An invitation to solve a problem

Messaging without momentum? No clarity in your content? Lacklustre copy can stifle the chances of your comms campaign before it has even begun.

Solution: Learn more about the lndiecomms copywriting and editing service inside.

We can all drive a car, but we're not all

ens on on • Copywriting seems like the kind of everyday task we can all be good at. But as with many things, we believe that when it comes to good copy, practice makes perfect. We've done the practice, so you don't have to be perfect.

There are all kinds of things you shouldn't ask lndiecomms to do for you. Don't ask us to paint your house, or fix your boiler. Don't ask us to bake you a birthday cake, or clip the garden hedge. There are so many things that

you do, that you do better than us. But in our most polite tone of voice we'd like to make the suggestion that copywriting might not be one of

them. When you've got an important job ahead of you, isn't it better to get

an expert in? The copy you write to promote your organisation is nothing if not important. Why not talk to us to see how we can help?

When you contact lndiecomms you are instantly in touch with a network of experienced copywriters who are experts at crafting tailored copy that is far more than just "a string of words". Our experience has been gained in a wide variety of contexts, working on communications projects across the public, private, charity and not-for-profit sectors. When it comes to writing

we know what we are doing.

"Good copy helps you deliver your goals"

Great copy should achieve all of the following:

1. It should work hard to deliver your organisation's key messages, constantly reinforcing your brand's position and adding new momentum to the central ways you have chosen to

represent your work. 2. It should aim at a clearly defined audience, using words and ideas that are appropriate to them, and use your brand's own

"tone of voice". 3. It should engage the reader, draw him/her into your world

and demonstrate your values and beliefs. 4. It should avoid jargon, complicated technical terms and specialist language (unless your audience is specialist in nature and guaranteed to understand these terms) as moving away from "plain English" can alienate some readers. 5. It should signpost clear actions that the reader can take next

in support of your organisation. 6. And whether the copy is written to entertain, persuade, educate or inform, it should be written in grammatically-correct English - without mistakes, without typos and without

catastrophic misuse of apostrophes!

Good copy says lots about you and your organisation. It says you are professionals, authoritative within your field and committed to building a strong working relationship with your reader. It says you can be trusted to give information that is accurate and reliable. And all of this pays respect to your

audience. In contrast poorly written or lacklustre copy undercuts your claim to

professionalism, and with it your ability to be effective.

Good copy has flow and rhythm. It presents ideas in logical ways, introducing them in a sequence that aims towards a final goal. You may need to raise funds, or distribute information. You may need to secure the support of the reader as a volunteer or in a campaign. Those goals are important to the success of your

organisation, aren't they? Good copy helps you deliver your goals.

Copy will be heavily influenced by the format in which it will be used- an advert is very different from a report after all, while search engine optimised (SEO) web copy is different again. Our experience helps us create copy that is

effective across all the formats you are using.

Long formats: annual reports, magazines, advocacy materials

Medium formats: newsletters, SEO web content, direct marketing materials

Short formats: key messages, headlines, adverts

We love to write and we'd love to write for you.

We write. We re-write. We edit. We proof-read. We take copy that isn't working, and make it work. Or we take ideas that you are finding hard to get on paper, and pin them down on the page in a memorable and effective way.

We work with you to generate key messages that work, if these aren't already

in place.

We simplify, when that is suitable for getting the message over. We clarify, when meaning is in danger of getting lost. We find the words that were on the tip of your tongue but couldn't quite be found. We use words to influence your

audience in your favour.

We improve impact.

The most important thing you can ever do to make your

copywriting work, is to

get your key messages right.

Lf you don't know what you want to say, how are you

going to say it?

We've worked at organisations where communications outputs are based on a shared understanding of key messages: what needs to be said, and when to say it. And we've worked at organisations without that shared understanding.

Marketing and communications at one kind of organisation thrives, while at the other kind it doesn't.

Why do we attach such importance to key messages?

As copywriters we want to represent your organisation effectively, and to do

that, we need to be clear about what you want to say. We believe strongly in the framework for communicating that key messages provide. If you aren't clear about what you want your audience to know, how are you going to be sure you've told them what's important?

Choosing them

What does everyone really need to know about your organisation? Imagine you've got just 30 seconds to make an impact. What is the vital information that needs sharing? Perhaps you should answer the big questions - Who? What? Where? Why? How?

Choose however many messages you like. As long as it's five.

Less than that, and we think you might have missed something important. But more than that and you've probably not refined down hard enough to what is

really crucial. We'd be happy to help you get your messaging strategy right.

How will we work with your key messages?

Your key messages provide a structure for all future marketing and communications copywriting. If a piece of marketing material can promote three or more of the key messages, then it is working as hard as it needs to in getting your voice out there. Good copywriters use key messages as a springboard .. We'll build on the structure in a way that is appropriate. With

copy written for the web, where readers tend to have a short "dwell time" and will rapidly move on if they don't like what they see, it is important that you make points succinctly, and that you bear in mind the way online searching works. Search terms and metadata are likely to be important in any web copy written for you. In longer print documents copywriting can sometimes be a little more expansive, building interestingly on ideas and exploring them at length. Writing for advertising and direct marketing are different disciplines again. But if you have a strong framework based on key messages, your copy will always have something highly relevant to say to your audience. Without that framework your writing could wander, and fail to make your point.

Objection! Objection!

