Linda Coss is a true professional copywriter. Each time I work with her, I am reminded just how well she understands marketing, which ultimately makes her a HANDS DOWN ABSOLUTE for any small business.

I always – and only – recommend Linda whenever the need for a professional copywriter comes up, and for one reason above all else: She understands the principles of marketing on a psychological level.

You see, writing marketing copy – web sites, brochures, blogs, etc. – is not merely about writing “well.” Many Small Business Owners received relatively good grades in school when it came to English, grammar or punctuation. I should know, I was one of these! Getting good grades at my school in particular was not easy; I attended one of the strictest schools in my time, complete with nuns and rulers that whacked us into paying attention! Writing marketing copy is really more about putting together words and phrases in such a way that not only honors the timeless rules of grammar, but taps the psyche of the reader so as to evoke a positive and immediate response.

Linda sees the bigger picture. She is pragmatic, insightful and incredibly fast (I am always blown away by how quickly she can put together something that is not only well written, but compelling!)

Linda Coss is not merely my HANDS DOWN RECOMMENDATION to small business owners, she is also my personal inspiration. Read about Linda below. And then reach out to her via her web site at www.plumtreemarketing.com. Call her for a brief consultation and consider her for your next marketing project. I have no doubt you will find her to be an ABSOLUTE MUST addition to your Small Business  Success Team!

– Kristine

Tell us about your business, Plumtree Marketing. Why the name “Plumtree,” does it have a special meaning?

Back in 2000 I formed a company in order to self-publish my first book, “What’s to Eat? The Milk-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free Food Allergy Cookbook.” I drew the inspiration for the company name, Plumtree Press, from a plum tree that was growing in my backyard. When I became a freelancer in 2006, I decided to stick with the “Plumtree” name – in spite of the fact that my beloved plum tree had since succumbed to a fungal disease! I incorporated my business as Plumtree Marketing, Inc., and made Plumtree Press a division of the corporation.

What inspired you to start your own business?

I had been working at a small marketing agency, and I had had all I could take of the high stress/high pressure environment. I wanted to gain some control over my workload (after all, as the business owner I’d be the one to decide what promises I’d make to clients regarding when projects would be completed) and balance in my life. I’m a single mom. Although my kids are now both off at college, when I started my business I was still driving carpools, taking my boys to doctors’ appointments, hanging out in the parking lot during guitar lessons, etc.

Besides all that, I’m a real home body at heart! I knew I’d be a lot happier working from home.

Why did you choose writing as your field of focus?

Since my goal was to create a happy and balanced life for myself, doing work that I truly enjoy was my number one priority. I did a lot of soul searching. I realized that although I had done a lot of different things during my many years in the marketing field – including advertising, direct mail, branding, positioning, product management, marketing research, publishing and more – the jobs and projects I had enjoyed the most all involved writing or editing.

Of course, it certainly didn’t hurt that I didn’t appear to have a lot of competition. While there are quite a few marketing consultants and marketing agencies in the area (many of which offer writing services), the number of people focusing exclusively on writing is fairly limited. And, as it turns out, many of those consultants and agencies don’t actually have writers on staff; they hire freelancers like me to do the work!

I would imagine that most small business owners think they can do their own writing, since they know their businesses better than anyone else does. Why do you feel that taking the “do it yourself” approach to copywriting is a bad idea?

Writing a website, sales letter or brochure is a lot different than writing a memo or an essay. You need to be able to write to sell. This means writing text that will connect with your prospects on an emotional level; demonstrate how your product or service is going to solve their problems, improve their lives or meet their needs; and then motivate them to take action. Most people – business owners included – simply do not know how to write to sell. As a professional marketing copywriter, however, this is exactly what I do.

Even writing informative articles, such as for newsletters or blogs, is more difficult than it looks. Regardless of the subject matter, your writing needs to be clear, concise and compelling. Many business owners get bogged down in the details, writing twice as much text as what their readers really care to see.

