Re: Persuasive writing

[Jennifer Jelinek <jlkraus -at- AMETEKWATER -dot- COM>]

I am the only writer in our building, so I end up doing both the technical
writing and the advertising/marketing copy. Because I was an English geek
in college and had about equal training in technical and creative writing,
I dont' find the marketing writing too daunting, and find that (as with my
personal creative writing) my technical writing skills serve to enhance my
developing copywriting skills. I found that my experience in tech writing
allows me to produce marketing copy that is persuasive while remaining
accurate and precise, and which avoids hyperbole. When editing copy written
by our marketing or product managers, I was always the one pushing to edit
out the fat, or to make bullets read in a parallel fashion, or to rearrange
copy to create the best impact, or to use more concise, "powerful"
language.

I enjoy the ad/marketing work I do; it adds variety. I think any company
could benefit by at least letting the tech writer(s) edit the ad copy
that's written by professionals with perhaps a heavier background in
marketing or advertising. I think this is especially true in small
companies where they don't have the money to hire a separate copywriter. In
these cases, the writing ends up being done by outside agencies who aren't
familiar w/ the product being sold, or by marketing or product managers who
aren't particularly good writers. In these cases, the tech writer's skills
could be instrumental in creating accurate, polished ad copy.
___________________________________________________________________________
Jennifer Jelinek
Marketing Services Manager
Plymouth Products, Inc. Sheboygan, WI
jlkraus -at- ametekwater -dot- com

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