Buzzwords’ Copywriting Rates – 50% Off Until April 2012!

For all those people out there who think they can’t afford a top copywriter – here is a great opportunity!  Until April 2012, Buzzwords is offering all new clients an amazing discount of up to 50 per cent on typical copywriting rates.

For as little as £250 per day, companies of all types and sizes – including advertising, design, PR or digital agencies – can avail of the copywriting services of Mike Beeson.  That means you can finally get that website written, you can dip your toe into the waters of SEO copywriting, or maybe have those ads, brochures or case studies written to a standard you never thought was within your reach!

Of course, I exaggerate slightly – but, hey, isn’t that what copywriting is all about?!  To find out more, contact Mike Beeson today on 01565 654023 – or visit Buzzwords’ website at buzzwords.ltd.uk.

Financial Copywriting in the UK 2011

Given the UK media’s obsession with all things ‘financial’, it’s hardly surprising that financial copywriting is a highly prized skill.

Consider for a moment the sheer range of financial topics with which we are bombarded on a daily basis: the ‘footsie’ index; interest rates and the Bank of England; house prices; commodities such as petrol, food and gold; banking rip-offs; sovereign debt; China’s role as an economic powerhouse… The list is almost endless. And when someone like the BBC’s Robert Peston becomes a media star – then you know something’s afoot!

One thing is clear: this media onslaught has forced many financial institutions onto the back foot.  Ethics, morals and propriety are now peppering the usual condescension of mainstream financial marketing.  Now, we’re all witness to a certain awkwardness in treading the middle line in the face of justifiable criticism of the sector’s working practices by consumer groups, the media and – indirectly – by influential comparison websites.

Never before has financial copywriting and editorial been so important to the likes of banks, insurance companies and all the other finance-oriented outfits.  Being seen to be unexploitative and ‘on-message’ from a PR viewpoint has placed massive demands on in-house marketing departments.

The subtleties of the written word now go far beyond the platitudes of CRM.  Projecting confidence without patronising your audience is now an art form that only the best financial copywriters can master.

I was a financial copywriter. I still am a financial copywriter!

When it comes to adding relevant content to Buzzwords’ website to support my claims to being a financial copywriter (among many other things!!!), it doesn’t help that a large body of my work has disappeared.

This is because freelance work I did as a financial copywriter in the late 1980s onwards for companies such as Girobank and Royal Insurance – not to mention the Manchester Evening News – were all written before I recorded my work on a PC.  In other words, the only surviving record I have of some really good stuff is in either typescript form (and a bit mouldy round the edges after all that time in a cardboard box!) or – in a few cases – as printed ‘proofs’! 

(buzzwords.ltd.uk/financial_copywriter.htm)

This is true of other aspects of copywriting work done over a long period.  My computerised files ‘only’ go back to 1996 which effectively means that over ten years of my work has been consigned to oblivion.  Admittedly, much of what was written then would seem hopelessly out of date now, but there are some aspects of copywriting such as advertising and direct mail which don’t date as much.

As this type of work made up a big slice of what I was doing in those days, it’s a shame it’s all gone to waste.  Just think of  all those SEO links!  Buzzwords would be top banana in so many Google searches, based on ancient texts!

These are merely observations and I do have 15 years of more recent work to use as examples on Buzzwords’ website!  Yes, I am still a financial copywriter - as well as being a copywriter in areas I never would have dreamt of  in those early days!

Check out Buzzwords’ new ‘Guest Blogger’ article on huliq.com

The following article by Mike Beeson was published today on US online news portal www.huliq.com:

http://www.huliq.com/1/82686/new-greed-stalks-financial-neverland

‘New Greed Stalks Financial Neverland’.

Check it out – Huliq’s a good place for some interesting stories!!!

Freelance Copywriting Offline – Business Sectors

It’s amazing how many people call me with the question: ‘Have you ever worked in… beta blockers/timeshares/materials handling’ – or some other highly specific industry. Any half-way decent copywriter can turn his hand to almost any subject.  That’s simply because it’s experience of copywriting techniques that matters – not the subject matter being written about.  (That can always be researched.)  Just for the record, I’ve worked on some very obscure topics.  Here’s a few of the more ‘mainstream’ sectors:

Travel Copywriting – Upmarket or down dale.  UK hotels or jet-set hideaways.  Brochures, ads and direct mail.  Nothing fazes me with travel copywriting – although it has to be said that this is a more difficult writing genre than many imagine.

Industrial Copywriting – This is a catch-all label for what covers a multitude. If you want to find out about the diversity of UK industry, become a copywriter!  (I did – but not for that reason.)

Financial Copywriting - Banks, building societies, insurance companies, financial advisers, brokers and accountants – Ive written for them all.  Quite a mix, with some pretty impressive names too. 

Property Copywriting – Scene-setting and then getting to grips with the selling points of everything from a one-bed flat to a major mansion house – property writing has its own unique demands.  Brochures, news releases, ads – whatever your weapon, I’ve used it.

Advertising & Design Agencies – I know about agencies.  It’s where I started my advertising career, and I’ve written for hundreds of them since.  I know what agencies want – their target markets, the tone of voice needed.  If you have an agency and you’re reading this, I can probably help you get over the ‘cringe factor’ that comes from writing your own publicity!