We know that in times of austerity, some people see spending money on a

copywriting service as a luxury. From our perspective, effective communications starts with effective writing. If you can't set out the aims of your organisation, in simple words that positively influence your audience, doesn't that harm your ability to reach your goals? Making sure you explain your work effectively isn't a luxury. It's a necessity.

The second objection to a professional copywriting service that we sometimes hear centres on the idea that "We do our own copywriting because we understand our organisation and its values." A fresh pair of eyes can help bring

new life to an explanation of your work, and help to renew those values for the future. Audiences move, and organisations need to move with them. Accurate and effective copy is only one thing a good agency brings to a copywriting task. They also bring ideas, energy and new ways of connecting to the reader. You'll find we don't just polish your punctuation and then leave you to it. Engage with

lndiecomms and you'll find we've become a useful part of your network- for

life!

At lndiecomms we listen to your ideas and translate them into fantastic copy.

We want your cause to become our cause too, so we can write in a way that is true to your core values. We take concepts that are ephemeral or badly thought through, and add clarity.

We do all this because we have 100% faith in the power of strong copy to persuade. Is it time to let us take the weight of all those apostrophes?

print and digita 1 publications

annu a 1 reports ::l ~ advocacy materials ~

newsletters ~ ~-

headlines du vertc: :::J (0

SEO web content blogs 'JJ

key messages

We write for all kinds of marketing and

communications formats, including:

annual reports and advocacy materials

print and digital publications

blogs and newsletters

seo web content

direct marketing and advertising

magazines and brochures

Tone and style

Which of these descriptions sound right for your organisation? When you write, do you choose to be ...

FORMAL? INFORMAL? RELAXED? FACTUAL? WARM?

QUESTIONING? UPBEAT? INVOLVING? DOWN TO EARTH? AUTHORITATIVE?

Thinking about your organisation's tone of voice will help you write copy for

your materials that is authentic, and engages your reader in ways that make sense to you and them. For instance a factual approach might well emphasise

numbers and statistics. For some organisations that will seem too dry, whereas for others it is just right. An involving tone might well concentrate on quotes and opinions, and find interesting ways of bringing to life the views of your organisation's stakeholders. Perhaps you have a different tone of voice in different situations- your Facebook presence and your fundraising calls being written in very different ways.

Some organisations use House Style Guidelines as a way of agreeing a framework for how they should communicate in writing with their audience. The point isn't to insist on a list of petty and pointless rules. Agreement on a "house style" can help your organisation achieve consistency, and that in turns helps you represent yourselves professionally.

We'll work with you to bring character to your communications materials in ways that seem true to you and your colleagues, your organisation and its aims, and also to your audience - and which deliver against the goals set for your

work.

Don't talk to me in that

tone of voice!

We'll help you focus on the detail that will convince and persuade your reader,

and make him/her want to act on your agenda.

We firmly fly the flag for the good old communications values of correct

spelling, grammar and punctuation. Large sections of your audience continue you, re not T 0 l stoy :oinsistonallthree,andwillthinkyou lackcredibilityifyouslipup.

But we also know there is a time for formality and a time for friendliness, and

your brand presence on social media need not have exactly the same style and

tone as is used in your annual report. We can adapt to make sure your brand

copy always portrays your organisation in the right way.

And thankfully, neither are we.

We're happy to take the received opinion on this one ...

... and agree that Tolstoy was one of the world's great novelists.

But we suspect he wouldn't have made a copywriter! At 1000

pages per book, he wasn't short of things to say, was he? That

can be the problem when you are the expert on something. You

long to share all that detail. In copywriting terms there can be a

real benefit in brevity. Knowing what to share, what is important

and relevant, and cutting the rest away, can really help a

copywriting project. You might be the expert on your

organisation, but when it comes to communicating successfully,

you might almost know too much.

There is real value to your organisation in a fresh pair of eyes.

But a new take on things is just one of many benefits of hiring a good copywriting service.

Our experience will help you achieve consistency and professionalism in your written outputs. And we'll spice that up

with just the amount of variety that will engage your audience

and get them on your side.

Perhaps most importantly of all ...

... we know that copywriting is a job that is as much about constructing a document as it is about the actual skill in writing. By this we mean the job of

taking disparate pieces of information- quotes, facts, opinions, news, statistics, images etc- and linking them up to develop an argument in the most beneficial

way. Because we are not too close to the information itself- as many of the

clients we work with are- we can "see the wood for the trees". We can see how

all that data slots together, and because of our experience we can see how to

use what is available to construct a convincing case.

The lndiecomms copywriting and editing service is :

Friendly and professional

Experienced and expert

On your wavelength - we only work for charity and not-for-ptofit clients

Focused on the detail, but great at the bigger picture

Able to meet all your copywriting needs, for both online and print formats

In short, lndiecomms is a key business support service, and we look forward to working with you.

We'll help you solve your communications problem

lndiecomms is a marketing communications and design agency that works exclusively with charity and not-for-profit organisations including voluntary and public sector bodies. You can contact us in the following ways:

By email to: martin@indiecomms.com Through our website at www.indiecomms.com By phone to: 07411365 029

We look forward to hearing from you.

lndiecomms Ltd is a private limited company registered in England and Wales. Company number 07642295.

Registered office : 145- 157 StJohn Street, London EC1 V 4PW. Please check for delivery address.