1. Don’t add fluff words.

People hate advertising. I work in advertising and even I hate viewing it. So don’t make your writing sound like an Ad please, even if it actually is. Here’s an article with funny examples:

Executed from a formula adequate to meet the perspiration breakdown byproduct odor offensiveness detection threshold reduction requirements associated with masculine subbrachial cutaneous excretions, marketed to a target audience of the opposite gender.

Simplified Version: Strong enough for a man but made for a woman.

It may be funny but it’s surprising how many people still use too many words to say something that was originally simple. If you want to learn more about simplifying your writing, Angela at Girl Meets Business wrote an excellent article about writing concisely and sparingly.

2. Write less.

Don’t write an essay. Nobody has the time to read lengthy copy about what you’re selling. You’re not going to have their attention long enough to stuff all 10 concepts down their throat. The point is to communicate just 1, maybe 2 points to them strongly. If you try and get too many points across in a message, by the time they get to point #3, they’ll start to forget point #1 already. You’re in a hurry to make money, and they’re waiting for you to get to your point.

3. Show Pretty Pictures

Now that you’ve cut down significantly on your writing length, add something even simpler. Visuals. In combination with simple and direct words, visuals can complete the imagery in their minds without taking more than a few seconds. Even if you’re not at the point of sale, the simple combination will keep your product fresh in their mind for longer. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words. (Especially if they are properly ALT tagged)

4. Talk to them as a friend.

That’s right, time to get off your high horse. It’s all about being real and community sharing lately. If you can talk to them as a human being, instead of acting like you know what’s best for them, they’ll actually like you and buy your junk. Also use words that are conversational and try not to sound like an ad. After you write, read it back to yourself and see if it sounds like a greasy car salesman. If so, start over.

5. Sell to the right people.

Figure out which market segment would actually like to use your products, so when you speak to them, you would genuinely have their best interest in mind. You wouldn’t sell something useless to a real friend would you?

This may sound logical, but most companies still try to sell to the wrong people. Now that you know how to write sincerely and picked your target group, think about how your product will actually help them. Genuinely try to improve people’s lives with your product, and they will give you their loyal support. Imagine that, loyal customers in this day and age.

6. Create a two way dialogue.

Write and persuade your audience to give you feedback. With the internet, this is easy. You no longer have to include prepaid-postage envelopes to gather feedback, all you need is a widget or two on your site. (You can practice this by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post) The internet changes quickly, with the assistance of regular feedback from your customers though, you will be able to stay on top of trends. This doesn’t have to be a multi-million dollar marketing effort. A well-placed button on a website is all that it takes.

7. Online: Use high traffic keywords

Here’s an extremely effective SEO trick for Internet writing. Go to Google’s keyword suggestion tool here. Enter in a few keywords related to what you are writing. Find relevant words that have high search engine traffic. You don’t need to spam the keywords, just sprinkle the words here and there. It’s not cheating, it’s just making it easier for your potential customers to find you.

By following these writing tips, you’ll be able to create a good relationship with your customers, be a responsible citizen, and then increase your business revenue. Using any of these tricks already? Know any other good writing tips?