:
Unfortunately, sometimes established website designers who don't come with cheap price tags can be equally risky.

Why?

They may claim to have experience. Perhaps the owners have operated some other business so they claim they understand how to design good websites as a result. The trouble is... they don't have the right kind of specialized training and the right kind of experience to go with it.

In reality, they're little different from some business owner trying to build his own website, except they know how to do some basic design using commercial web-design software. It's a bit like a dentist claiming to be a heart surgeon.

Hiring A Seasoned Pro
Can Be An Excellent Investment

I'm Clarke Echols — Master copywriter ... Marketing consultant ... Website specialist.

And I bring a lot to the table.

I've been a senior-level writer for more than a third of a century.

That means I was writing professionally before a lot of web designers and copywriters were even born!

But I'm a whole lot more than ''just a writer''. Take a look:

• I grew up on a farm and was active in Future Farmers of America while in high school. I understand agriculture, farm machinery, and equipment.
• I completed an adult-level radio and television servicing correspondence course a few days after my sixteenth birthday — while attending high school. That gave me a huge head start over others in the race called life.
• I've been a radio announcer and radio station chief engineer. I installed a new transmitter for the station, and rewired their antenna system for better performance — at age 21 while attending college.
• I owned a retail TV service shop and two rural cable TV systems while going to college in my early 20s. I fixed the stuff all of my competitors couldn't fix.
• I have been employed as a farm machinery and automotive mechanic.
• I worked in the corporate world for 30 years, with experience on assembly lines — plus manufacturing engineering, and tool design. I have decades of experience with computers, programming, and software — starting in 1971.
• I am a college graduate with an extended major in physics, a minor in mathematics, plus additional coursework in finance, accounting, marketing, retailing, economics, advertising, industrial arts, and speech-theatre.
• I also completed the academic course of study for a master's degree in electrical engineering ... including advanced mathematics courses, but didn't finalize the degree. I opted instead to become a registered professional engineer (licensed in 1980; license currently not active).
• To supplement my corporate income while supporting a large family, I've been a building contractor, and a marketing and business consultant. I've been involved in direct selling, and also owned and operated a small manufacturing concern with customers all over the US and Canada. I understand the world of small business.
• I've had numerous dealings with banks and financial institutions spanning many decades. For my own protection, I made it my business to understand banking, economics and finance. That means I can handle your projects related to finance, banks, and money issues.
• I have experience in construction and the building trades, including structural engineering. I am a competent electrician, plumber, cabinetmaker, and home builder. I also have hands-on experience with framing, roofing, drywall ... brick, block, and stone masonry ... tile setting (ceramic, porcelain and stone), concrete, and other construction trades.
• I have experience with sheet metal, metalworking, welding, plus machine tool and machine shop equipment and procedures. I have been a competent welder for more than a half-century.
• I have experience with designing and servicing heavy vehicles (trucks and buses), including diesel engines, transmissions, and drivetrain design. (I'm even DOT certified in air brakes.) I have written articles on these topics and published them in various forums on the Internet for over a decade.
• I've also operated construction equipment (bulldozers, backhoes, front-end loaders, etc.). I have written materials that fit well in that market.
• I've been involved in direct sales for over two decades, so I understand the sales process. I also understand consumer behavior and bring insights on how to market to them.
• I was a senior writer and learning-products engineer for 20 years of my corporate life. Much of that involved extensive work in information architecture and strategic product and product-content planning.
• One manual I created 20 years ago is still considered the best of its kind ever written on that subject. I wrote the manuals you can understand — not the ones you can't.
• I have substantial experience in typography and book publishing. The first press run for the last book I produced as a corporate employee took five 18-wheelers to bring the paper to the printing plant to feed the presses. It took four similar trucks to transport the finished product to distribution warehouses. That's a lot of books!
• For most of seven years, I designed online help for administrators responsible for running large Unix server systems. I understand what users need and want. Usability tests on my work returned high scores for content, design, and ease of use.
• I was senior editor and layout director for the book 31 Steps To Your Millions In Antiques and Collectibles by Daryle S. Lambert (ISBN 978-0-9796423-0-2 published in 2007), and also wrote part of several chapters. I have also worked on other books by other authors.

I include these items, not to boast, but to demonstrate that I possess a broad, deep understanding of many fields and professions.

Why's That Important?

That's important for your business communications because it means I can help you create written materials and websites that address the needs, interests, and language commonly used by workers and professionals in each of those many fields.

There's a lot more to communicating than knowing how to construct an interesting sentence. I have those skills and they are well developed.

I've been directly involved in the Internet and Internet issues since the early 1980s before most people even knew it existed. That means I am familiar with Internet conventions and the Internet culture, so I am better able to help you craft your online messages and presence to be more effective in that environment.

My total professional experience spans more than 40 years. That's longer than a large percentage of web designers and copywriters have even been alive.

Whatever your needs, I'm an easy phone call or email message away.

 
Beware
Those Claiming Expertise
They Don't Have
And Can't Prove
 

Talk's Cheap
Good Websites Aren't

But when you include the costs of:

• Lost prospects ...
• Lost customers ...
• And lost business —
• On top of the cost of building the site...
  Even if you built it yourself—

Lousy Sites
Cost You Even More
Than A Good One!

