5,500 words per week.
That’s what my word count software tells me I’m writing on average. That’s around 250,000 words per year.
You might not have that high of a number. But I’ll bet you write a lot more than you realize.
Doesn’t it make sense to make sure all your writing is as good as possible? Or at least the writing you have done for you?
I can’t remember the source, but I have a quote on my office wall about communication saying:
“If they don’t understand you, you haven’t said anything.”
Let’s look at how you can improve your own writing with this one simple (but powerful) tip…
Make your words flow…
This year, I’ve written a lot of content. For companies marketing their products and services to architects. Or other building industry prospects.
Through their website pages. Through their emails. And in the sell sheets they hand out to prospects.
Some content I write new from the bottom up. Other times I review, critique and rewrite their content.
Each project has its own challenges. And there are several layers of researching, thinking and editing applied to every piece.
But, when it comes to writing, I have one powerful method I use every single time.
It helps make sure your readers flow through the words in your marketing messages.
When I give copy critiques, this tip is always one of the first ones I recommend for improving your own writing.
Funny name. Serious business.
I’ll be honest. It’s challenging to convert a technical topic into a compelling read.
But the best place to start is to make your copy easier to read.
(“Duh, Neil… And in the dictionary under “redundant” it says “see redundant.”)
OK. Fair enough. I’ll clarify.
I use various software to measure reading levels. But the most accessible is right inside Microsoft Word. It’s called the Flesch-Kinkaid Reading Level (F-K).
To activate it, you can do the following:
- Go to your Options menu
- Under Proofing, make sure you check the “Show readability statistics” box.
Then, when you do a Spelling & Grammar check, the final dialog box will tell you what reading level you’re at.
(Want test it out? Cut and paste this text you’re reading into Word and run a check. You’ll see it has an F-K reading level of 4th- or 5th-grade.)
The military actually developed the F-K scale to make technical manuals more readable.
It eventually became a standard rule in many states for insurance policies to be no higher than a 9th-grade level.
What grade level should you write to?
For one client, I was editing an existing blog post that was pretty technical.
I checked the original text to see where it fell on the reading level scale. It ranked as a Grade 15 reading level.
This means it was equal to a college textbook… very difficult to read.
Your goal is to get all your posts and other writing down to at least a 9th-grade reading level. If you want somebody to read it.
A lower reading level is even better if you want your words to flow…
Sometimes your text includes quotes from industry experts. Or a few other unavoidable technical parts. In these cases, you’ll have to settle for the 8th- or 9th-grade reading level.
How do you write more simply?
There’s a lot of good rules of thumb to follow.
But for starters, I’d recommend:
- Use shorter words and paragraphs.
- Ignore good grammar when you have a good reason.
- And it’s OK to start your sentences with And. But. However. So you see.
Need help?
If you think following these tips would take too much time, all is not lost. You still have one good option.
Go here, send me a note and start on your path to getting better results and higher-quality leads.
Let’s make your competition sweat!
Make it a great marketing day!
Neil Sutton