3 Incredibly Specific Tips To Make Your Writing Speak to Your Clients

Write in a way that speaks directly to your client.

Be authentic.

Just be yourself.

You have to speak like your brand.

Don’t be too salesy.

You should always be selling yourself.

Avoid only talking about yourself.

There’s so much conflicting advice about how to write great copy.

As if just getting your ass to the page on a consistent basis wasn’t hard enough, now you need to sift through the mounds of advice so that you can cut through the noise, reach the right people, avoid attracting dud clients, but also not feel slimy and totally sound like yourself.

Holy crap my head is spinning, how about yours?

I get paid to write for a living, and I still sift through this information from time to time. I don’t spend hours reading other blogs, and I’m done with online courses, free downloads and all the other smartly designed opt-ins that ask for my email address in return.

When writing for my 1:1 clients, I use a combination of experience, getting in their heads, and intuition. Sometimes, the latter is in the driver’s seat, and I’m just along for the ride. Sometimes, we hit the mark; others, we chalk it up to trying something new, and then we tweak from there.

In your business, when you’re writing copy, you’re writing to people. The people you want to attract are your prospects or potential clients. With the copywriting I do for clients and the coaching I do to help clients become better writers themselves, here are some simple ways to make sure your writing speaks to your clients:

1) Know who your clients are.
This can be tricky if you’re just starting out or haven’t worked with many people yet. If you’re not sure, try offering to work for free with a handful of people so you can get some juicy details about what they’re looking for and learn, in their words, what they need your help with. You’re not just helping out these folks for free; you’re also getting valuable insights into whether you want to work with these people and if the work you’re doing is helpful.

2) Pay attention to the words they use.
Remember, you’re not writing to sound smart, and you’re not writing for your industry peers. You’re writing for your clients and potential clients, so you need to speak their language. In every consult and conversation you have with your dream clients, write down the precise words they use to describe their problems. Jot down key phrases and the feeling of the words they use when they talk about their business and their pain points.

If you haven’t had a chance to have many of these conversations, you can find these conversations online—in Facebook groups, on Instagram, Twitter, or in blog comments. Keep a file—perhaps in Google Docs or in Evernote, or even a notebook when you’re on the go to record the words your clients use. When you’re ready to sit down and start writing, you’ll have these phrases ready to go to inspire your next blog post, sales page, about page, or even a newsletter.

3) Speak to your clients in their words.
Now that you know who your clients are and the words they use—put it together. This phase takes some trial and error. If you have some great clients who wouldn’t mind acting as a sounding board for you, ask them if they’ll take a peek at your draft copy. And instead of just asking them, “Hey, can you read this and tell me if it sounds good?” ask them if it sounds like what they’d say. Could they imagine saying these words out loud? Is your copy confusing? Do they know what to do next? Getting your copy to land just how you want it on your website and in your social media posts takes a little bit of tweaking and playing. I’m constantly updating my website copy, and that’s okay!

When you first make the switch from writing for your peers and colleagues or even yourself to writing for your clients, it can feel a little awkward. Unless you’re selling to your peers, though, adjusting your language for your prospects lets your clients know that you get them without having to say, “I get you.”

If you liked this, you might also like to know how to write a sh*tty first draft, how to start off your blog post, and how to keep your blog content fresh by batching your blogs.