Let me tell you a true story...

One day many months before I started building this website, I picked up the phone and called a "web development" company. In my market research, I had seen some of the web sites they had built for clients, and I was curious to know more about them.

The person I spoke with said he was one of their designers. During the conversation, he told me there were about 200 people in the company ... he had been a web designer for about 10 years ... and he was 24 years old.

I wondered how a 14-year-old kid could have been designing web sites in the late 1990s when most people were just beginning to hear about the world-wide web. The story didn't sound true.

Months later, I saw a brochure from the same company. In it they indicated they were a full-service web-design company that provided a "full spectrum" of web services.

But then I ran into a serious snag. I learned from several sources that the company does not write, edit, or do any other copy work for clients' websites.

I was told — in fact their own website makes it clear — they don't even touch copy. They also had only a small handful of employees — not 200. So much for being a "full-service" shop.

The company says their client — the business owner — knows more about his or her business than they do, so the owner should write his or her own copy. That way you don't have to pay for the time they spend doing edits and fixing mistakes.

[Guess what — my prices include editing. No extra charge. I do that because I do the job right to start with, then fix any errors because that's my job — not yours. You have a business to run.]

Suddenly I understood why their clients' sites had so many serious problems that were destroying the sites' effectiveness as a marketing tool.

The copy was being written by the business owners who had little or no training in writing, advertising and sales (one was a plumber).

And though the sites were built by self-acclaimed "professionals" — the site design ... while "pretty" ... was too often horribly ineffective.

Were the business owners short-changed? Without knowledge of details, I can't even guess.

The Vital Lesson For You

Unless you have considerable professional training in direct-response copywriting plus solid experience and skill in effective writing, you probably should at least get someone with very sound experience to review your work.

It's a lot like having a lawyer review the contract before you sign it.

If you really need to save money or want to do your own website work, do yourself a favor and have me coach you or at least review your work before you put it online. You'll find it well worth the trouble.

Besides ... I really am a nice guy —

Even my grandkids would tell you that ... most of the time, anyway... :-)

Another important lesson: Be careful about people who claim they're professionals. I could show you some very pretty websites put together by "professional" web designers that are total bombs when it comes to usability and real effectiveness in the real-world marketplace.

Then there are the corporation sites that leave you wondering, What were they thinking?!

Let me clue you in
on something that's
Really Important:

It's copy that sells. — Not pictures ... Not nice graphics and layout ... Not search engine traffic ...Copy is King.

Just plain ... well-written ... effective ... copy. Keep that fact solidly in your brain and you'll avoid a lot of bad decisions.

Don't misunderstand — I'm not saying graphic design isn't important. But it has to take a back seat to copy — every time.

If a company says they do comprehensive web development in a one-stop shop, but they don't do copy, I can assure you they aren't really good at the other stuff either.

If they were any good, they'd either hire a staff of really good writers or they'd have solid writers on retainer to do top-quality work for them.

There are a lot of copywriters out there, but very few really good ones.

Really good, top-rate copywriters are scarce. Very hard to find.

I'm talking about the kind of writers who understand direct-response copy — the kind of copy that works well on web sites, in direct mail, and in most other business communications — especially advertising in any form.

If you do manage to find a really good writer who's willing to handle your jobs, consider him or her a very good investment — someone you treat like gold.

That's because they're like gold to you. The good copy they produce, properly used, can pay for itself many times over. Bad copy written by inexperienced people wastes time and money, and can wreck your company.

Good copy that "sings" — copy that really works is hard to create. It demands serious "brain sweat" — Even if the writer has years of relevant experience.

You don't get that kind of copy from college graduates with a degree in English or Journalism.

It comes from people who understand how to write well, but — more important — who know the principles of selling to people without the prospects feeling sold.

These principles apply
to much more than
just websites

Any of your business communications — especially those creations that go into the hands and eyes of customers and prospects — are an important part of your full-time sales staff.

But they are different. — They are on the job 24/7/365.

They don't take coffee breaks ... They don't rest or sleep ... They don't collect workman's comp ... Or unemployment ... They're there 100% of the time ... No vacations ... No nothin'.

They just work — All the time.

Still, they must be well trained. That means —

They must be well written — so they convey the right message ... from the right spokesman for your business ... to the right prospect ... in the right way ... at the right time.*

This is key to your marketing success. Only a very small percentage of advertisers and business owners really understand this principle.

Unfortunately, too many "web developers" don't have a clue either.

Websites, product brochures, whitepapers, business reports, catalogs, promotional email, direct mail ... all are essentially "salesmanship in print".

And just as a salesman must be properly trained, both in technique and in product knowledge, your business communications likewise must be done well, and in the right way.

So do yourself a big favor and do it right.

And don't forget: I can help you avoid a lot of pitfalls that await the unwary ... the inexperienced ... and the uninformed.

————————

* These are the "Five Rs" of effective marketing — discovered and developed by my friend, Daniel Levis, a former professional B2B salesman who is now known world-wide as a master of internet marketing and copywriting effectiveness.