Subject-Specific Copywriting For an Amateur
Yesterday I was working for a client on some relatively technical documentation about the application of alloys.
I’m a writer who’ll write about anything and will rarely ever turn down a project if it seems fun; even if I know absolutely nothing about the subject. Yesterday’s project was a short deadline. I got paid more, stressed out a lot more and learned a lot more in a short period of time. I know nothing about alloys, or I didn’t until yesterday.
Today, a company is (if they have their act together!) using those materials to make their business better.
“Write What You Know” Is A Massive Myth
If you go to writer workshops, you’ll have no doubt heard the line, “Write what you know.” Even Stephen King says the line in his book On Writing. Whenever a writer say this line, they usually qualify it with, “Now you might not know X exactly, but you know something about Z, so it’s the same.”
Stephen King, famous for his books about psychopathic clown spiders from another dimension, is not writing what he knows.
Writing about what you know is relevant if you’re locked in a jail cell with no means of reaching the outside world. Otherwise, you can write about stuff you don’t know about: You just have to research.
Why would you do this when you don’t have to?
Why Should You Put The Back-Breaking Research Into Subject-Specific Copywriting When You could Just Specialise In What You Know?
Good question.
I have friends who specialise in one thing or another, and never try outside their comfort zone. Some of them make huge amounts of money writing paranormal romance or “make money online” guides.
You don’t have to write outside your comfort zone.
But the fact is you can make money doing jobs that nobody else will touch. You can start new projects like niche websites (using my handy blueprint and tips) without breaking a sweat. You can write a book where there’s a gap in the market.
Plus it’s brilliant for your brain.
How Do You Write Subject-Specific Copywriting Materials Without Years’ Of Experience?
Simple. You do your research.
You do your research quickly.
You do it efficiently.
You do it and then use your wordplay to make you sound more knowledgeable than you are.
Research
Firstly, if you’re a writer, you should be well-read. You should aim to be pretty knowledgeable in general as well. I say I have zero knowledge of a lot of topics for convenience sake, but really, I have a base level understanding of how most things work.
For instance, I said earlier that I had zero knowledge of alloys. That’s not quite true though. I knew that alloys were the combination of multiple materials, and I understood why you would create an alloy, and I could pick some examples of where those alloys were used.
This is probably “common sense” but if you want to jump into jobs for specialist topics, you’ll find that a whole load of your competitors don’t have that “common sense” or knowledge. Also, common knowledge becomes something not-quite-so-common when you can switch between disparate topics quickly.
So, step one is a base understanding of various things. In copywriting, you’ll probably want a general knowledge in: Technology, Finance, Law, Medicine, Manufacturing.
Those are five topics that tend to give me clients and headaches.
Now hopefully you’re thinking, “You won’t just get common knowledge of these topics.”
You’re right.
The next step is three-pronged. Long-term, medium-term and short-term.
Short Term Research
If you have a project due in twenty-four hours, then you need to be on your toes. Wikipedia will help you, and should always be where you start.
I know, I know… Wikipedia isn’t reliable, it can be edited by normal people. My professors told me that too.
In reality, Wikipedia is a great starting point. If you think that the average Wikipedia article about the use of Boron Nitrate in alloys is a haven for trolls, then you must know some smarter (and duller) trolls than I’ve ever met.
Secondly in the short term, you need to learn to manipulate the Google results. There are a ton of different operators. I use these two most:
- Site: siteyou’researching.com
- “Search for a term in quotes.”
Those two will get you hyper-specific results. But you shouldn’t be learning stuff at the last minute. Your professor warned you against leaving work until the last minute, didn’t he?
Mid-term Research
We want to up our “general knowledge” pretty quickly. Say you’re starting a niche site but you have no clue on the topic.
You need to get a hold of some academic materials for students.
If you’re writing for a subject at a basic level, then these materials will probably be fine.
For instance, if you’re writing about an app for a company’s home page, then most of your visitors are not going to understand the technology behind the app, and they aren’t going to care. You’re doing the usual copywriting thing: Selling features through emotional hooks.
But you do need some knowledge.
As an example, I do semi-regular work for a physical rehabilitation clinic that specialises with car accidents. I write materials for magazines and the like – advertorials about the insurance issues, rehab process and some of the common medical complaints.
I have read a few basic medical text books (for fun, because I’m a loser) and a few articles about whiplash.
Am I doctor? No.
Could I fix the person myself? No.
Are all the medical facts in my document true? I hope so.
Do I know enough about the processes to write a piece that will send the reader to a specialist? That’s the goal. I don’t have to be a doctor, and neither do you. Basic knowledge.
Text books. Every year undergraduates sell their old textbooks and give them to charity shops. I have a library of material on technical subjects because I love books and I love knowledge.
Long Term Research
Of course, the best jobs that you actually want are going to be a bit more in-depth. The better paid jobs are going to be selling technical information to at-least reasonably technical audiences. Think less Buzzfeed and more Financial Times. Ultimately, the difference between this and the above is that you can’t be wrong otherwise you’ll give the game away that you’re a dirty wolf-toothed salesman masquerading as “one of the tribe.”
The honest way to do this is to become “one of the tribe.”
You aren’t going to become a doctor.
You aren’t going to become a lawyer.
You aren’t going to become a welder or a sports therapist or a stock-broker.
But you can easily find blogs and more in-depth books via the same method as above. Go to charity stores and raid their technical books sections – I do this and have loads of books on law and finance. Do it in June or whenever your University students run out of lessons and money.
Find some blogs which are written in a way that’s slightly too smart for you. For instance, don’t jump into a super-technical blog written for five people on a super-niche subject if you don’t understand the basics, but pick something that you vaguely understand but will tax you. Then read in your off-hours.
You’ll find all sorts of weird things happen in your brain, like you know things, you understand frameworks and you remember certain facts.
Why Would A Guy Hire Me Though?
This is a final thoughts section, but I figure I’ll use it to address why someone is going to hire an amateur in their subject field when they could do it themselves or hire an expert.
There are two aspects to getting work in technical, subject-specific copywriting areas:
- Competing With Experts In The Field
- Competing With Experts In Copywriting
Most people get these two things really confused.
They’ll say, “But the expert lawyer knows about this subject so he can write about it.” Or, “All that copywriting stuff doesn’t work in technology because you’re selling to rationalists who care about the specifications, not benefits.”
You don’t compete with other copywriters with your copywriting language. That way lays 400 page sales letters with bright red writing.
You don’t compete with experts in their field at knowledge in their field.
An expert lawyer or doctor will hire you because you sound like a human being. For some reason, their years of education involve training this out of them.
You compete with other copywriters based on your knowledge of the subject.
That way, you get the work over both.
(At this point, I’m verging on deleting this whole post because it’s something I should put in a book or private course, so enjoy it while you can!)