Technology Toolkit

Mid-life career changeSocial marketing participants create dozens — perhaps hundreds — of messages every day. They rarely think of their postings and messages as copywriting. After all, these arenas are supposed to be, well, social. So we tend to relax and forget everything we learned about writing copy for our websites and sales letters.

As a result, a lot of time invested in social marketing gets wasted. Readers might find you and like you. You share some enjoyable virtual interactions.

But if you’re reading this article, chances are you didn’t join places like Facebook, Twitter and Ning to find new friends who invite you over for a backyard barbecue. You want business contacts. The reality is, every time you communicate with a customer, client, or prospect, you are writing copy: words designed to market your products and services to your target market.

Your first copywriting challenge: help readers categorize you as a potential client, potential resource, competitor, or friendly colleague. It’s not always easy to summarize your value in a sentence or two.

But don’t give up: You can get more specific than promising to teach clients to create messages from the heart as well as the mind. Here’s an example of how one introduction might read:

‘If you’ve got a great talent but you don’t know how to tell the world how great you are, I can help. I teach Independent Professionals the Soft Promotion technique that reaches clients who would be turned off by traditional pitches.”

And now you face an even more critical (but often ignored) copywriting challenge. Recently I happened to be reading a Facebook friend’s home page. Her services seemed perfect for a couple of my clients.

So I went to her site. I was looking for a continuation of what I read on Facebook. Instead, I found beautiful photos, links to a press kit and a place to sign up for a free consultation.

‘Where,’ I wanted to ask,’is your About page? What are your credentials to offer your services?

Most visitors are like me, I suspect. They want to get a sense of who you are, what results you achieve, and why you’re qualified. They want to see signed testimonials and success stories.

When we refer someone, our own reputation is on the line. So we need to learn as much as possible from your website. Sure, visitors could email or call, but most likely they’ll just click away to the next name on the list.

Posting to your Twitter account can increase your exposure, attract website traffic and communicate your brand to thousands of prospetive customers and clients. You will gain maximum benefit from Twitter (and avoid common pitfalls) when you follow these steps when you first open your account.

First, take a few moments to design a home page on Twitter that communicates a friendly, professional brand image. Originally I just uploaded my “sleepy cat” logo to the original Twitter pale blue background. Response rate increased when I changed the color scheme.

Then create a profile that includes your URL. When deciding whether you”re “legit,” strangers will check out your website. Of course if you”re networking for business, you want lots of visitors to your site, so this is a good thing. And you never know who will become your next client.

Add a photo to display with your Tweets. If you use the default Twitter avatar you might as well hang out a sign: “I am a flake.” Even if you”re not.

Think about why you are Twittering. Are you looking for friends or creating a professional network? Twitter is good to get acquainted with lots of people and to create an image. So get very clear on what you want to communicate.

Now you’re ready to start adding Twitter follows and followers. To get started, identify 2-3 people who have twitter accounts and go to their sites. Look at the conversations. Click on the names of folks who are doing the postings and you”ll be led to their sites.

Be selective with personal tweets. Each Tweet can be viewed as a line of copywriting. Do you want to tell the world you had tuna fish for lunch? Or share the gory details of your latest visit to the doctor? It”s very tempting but I would encourage my own clients to choose their “warm and fuzzy” image as well as their business brand. Consider writing about your dog, visits from family or your appreciation of nature. When in doubt, opt for discretion.

Your next step is to write 6 to 12 tweets. Pick topics that will communicate your desired personal and professional image. When potential followers come to your site, they will scan your tweets (and maybe your profile). If you have no tweets, they will be suspicious.

Now you can go out and recruit some followers. Just find some Twitter dwellers who seem to be good candidates for a connection. They might be colleagues in your field, potential clients, or just interesting people. Click on their “follow” buttons. That”s all you have to do.

Keep an eye on your numbers. Ideally you will have a balance of followers and follows. If you follow a lot of people but nobody follows you, you will raise a flag. But if you have thousands of followers and only a few follows, you need to have important content that others will enjoy.