Re: Shazam! You're a marketing writer!

[Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I believe the difference to be a function of switching cranial hemispheres
on demand. As you described it, Nancy, your druthers is to perform all
left-brained tasks. Writing marketing copy is truly a right-brained
function, however. How well can you switch between the two?

Have a look at this Google search:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4ADBR_enUS293US293&q=right+versus+left+brain

There is much written about this. Can you train a leftie to become a
rightie? I don't know, hence the Google search so you can do your own
research.

Best,

> Chris

On Tue, May 5, 2009 at 8:52 AM, <quills -at- airmail -dot- net> wrote:

> I try not to do this.
>
> That said, and my wife being in marketing, try approaching it in the
> following manner.
>
> What are the products features, what makes the product helpful to the
> customer. What points are the big sellers.
>
> (You should talk to your marketing department to make sure you are in
> line with them. If you don't have a marketing department, you have more
> problems than can be answered here.)
>
> When you sit down to write, with all of the information you have about
> your customers and your product, write a story. A marketing writer is
> more of a creative writer than a tech writer. This is where you are
> going off track. You have to write to capture interest. If you have
> journalism training you will understand that you have to capture them in
> the first sentence. Everything else is presented after you have their
> attention.
>
> Write with entertainment more in your mind than pure infomation transfer.
>
> And good luck.
>
> Scott
>
> Nancy Allison wrote:
> > I have been asked to put on a marketing writer's hat and write some stuff
> for the web site.
> >
> > I am a tech writer in my bones and want nothing more than to give people
> the information they need as concisely (not to say *tersely*) as possible.
> I'm all about figuring out doc structure, page structure, topic structure,
> sentence structure, with associated headings and keywords and formatting so
> people can find what they need and recognize when they've found it.
> >
> > Marketing is a related but definitely foreign language.
> >
> > I've been down this path once before and crashed into the prickerbushes
> much too soon.
> >
> > "It's too list-y,' grumbled my manager. "You've got a header, then a
> sentence-and-a-list, then a new header, then a sentence-and-a-list . . .
> that's not marketing writing."
> >
> > I kinda got what he meant. I used bulleted lists because, for busy users
> who are trying to get their work done, that's what makes info pop out. (Yes,
> I know, tables, too. You get my drift: Terse and pared to the bone and
> organized to make key topics obvious.)
> >
> > But marketing pieces, on the company web site, are trying to lure someone
> into a relationship with the product, right? They're more in seduction mode.
> Correct?
> >
> > Please don't get hung up on the listy bit -- I have some marketing pieces
> in front of me and I do see bulleted lists hither and yon, but they do also
> have more of a conversational feel. I think that's the difference.
> >
> > What advice would you give a tech writer who wants to do better this
> time? What's the difference, after all? When you put on your Marketing
> writer hat, how do you write differently?
> >
> > Any suggestions gratefully received.
> > ^
>
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ComponentOne Doc-To-Help 2009 is your all-in-one authoring and publishing 
solution. Author in Doc-To-Help's XML-based editor,  Microsoft Word or 
HTML and publish to the Web, Help systems or printed manuals. 
http://www.doctohelp.com

Help & Manual 5: The complete help authoring tool for individual
authors and teams. Professional power, intuitive interface. Write
once, publish to 8 formats. Multi-user authoring and version control! http://www.helpandmanual.com/

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