‘Copy’ is the industry accepted term for any writing that is used to promote or sell a product. Therefore, the quality of the copy of any business is key to its success.

When it comes to effective web sales technique, the simple fact is that no matter how compelling your idea or business model, if you don’t have good copy it won’t sell.

First impressions count in every aspect of life, and the web is no exception. When potential customers glance at your website, they want to see professional, assured copy – not something unclear, poorly written and rambling.

Sharp, relevant, jargon-free copy is what differentiates your product from the hundreds of others that are badly and incoherently presented. A well-written site emanates consummate professionalism, and affirms your customers’ belief in your expertise and ability.

Producing effective copy that manages to both embody and sell your product is a highly specialised skill, so - as for any other mechanism of business - it is best to employ a skilled professional to do it.

Copywriting agencies offer teams of skilled copywriters, who are highly trained and experienced in the art of promotional writing. They require only a relatively small amount of information – and you don’t need to write it down, a phone-call is fine – to generate articulate, proficient copy, that will market your product and enhance sales.

Copywriting is not about being the next Shakespeare, and copywriters will not drown your site in difficult, obscure language. They will use only the clearest, sharpest text to encapsulate and sell your product. Copywriters understand that your customers need to both understand and desire what you are selling, and it’s their job to make sure that happens.

Copywriters have a highly attuned understanding of the business and marketing world, and they know exactly what sells – and the typical mistakes which mean something doesn’t. The most important part of any business is appealing to its audience, and copywriters often see businesses which demonstrate a great deal of passion and flair – but no understanding of the market.

Your customers do not want to waste hours of their time reading overly-elaborate, laborious copy – no matter how passionately it’s presented. They want a precise, to-the-point website, which tells them exactly what they want to know. Copywriters know how to communicate your message in a way that sells.

Copywriters also understand the importance of targeting the style of the copy to its audience, so as not to confuse or alienate them. For instance, if your market is the 16-24 year old demographic, and you are selling a ‘trendy’ young product, a colloquial tone is likely to be appropriate. However, if you are selling professional services in business, then a more formal tone would normally be expected. Copywriters are fluent and adept at practicing whatever style would be the more suitable for your company.

A good copywriting agency will provide you with examples of work and/or references. This is usually enough to assure you that employing a copywriter is a very wise investment, and one that will see business boom.

Last week, Dell announced that it has gained an additional $3 million in revenue thanks to its activity on Twitter. It’s probably fair to say most of us would be delighted with a fraction of that, but how should we go about using Twitter to generate revenue?

There are certainly lots of ways NOT to do it: following thousands of random people; using Twitter as your personal online diary; and spamming other users with sales messages are just some that spring to mind.

Here are the top ten ways that have helped us monetise our Twitter account:

1)    Give the account a person’s name, rather than the organisation’s name. Our Twitter account is registered to our founder, @emilyhill1982 and displays her mugshot. The profile page has been designed in our corporate colours and contains our logo and web link, but we wanted to give the account a personal voice as well.

2)    Be polite. Thank people who help you, give #FollowFridays and retweet other people’s posts if it will help them. They’ll return the favour when you need to put the word out about something.

3)    Use your page to post a mix of advice, opinion and interaction.

4)    Build a network of targeted followers. Unfollow people who don’t update their accounts, don’t follow you back or don’t interact. Download Tweetdeck to track people who are using your keywords, then follow them and see if they follow you back. If they don’t, delete them and follow other people instead. You should aim to follow no more than 10% more people than are following you.

5)    Mind your language. Twitter is more casual than other forms of business networking and it’s great to put a bit of your personality into your posts. However, don’t take it too far. Stories about last night’s drunken escapades can be reserved for your personal Facebook page. Don’t use text-speak and don’t swear.

6)    Post links to your blogs and press releases. If they’re interesting and well written people will retweet them, comment on them and share them on other social networking platforms.

7)    Stick to a common theme. It can be quite broad – ours covers blogging, social networking, language, and general small business concerns – but your posts should follow a consistent line of discussion. Remember that most of the time people don’t click through to your profile; they just look at their amalgamated home page feed of everybody’s updates. Therefore you want to stand out as having useful things to say on a particular topic.

8)    Write what your followers want to read. It’s the same principle as blogging: your content will be far more ‘sticky’ if you write about topics that actually interest other people rather than simply posting mini sales pitches for your company.

9)     Promote your Twitter account. Link to it from your website, your email signature and any industry forums you belong to. Twitter is free, it’s easy to use and if you stick with it you can generate new customers through it and keep in touch with your existing customers.

10)    Post updates regularly- but not too regularly. Logging in two or three times a day for a few minutes is about right. Apart from anything else, you have a job to do!

If you have any tips to add to this list please feel free to add a comment!