One of my favorite reads is from the folks behind GrokDotCom … their forte is multi-varied, but centers on the ways to get visitors to convert to buyers, subsribers, etc. In short, they show you how to get your visitors motivated to do what you want them to do.

Sounds a lot like direct marketing copywriting, don’t it?

In a recent post, they included the following information about improving the readability of your work by writing with verbs, using active tense, and more goodies. Read and learn:

Steps to improving readability and comprehension

• Rewrite passive sentences so they become active sentences
• Remove unnecessary words - these might be articles like "the" or "a", extraneous words like "that", adjectives that don’t pack a meaningful punch or anything that isn’t helping your message
• Replace 50-cent words with 5-cent words whenever the difference isn’t critical to your style or meaning
• Let your verbs do the work you’d otherwise assign your adjectives
• Take the time to learn how your customers talk about your product or service so you can write to them in language they actually use
• Run your copy through our We-We Monitor to get an idea how customer-focused your writing is - folks are more likely to understand writing that is aimed at them rather than you - this is a great little tool that I encourage you to use when communicating with clients as to why you want to change their website’s "me-me-me" orientation to the preferred "you-you-you" I keep hocking you about.

Maven’s Maxim:
If you’re serious about becoming a better than mediocre copywriter, you can’t afford to cut corners on the research that forms the foundation of your work, and the editing/polishing necessary to make your writing work better. Write once, edit much.