Many people think they are good writers, and from the “getting an A in English class” standpoint they probably are. Can you give some examples of the differences between how you write sales literature versus how the typical business owner writes sales literature? In other words, what’s the difference between a professional copywriter’s approach and an amateur’s approach?

There are quite a few differences between my work and marketing pieces written by amateurs. I’ll touch on a few of them now.

For starters, amateurs tend to focus on features instead of benefits, and they’ll write completely pointless headlines such as “Welcome to ABC Company!” I focus as much as possible on benefits, putting the benefits front and center in the headlines, subheads and copy. For example, one of my clients rents out reusable “green” moving boxes. The headline that they wrote for one of their website pages was “How It Works.” I changed this to “Welcome to Guilt-Free Moving.” Their headline was utilitarian. Mine was inviting, benefit-oriented and emotional.

Amateurs will write very egocentric text that’s full of “we,” “us,” and “our.” When I write, I try to draw the reader in by focusing on “you” and “your.” Remember, all people care about is “what’s in it for me.” So instead of starting the above-mentioned web page with “We’re the first zero-waste pack and move solution in America made entirely from 100% post consumer trash,” I opened the text with a big benefit. The revised text read, “Want to make packing up for your move cheaper, faster and easier than using cardboard boxes? Check out XYZ Company, the first zero-waste pack and move solution in America!”

A surprisingly big problem that I see with the sales pieces written by amateurs is that they forget to communicate what it is that they’re selling! For example, I once submitted a proposal to a company whose website says they’re “XYZ Media, the ultimate activation company.” Had I won the bid, I would have clarified what in the world that meant.

Amateurs also tend to write text that looks like a novel, with one long paragraph after another. I break up the text with subheads and bullets, making it easy to scan and digest.

What types of things do you write?

My main focus is on writing for print and web. This includes:

• Websites
• Brochures
• Fliers
• Newsletters, e-newsletters
• Direct mail packages, post cards and sales letters
• Trade journal articles
• Press releases
• Print ads
• Email campaigns
• Blogs

Can you tell us a little about Copy Editing?

Copy editing combines high level editing with basic proofreading. When I edit text for my clients, I do a lot more than simply correct the typos, spelling and grammar errors, and punctuation problems. I also edit the text for clarity, check to see that the overall messaging makes sense, think about if the information is presented in the best possible order (and change things around if it’s not), and so forth. In sum, I turn my clients’ “diamonds in the rough” into brightly polished gems.

What sort of challenges do clients typically come to you with?

Start-up companies often come to me when they do not yet have any marketing materials at all. They need help figuring out their messaging and then translating this into a website, brochure and possibly a direct mail campaign. Often they also need help brainstorming and implementing a variety of ways that they can reach their target markets.

Sometimes established businesses come to me because their current website and marketing literature aren’t working for them, and they need help creating targeted and effective marketing materials that will actually get the phones ringing. Other times businesses have the challenge of launching a new product or service, and need my assistance creating or revising marketing pieces to reflect this.

Another common challenge that clients come to me with is the desire to establish a newsletter to stay top-of-mind with customers and prospects, or a blog to help drive traffic to their website. People want to have these things, and although they usually have a lot to say about their topic or field they don’t have the time or desire to write the articles themselves. In these situations I simply conduct brief telephone interviews with my clients and then write the articles for them.

What passions do you infuse your business with? What’s your favorite part of “the job?”

First, I truly enjoy writing and editing. So my favorite part of “the job” is “the work”! That said, one of the things that I really love about what I do is the variety. In an average month I do work for about 20 to 24 different clients, all in different fields. Those projects can range from writing websites, brochures, blog posts and newsletters to editing proposals, writing direct mail packages and press releases, ghost writing trade journal articles, and more. I’m always working with interesting people and learning something new.

What advice would you give to someone who is just starting their business and needs some help communicating their brand’s voice?

Hire a professional! In fact, you may need to hire a team of professionals, especially for your writing and graphic design needs. Just as I don’t recommend that business owners write their own marketing pieces, I also don’t recommend that they try to tackle the design on their own, either. Sure there are companies out there that let you pick a template, choose some colors, and be online with “your own customized website in just minutes.” But do you really want your company’s “24/7 online sales person” to look like it was created with a cheap do-it-yourself template? Probably not.

