Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to the forum but am already impressed by the amount of talent out there. I have been freelance copywriting full-time for about two years now and am currently reworking my web site so I can increase leads and put forth a more polished, professional image. (It's currently at Kelly L. Watson Communications - Home.)

I think my age is my best USP at the moment. I'm 24, a product of the digital age, and I believe my perspective is going to be of growing importance to companies as they shift their marketing efforts from baby boomers to people in younger generations. I tried to convey that in the copy without calling attention to my lack of experience.

I would appreciate any advice or feedback you might have. Without further ado:



[H1] Kelly L. Watson -- Creative Copywriting

You don’t want words on a page. You want powerful, persuasive copywriting that gets results. You’ve come to the right place.

I’m Kelly L. Watson, and I’ve been writing web content since 1997. Back then I usually just blogged about my latest high-school crush. But when companies began steering away from traditional marketing to focus on blogging, search engines and social networks, I was already there.

Today, my copywriting gives you command of both worlds. I have years of experience in both traditional marketing and Web 2.0: search engine optimization, e-mail marketing and other online content. No matter what route you choose, my copywriting cuts through the clutter to get you results.

Need proof? Take this testimonial from Listrak E-mail Marketing: “Our main goal for the first quarter of 2007 was to optimize our web site for search engines. Kelly wrote many keyword-rich long tail articles that have helped us maintain a first-page ranking on Google. SEO is a big project, but thanks to Kelly we completed the project within our time frame and budget.”

Read more testimonials, view recent samples, or contact me today for a free consultation. I look forward to working with you.

oh, you young'uns always think your age is the advantage. If that's your USP, the only thing you'll attract is other 24 year olds...if that. Focus on what you can do, not who you are.

I'll try to post more on your copy later.

Oh no, no, no.

Age could be used as an advantage, when you know how. For example, the young doctor who just pioneered cutting edge research and procedures in the exact disease you suffer from with promising results.

You are not doing that with stuff like -- allow me to translate into user English -- "an undescribed rather large file." Actual test results show time and again user don't download large files (or small ones) without a compelling description.

Want to know the communications psychology for broadband users likely to hire someone who majored in communications in college? Simply put broadband users are more impatient than dialup users, not less. Ten seconds on dialup is fast. Ten seconds on broadband means it's broken.

Your only advantage at 24 is being clued in to the mindset users -- of each different target group -- how users interact with this new-fangled stuff. When you don't show you're clued in you automatically show what a liability being 24 actually is for everyone who didn't just pioneer a medical breakthrough cure.

U grok?

Want to demonstrate you know how to write an effective advertorial? You could, I dunno, design the site in an advertorial format instead of vintage MySpace. That, and pretty much only something like that, will generate enough interest to download a big honking PDF.

To say the site is brochureware is charitable -- rather it's an overly wordy open for business sign. I've run into a boatload of kids who say they "know computers" only to painfully demonstrate they don't know what that phrase means. These kids bring me their stuff to fix ...and it's tiresome, and frankly, embarrassing to watch.

For the USP "24" to mean something other than you wrote a hit TV series, you're going to have to "communicate" on a whole different level than you demonstrate on the site. You can call anything a USP, but communicating calls for understanding what a unique selling proposition means.

Related Reading:


USP 911: The Intensive Care Clinic for USPs You don't need intensive care for an existing USP as much as a missing persons bureau and a search party. To put it into lingo you kids can understand you need to find your Purple Cow.

Right now the only desirable thing you've communicated is you'll be 25 soon. Like Seth Godin you have to take the general idea -- like a USP -- and package it in that smugly naive way millenials have of discovering things several decades old and thinking they invented them -- USP becomes Purple Cow. ....geocities becomes MySpace. ....Lame "under construction" GIFs become cool, hip Web 2.0 "Beta" badges.

If you're going to be naive, get down and really revel in it. Go out there and say "hello world" like you invented the phrase.

How to Build Value With Belief Structure Right now there isn't enough belief structure to get a file downloaded which costs the user nothing. You have a long way to go before you convert visitors into buyers.

Hi Kelly,

In developing your USP, consider a couple different things:

1. You can make it an aspect of copywriting that you excel at.

For example, Paul Hollingshead is known for his "conversational" style of copy.

Even though all copywriters should strive for that, he is very good at it, and when you read one his ads, you feel like you two are sitting across a table from one another, having a pleasant chat...a chat about whatever product or service he is selling, of course.

Clayton Makepeace is a master closer (well, I suspect Clayton is some kind of super-human anomaly because he excels at pretty much everything) but you get the idea.

When Gary Bencivenga wanted to pay Clayton the highest compliment, he called him a "master closer" in print. He can seal the deal.

John Carlton, another copywriting genius, is known for his "hooks" in his headlines and leads.

And so on...

Now, I don't think these guys try to promote these things as their USP, but they tend to be known for these aspects, and I wanted to highlight these as examples that you might use when developing a USP for yourself.

You might choose an aspect of copywriting, and although you are good at all of it, is there one that you love and have a great skill for?

Such as writing headlines? A strong lead? Bullet-writng? Is it research and coming with just the right idea or angle for the overall theme of the copy that really hits home with the target market? You can choose one and run with it.

2. Niches.

Choose a particular niche and write exclusively for that market. We've debated a bit on here about the pros and cons of doing so, but it can be a part of your USP that you are an expert in a specific niche.

Many copywriters, such as Kent Komae, are excellent alternative health/supplement copywriters. Kent may write for other niches as well, but this is a big one he is known for.

You can position yourself as a copywriter who is an expert at writing for... (whatever niche you choose)

Whether it's in the financial field, biz opp, health, self help/personal development, fundraising, etc.

3. Try other USP's, such as you are not just a copywriter, but a marketer, and can handle all aspects of a campaign. A client is not just getting an ad writer, but an person who can spot (and remedy) any problems with overall marketing efforts, and exponentially grow a business.

Or others, such as...

You profit or don't pay. Structure your fees so that the client gets to test the copy first, and only pays you if it's profitable, or if it beats his or her control, etc.

Of course, there's lots of ways you can go, but wanted to give you some ideas for thought.

Hope this helps.

Point taken. And thanks, Insider, for giving me a few examples to go by.

I understand I have quite a few issues with my current web site, which is why I hope to redo it in the near future.

I'm not quite ready to drop this generational thing, though. Perhaps I can turn my original idea on its head and market myself as a copywriter who excels at communicating with the digital generation. Not just through blogging and e-mail marketing but writing podcasts, web seminars, and integrating other media to be cohesive with these new platforms. That's where most of my experience lies, though my current web site doesn't make that obvious.

I'd also like to put a youthful spin on it, kind of like Richard Laermer and Mark Simmons did with Punk Marketing.

Does anyone see any risks to that, or have any suggestions for me? I realize this may be a simple thing to get caught up on, but I want to make sure I'm moving in the right direction with this.