Conversational Media Marketing

1. Use spellcheck. That's a no-brainer, right? If you're posting on a personal blog, it might not be such an issue, but if you're blogging for business, I think correctly spelled words along with the use of proper grammar is a non-negotiable. Nevertheless, as obvious as this might seem, I suspect the spellcheck icon in the editing toolbar is one of the least clicked.

BTW, one of the most frequent errors people make when creating Web copy is saying "you" when they meant to say "your." Obviously, spellcheck won't catch that error.

2. Proofread the post using preview mode. Computer monitors aren't best suited to reading. What would be even better than using the blog's preview mode is to print your copy and proofread that way. But, that's not always possible. Main point here: Proofread.

3. Read the copy aloud. Unless you're in Starbuck's or on a crowded subway, reading the copy aloud is a good practice. It's another way for your brain to wrap itself around the text and insure it has a logical, readable flow.

4. Practice use of acceptable style (but not at the expense of forsaking your own). By "acceptable style" I'm referring to AP style, which is a standard for journalists. That means doing things like saying "OK" instead of "ok," or "Web site" instead of "website." (Oh, and please put punctuation marks inside the closed quote, would ya.)

That being said, as a blogger it's important to develop your own unique style ("voice"). For me, that means the use of devices like an ellipsis, the three dot sequence ("..."). In addition to what Wikipedia says, I use it to represent the idea of a thoughtstream. I don't know when I started doing that - years ago I guess - but it's developed into somewhat of a signature, so much so I now incorporate it into blog post titles (only on this blog).

5. Put some distance between the time you write the post and when you publish it. Again, not always feasible, but when you can, let a period of time pass between writing and publishing. Then, just prior to publishing, proofread the post again. You'll be amazed at how much difference 24 hours can make in your ability to catch mistakes.

6. Ask another person to proofread the post. Yea, I know. I've already said that's not normally possible. It remains good advice nonetheless.

7. Accept that even when copy is proofed, sometimes an error sneaks through undetected. I've seen it time and again in books published by major publishers. Hey, even highly paid editors are human. Mistakes happen. Heck, in preparing this post I practiced everyone of these tips and there STILL might be a mistake. And, if you find one (or more), let me know via a comment.

Probably the most prolific blogger on the subject of copywriting today is Brian Clark at Copyblogger. If you really want to learn how to write compelling copy, read his stuff.

BTW, a funny happened on the way to completing this post. I googled the phrase "blog copywriting" and the #1 return was a post I wrote for Allbusiness.com in December 2006. It contains even more copywriting tips. Gosh, I love Google!

Something else the venerable old editor told me was, try to remove as many uses of "the" as possible and still make the copy readable. (I think I found 15 instances here.)

One last thing...It's not uncommon for writers to add an unnecessary prepositional phrase at the end of a sentence. For example, above I said "it's developed into somewhat of a signature." I could have said, "it's developed into somewhat of a signature for me." I've found, when possible, lopping off that last phrase cleans up the copy making it leaner and more readable.

Those are my tips. Why not share some of yours.