It’s the 20th century...the era of posting unpopular thoughts and opinions across the interwebs.

As someone who doesn’t like missing out on the action, I figured I’d share mine!

Do you agree or disagree? Read my thoughts below, then let me know!

#1: It’s ok to break proper grammar and punctuation rules.

GASP! How dare I say such a thing as a writer? I should have my copywriting license revoked!

Well, too bad. I don’t have a license. In fact, my degree isn’t even in copywriting so sorry my friends, there’s nothing that can be removed here, you’re just going to have to hear me out…

Let’s start with the disclaimer I always have to put out there to ensure potential clients don’t think I’m some sort of heathen. *rolls my eyes*

YES. Clean, well-written copy is important.

The caveat: The English language is an ever-evolving beast. Modern trends have relaxed how we write and communicate with each other. And sadly, 98% of your audience is never going to realize you forgot a comma or that you used a semi-colon in the wrong place.

To be honest, people are reading your content for the information, not for the punctuation. As long as you know how to spell and can formulate digestible sentences, you are capable of writing content.

#2: SEO is not going to fix your engagement issues.

I’ve worked in various agency settings where clients would fork over large sums of money in exchange for a big, fancy, SEO package that was sold as a magic pill solution for a lack of audience engagement.

Sure...

• Can keywords help you show up in search rankings? Yes.

• Will internal links help people digest more of your content? They sure can!

• Do directory listings help people find you more efficiently online? You betcha!

But, at the end of the day, you must have a solid product/service for SEO tactics to work. People have to want what you’re offering. And you have to build a trusting relationship with your audience before people are going to start emptying their pockets--especially for larger ticket items.

I’m not saying SEO isn’t important. I’m simply saying that SEO tactics are just one piece of a very large puzzle that will determine your success.

The majority of my clients make the bulk of their money while utilizing engaging, actionable content that attracts a loyal online following.

Relationships > Algorithms

#3: Content isn’t king, your audience is.

As a content marketer, I know that content is important. But do you know what’s more important?

Your audience.

Every day I see business owners jump on the content marketing bandwagon who are dead set on pumping out 8 articles a month, email campaigns, social media posts, etc.

They truly believe that the more content they produce, the more they will sell. This mindset often leads to poor quality content, burnout, or overspending.

Yes, continually creating content is an important part of a digital marketing strategy.

What’s more important: creating quality content that is focused on your target audience.

I would rather produce one piece of well-written content that I know my audience is going to engage with, than 8 pieces of content that I know will simply become white noise amongst all the other mumbo jumbo that’s already on the internet.

Whenever you pick up your pen--eh, I mean computer keyboard--think for a moment...does this serve my audience?

If not, don’t waste your time/money on it.

#4: Content length is (mostly) irrelevant.

I get a lot of work requests that sound something like this…

“I need 4 articles written a month that are a minimum of 800 words long.”

It’s always kind of puzzling to me.

Yes, I know that content length plays some role in how your content gets ranked online. But, I also know that writing words just for the sake of having more words isn’t how content should be written.

I’ll let you in on a little secret...We copywriters in the digital marketing space call this style of writing (where you have to continue adding content to reach a word minimum) “The Art of Bullshitting.”

I don’t believe in it.

I believe a 400-word article can be just as powerful as a 1,000-word article.

I know that most people are too lazy to read lengthy content, so sometimes short and sweet is more effective.

I guarantee you that quality is better than quantity.

Don’t believe me? Check out Seth Godin’s wildly successful blog where most of his posts are around 400 words long!

View the blog here!

#5: Not every business needs an Instagram feed (or any social platform for that matter.)

Yup, I said it.

Not everyone should be on social media!

If you are…

• Stressed out about writing social content that no one engages with

• Purchasing followers because your organic social media approach isn’t working

• Not able to keep up with the demand of daily/weekly content for your feed

...knock it off and put your time and resources into more appropriate mediums for your business.

#6: Salesy content works.

Over the years I’ve spent as a copywriter, I’ve always been fed the narrative that your content shouldn’t sound like a sales pitch.

Keeping that in mind, my copy used to always take readers on this magical, whimsical storytelling journey. You know...to trick readers into thinking that I wasn’t actually selling something just to sell something to them at the end of my story anyways.

Then, one day I had a client tell me, don’t be afraid of making it sound salesy. People know they need our product and we want to be direct with them. I know they will buy it.

And by golly, they did!

I think nowadays, a lot of people simply want clarity. They don’t have time for elaborate stories. They have a problem and want to be given the solution.

It reminds me of when I went to go buy a new car. I knew what I wanted. And I actually got really annoyed as the salesperson wasted my time with all sorts of unnecessary mumbo jumbo.

Don’t get me wrong. Story-based content is great too. And I write a lot of it!

But salesy content can be just as effective--if not more effective in some cases, so don’t be afraid to sell.

#7: Done is ALWAYS better than perfect.

This last thought has been on my mind for a while now as I sit here and write this blog post amongst the million other things I also need to get done today.

I know that writing content is important for my business. I also don’t always have the time to do it.

As I sit here typing away, I was reminded that done is always better than perfect. I could have put off writing this article once again, but then you wouldn’t be here reading it.

If you’re struggling to produce the content you want to put out in the world, my best piece of advice is to just get started.

Something is better than nothing. Done is better than perfect.

Oh, and if you need a helping hand with content creation I know someone who can help! Wink wink, nudge nudge...it’s me!

What do you think? Do you agree/disagree? Do you struggle with any of the opinions I’ve laid out above?

I want to hear from you! If you have thoughts regarding anything I’ve said today, I encourage you to shoot me an email at ScribbleCopywriting@gmail.com and I’d love to chat with you!