Linda Coss is a freelance marketing copywriter who helps businesses become more profitable by writing persuasive, targeted and effective messages for their websites, brochures, sales letters, ads, fliers, blogs, newsletters and other marketing materials. Whether you need something written “from scratch” or want a professional to edit what you’ve created, Linda is your on-call marketing writer. For more information, visit her website at www.PlumtreeMarketingInc.com or give her a call at 949-699-2749.

If you want to CONNECT WITH YOUR CUSTOMER, your web site – as well as your marketing materials, elevator speeches and sales pitches – must clearly answer these questions:

WHAT is your prospect’s problem? By acknowledging that you understand what your prospect’s worries/concerns/stresses are, you are not only identifying with them, you are laying the foundation for the SOLUTIONS THAT ONLY YOU CAN PROVIDE.

WHO is your ideal customer? If you attempt to be everything to everyone, you will fail to connect with NO ONE. To make a connection, PICK A TARGET AUDIENCE! People are tribal by nature. There’s no such thing as a “hangout” for everyone. If you know WHO your target market consists of, it is much easier to find that market in concentrated groups. Also, you can then design your marketing materials to appeal to a specific demographic, thereby making a much stronger impact on those it reaches.

HOW do you solve your prospect’s problem? Get this: NO ONE BUYS WHAT YOU ARE SELLING (Gawd, I have to write a separate post on this topic, it can totally carry it’s own page!). That’s right, you read it correctly. No one buys what you are selling. Rather, they are buying a solution to their problem. If you are a dentist, you may be selling a pearly white smile, but your customer is actually buying CONFIDENCE. When it comes right down to it, people hire you or buy from you because you can solve their problem. Tell your prospects HOW you will make their life/work/marriage/etc better! Appeal to your prospects’ values/desires/benefits.

HOW are you different from your competition? If you are offering the same products or services as your closest and strongest competitors, you will need to rely on ONLY your prices as a means of differentiating. And there’s not a single worse strategy than that (I’ll elaborate on this later in another post). Communicate WHAT you bring to the table that no one else does, HOW your approach or system (or product) is different, and WHY your customer will benefit by purchasing from you versus anyone else. Offer something that no one else can compete with.

I hope these tips help you in thinking about your web site content, the copy for your marketing materials and your sales pitches. If you have questions, please connect with me – I’m always happy to help

Graphic designers did NOT go to school to study art, design, typography and color psychology so they could spend the rest of their career days hoping to win contests.

In other words: You won’t find professional, experienced or quality graphic designers on 99Designs or Crowdspring or any other crowd sourcing logo site.

Real graphic designers do not participate in design contests. Which begs the question, who does? (I have my suspicions, but I’ll let you ponder that yourself.)

Graphic designers get paid not merely for what they do, but for what they know and the information they share with their Valued Clients. Their knowledge will help grow your business and sustain your brand. A poorly designed logo can’t do that. It can only decorate your business card. And if that’s all you are after, well….I hate to be bearer of bad tidings, but $300 for a cruddy logo is NOT the best way to spend your marketing budget! Truthfully, you’re better off not even having a logo than having one which does not connect with your audience or accurately represent your brand.

Your business image is far too important to trust “just anyone” with its design. Your logo is the face of your brand. It’s the welcome mat to your business door. And it’s often the first impression that Clients have of your company.

Quality designers that design logos and brands are affordable. Very few charge hourly rates (in my opinion, hourly rates in our field is not professional). Most, like myself, either offer standard pricing or will ask you for your budget and work within your budget. Call around! Discuss your design budget with prospective designers. Interview. Ask the designer about his or her process. Ask about their approach. Question their philosophy on design and marketing. Hire the best you can afford. It will make the difference between decorating your business card and creating a memorable, lasting impression on your prospects and Clients.

Remember, YOU first need to have complete faith in your brand. If you have no faith in your brand, you’ll never get your prospects to believe in it.