Introduction

If you are trying to promote your consulting company, contract services firm, or IT service business, then you will almost certainly run into certain types of roadblocks to creating a high quality message.

The biggest challenges in writing your own copy are that:

• It's really awkward. Nobody is good at being their own "cheering section."
• It's really personal. It's about you - yourself, or your own business, or the business that you work in. What you would instinctively like to say won't work. Or, your mind just goes blank.
• It's intangible. Service businesses do not sell items that can be described. They sell the intention to perform a service for a customer in the future.

This article will list some common mistakes that can be easily avoided, as well as best practices that will make your services copy sound professional.

Don't Do This...

Don't Generalize. Generalizing costs you more business in missed opportunities than you land by being all things to all people. When you position your service business as overly general - willing and able to do anything - you don't speak to any one group of prospects in particular.

Don't create a "Shrine to Yourself" (or a shrine to your business). Keep your customer's needs and the problems that you solve - not your awesomeness - as the main focus of all copy.

Don't commodify your business right out of the gate. Technology-role specific phrases such as: "I'm a Java architect" or "we do embedded" or "DBA" or "configuration management" are used by job seekers in their resumes. Don't position yourself badly from the start.

Being so enamored of your technical expertise that it becomes your marketing message generally results in ineffective copy.

Avoid dwelling on features, technology expertise, and processes. "Efficient, standard C++", "We use the open source database PostgreSQL", or "we code in VB.NET" are technology features, not benefits.

Avoid BS: jargon and "businessey" seeming but meaningless and unquantifiable terms. A few common examples include "leading edge", "take to the next level", or anything "-centric". Look for the benefit that your customer will gain from your services and let that guide your words.

Chop unnecessary words mercilessly. Only say something once.

Avoid sounding like a technical textbook - even if you are a subject matter expert.

Do This Instead

Specialize. Specializing causes prospects who need the exact service that you provide to actively seek you out. This is usually a much more successful strategy than claiming that "you do it all". Your copy should reflect the fact that your business has unique expertise in a particular area or set of areas.

Find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and make your copy revolve around the high-value, uncommon, yet much-needed thing that your company provides to its fortunate customers. (Read about USPs in my other article on this site.) A strong USP reflects appropriate specialization of your business.

Express your value to non technical people clearly. This means business people with business degrees. You should usually reference the business value that you provide. You should generally formulate a clear, concise, simple, and universal description of your services (that's the USP we just mentioned).

Use active voice, not passive voice in your writing. Readers stop understanding with a "thud" when you use passive voice. Here's an example: If I had written that last sentence as "laypeople stop understanding when passive voice is used" then you don't get the idea that I wanted to convey - which is that YOU are NOT supposed to use passive voice.

Be specific: qualify your services by industry or sector, as necessary.

Write material about your service business that will be interesting to your customer base. The more you focus on your customer's need for information and solutions, the better your copy will be.

Avoid overly fancy and unusual words. The simpler and more ordinary the word, the better.

Use short sentences. Break up lengthy sentences.

Above all, be conversational in your writing tone. If you can't imagine talking like you write, then change the way that you write. Or find a copywriter.

Topics That You Should Include In Your Site

A successful, effective service provider's web site should contain some primary and supporting materials that add credence to the positioning of your business. These include:

Descriptions of Services Offered - you should categorize the types of problems, technologies, business domains, applications, or benefits that you provide, solve or offer. You should describe and quantify these services as much as possible in your copy.

You'd be surprised how many providers of technology services are so jaded by their own line of work that their marketing copy is cryptic and requires a detective to decipher. It's easy to do much better than that. Specific, clear descriptions of the areas in which your business operates will cause the right prospective clients to pay attention to your offerings. Clear, keyword-rich descriptions of areas of service and expertise can also greatly increase your standing in search engines.

White Papers - these are authoritative reports or guides that help solve a problem. In the context of a services company, the white paper format allows you to showcase your staff's mastery of solutions to problems.

Case Studies - these are reports on past problem and solution scenarios. Here is a very important point worth noting - the case study is an ideal format for service providers, particularly consulting businesses, to highlight their expertise in problem solving. I have a page on this site that describes how case studies are constructed.

Primary Staff Resumes - these are customary in some fields of endeavor, such as civil engineering and medical practice. If done well, this can show that your staff takes their service to customers and credentials seriously.

Conclusion and Invitation

I hope that you have a better understanding of "best practices" for the creation of IT service business copy after reading this article.

If you want to create the best possible image for your service business, as well as avoid the pitfalls of self-written copy, then please contact me. I would be really happy to talk with you about your your marketing plan and your goals for increasing your visibility with prospects. There is no charge or obligation for a consultation by phone.

I can provide a great image, more insight into your service's value profile, proven experience, and a turnkey solution for your business's copy needs.

I'm here to help. Please call or write: Don Wallace, at 513-932-2236; email don@donwallacewriting.com, or use this contact form, at your earliest convenience.