Having started my freelance career as a writer before switching to design, I’m familiar with the challenges that are specific to writing. These include such things as writing in the client’s voice or quickly getting up-to-speed about a topic or product you may know nothing about.
But as designers, we do share some challenges with our copywriting colleagues such as getting a freelance business off the ground and running smoothly, dealing with difficult clients, and ensuring that our work reflects the image the client is trying to portray.
In one area, though, I really envy the copywriters. They seem to have no end to the free newsletters that focus on direct market writing. Sure, we designers can find all sorts of design newsletters, but good luck finding a bunch of free newsletters that focus exclusively on direct market design.
But then it hit me…there’s actually a lot of great, free newsletters that cover direct market design. It’s just that they’re camouflaged as copywriting newsletters.
Let me explain…
As someone who still writes from time to time, I subscribe to a variety of newsletters that focus on direct market copywriting. If you read those newsletters long enough you’ll pick up lots of great writing tips. But if you’re really paying attention as you read those newsletters, you’ll pick up lots of spoken and unspoken design tips.
One of my favorite newsletters, Success Margin, is written by master marketer Ted Nicholas. While his newsletter seems targeted toward copywriters and direct marketers, designers can’t help but pick up a tip or two.
In one issue, he wrote about writing copy for order forms but also offered some hidden design advice. See if you can find it:
“Restate a powerful money-back guarantee. The longer and more prominent, the better. For example, 30 days will pull better than 10 days; 60 days pull better than 30; 90 better than 60; 180 days better than 90. One year pulls better than 180 days. A lifetime guarantee is the most powerful of any time period.”
If you’re laying out a letter for a product that has a lifetime guarantee, and an expert like Ted Nicholas is saying that it’s the most powerful of any time period, you’d better make sure to highlight that fact in the design so the reader can’t miss it. You always want to highlight a guarantee, but if it’s a lifetime guarantee, perhaps you should be calling extra special attention to it.
That’s what I mean about really digging for the unspoken design tips. I think Ted’s advice was intended for copywriters and direct marketers, but it also a tip-off to designers.
One of our jobs as designers is to complement the copywriters. When we make them look good, we look good. That makes the client happy and that leads to more projects coming our way. One of the ways we can help copywriters is to learn what they’re learning and understand the issues they face when writing copy.
So go ahead and crash their party and subscribe to some non-design-specific newsletters.
Here’s a list of some great, free copywriting-related newsletters that should be making themselves at home in your inbox:
Alan Rosenspan’s Improve Your Response
