Here are some basic guidelines:

Communicate directly to your readers, by writing as if you were talking to them. Correct grammar is not the most important issue - being understood is.

Don't be frightened to use large headings that are witty and eye-catching - newspapers and magazines make good research places for getting to grips with powerful headings.

Grab Your Readers? Attention

In the very first sentence! If you don't you may lose them. We live at a fast pace. Concentration is not high on our priority list. Just look at the designs of many of the popular magazines and you can see that short, snappy articles, interlaced with plenty of pictures, are the normal layout. Pick up any Dorling Kindersley book and see how they have revolutionised learning from books with their layouts.

Make what you have to say exciting and interesting.

Word Choices

Choose your words carefully. Be aware of the sound words make. For instance, let's suppose you want to inject some humour into your text, certain words are funnier than others. An example of this is one of Beryl Reid's lines when she was doing a routine, knocking her girlfriend, Deirdre. She'd say, "Deirdre says her complexion is sallow, I call it yellow, what with her yellow face and her little black eyes, she looks like a small portion of prunes and custard!"

This dialogue wouldn't have half the punch if Beryl had chosen to use apricots and custard, instead of prunes and custard, because prunes is a funny word and apricots isn't.

Another classic technique for working out a punch line is to use alliteration. Example: ?I bet he's bonking some bimbo in the back seat! (Much funnier than, ?I'm certain he's having sex with some girl in the rear of the car.? It means the same, but it certainly does not have the same impact.)

So if you're stuck for a powerful headline or a business/company motto, then try alliteration.

Emotive Text

Stories or headings that appeal to our emotions and trigger fond memories, are powerful selling allies. For many people, life today is too stressful. We are bombarded from all sides, with calls on our mobiles at any time of day or night, emails to check, forms to fill in and too many rules to live by imposed on us by unworkable politics.

Any references to (say) the 60's, conjures up images of much simpler, relaxed fun-filled days. It's not important that the era was not perfect - no era is - or that they didn't reap the benefits of the incredible technology of mobiles or the Internet.

Text which is geared towards family life, is also a powerful marketing tool, simply because the world can be a very frightening place, and the throw away society (which includes throwing away relationships) is taking a swing towards a desire for more stability through lasting relationships.

The Reason for Copywriting

The only reason you're creating strong headlines and text is to sell a service, your ideas or products. So, if you want to write great copy, make sure it will produce the desired result of increased profit. Decide on the mood and pace that will initiate the highest sales in your particular marketplace.

Don't forget to actually ask for the outcome you want! Sounds simple I know, but its amazing how many people forget to actually ask the person on the other end of the communication to take some action.

If you have no desire to write your own copy, then there is the option of employing a copywriter on a freelance basis as and when you need copy, or you could take on a marketing person as an employee if the volume of work is sufficient.