But sometimes you only have email, and when that happens you better make sure you do your best to get it right. Every word really does count, and so does every idea you convey, especially in today’s economic and competitive landscape.

Words are particularly powerful, and that means every single word you use.

Today, I want you to think about the power of words. The smart marketing companies out there know this power very well…

Just consider some of the products you buy—like Nature’s Promise. Now those are two great words that are overflowing with goodness, aren’t they.

Or what about Pepperidge Farms. Sounds like a nice place, doesn’t it? Sounds like the kind of place I would like to visit with the family sometime soon!

The next email you send out to try to convince a potential client or customer to act, make sure you review your sales copy to ensure you followed some basic steps.

And when you have a big contract on the line, you better believe it’s worth paying a professional to make sure every word counts.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

FIRST: Make sure you use the right tone. Be respectful, stay positive and upbeat, try sounding professional, and if possible throw in a nice personal touch. Your email should read as though you are speaking directly to the customer—not stuffy and formal but also not as casual as if you were speaking to a friend.

SECOND: Explain what makes your products or services more valuable than your competitors. That means you need to understand the difference between a benefit and a feature. Features are the specific bells and whistles particular to a product or idea, like an electric pencil sharpener that hums a tune. Benefits are the advantages the reader will gain by having a particular feature, like not being bored next time you are sharpening your pencils. Benefits bring recognizable value to a product’s features by illustrating why the features are so valuable.

THIRD: Anticipate and address your readers concerns beforehand. Have you walked a mile in your client’s or customer’s shoes? Do you really understand their biggest fears, their greatest wants and needs? Probably the most important thing you can do to break down the barrier between your client and a sale is to show that you understand where your prospect is coming from. Show you have listened to him or her. Show you care.

FOURTH: Use scarcity. That means encouraging your reader to act within your timeframe—and that usually means right away. It’s a good idea to add an incentive that makes buying now advantageous to your customer. If they’re thinking of buying, giving them every reason to follow through as soon as possible. Statistics show that once they put the decision off to later, they’ll rarely come back to you.

FIFTH: Remove words that aren’t necessary. It’s always a good idea to be concise. Now, keep in mind concise doesn’t mean “short” necessarily. It’s a fact that long sales letters are more effective than shorter sales letters. But don’t just write for the sake of adding things to say. Be concise. Make your points and move on. More importantly, go through your copy and make sure there are no redundancies or content that is not absolutely imperative. Wasted words equal wasted real estate, and could make your client or customer feel you might not be the one for them.

These are just a few pointers. If you need professional help with any writing—grants, proposals, emails, RFPs, anything—don’t hesitate to contact All Access Unlimited either by email or phone: 203-276-9812

We’re Stamford, Connecticut’s (CT) top copywriting company with experienced marketing writers, SEO writers, and copywriters. We know how to sell your company, and we’ve been helping Connecticut businesses like yours for the past ten years.

These days, business moves at the speed of light. I’m sure you’ve heard the expressions associated with this idea:

· “Speed to market”

· “Ready, fire, aim”

· “First mover advantage”

In the online world, this means publishing all kinds of information—reports, marketing materials, ideas, and so on—at the drop of a hat.

Technology has certainly made this possible.

With the advent of blogs, email newsletters, content management systems, forums, and social media, where publication takes place immediately, many people are starting to overlook one of the most important parts of the writing process—editing.

If you’re like us, then you want to make sure everything is damn near perfect. And when it comes to publishing text, there’s really no excuse.

My College journalism professor used to say, you don’t have to be perfect, but your writing should be.

Case in point: We received a resume today for a new internet marketing job we are looking to fill. It was sent to us online and the cover letter alone had no less than 4 writing errors.

The sad part is that the person looked fairly qualified for the position. But, clearly, they were not detail-oriented, especially on things that really matter (i.e. a great new job).

Are your blog posts, web pages, email campaigns, forum posts, and social media rants as tight and professional as they should be…or could be?

Now, I’m not talking about proper English. Your writing style is your writing style, and we’ve always preferred straight talk over fancy prose (especially in marketing).

What we mean by “tight and professional” is making sure your readers truly understand your meaning. If they don’t, they won’t be reading your words for too much longer, now or in the future.

Here’s a good writer’s tip. After you write anything—an article, a blog post, an email for your newsletter—it’s best to set it aside for at least a day or so before you submit it.

When we’re writing, we’re usually so “into” the piece that we can’t see the forest for the trees. Mistakes escape us. Awkward sentences don’t stick out. Catching a phrase that sounds improper becomes nearly impossible.

The moment you finish writing and proofreading a piece, you may think you’re ready to publish: “This one is perfect—I could land this one in the NYTimes Editorial if I wanted…Huh!”

But when you come back to it after a few hours or 24 hours it’s like you’re seeing it for the first time.

Then you think, “Wow, I was tired yesterday afternoon, can’t believe I missed these spelling errors…” or “Did I write THAT? It sounds like I said something I didn’t mean.”

So, next time, take an hour or a few hours or even a day or two to step back and give your mind and your eyes a chance to rest.

If you’re careful, and you give yourself a fresh look at whatever material you’re going to publish, you’ll almost always realize it was a smart thing to do.

This way, instead of being incredulous at your errors, you’ll be thankful you gave it the once-over; “Good thing I caught this before posting it!”