Comments on: Service with a Smile

By: Punctuality Rules! » Blog Archive » Poor Service (Or, No Tips for You!)

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:51:17 +0000

[...] I posted about some of the important elements on a good Services [...]

By: --Deb

--Deb — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:34:28 +0000

@Joanna–Well, maybe, but the finished product looks so good, it MUST have been easy… (grin)

And, it DOES sound good to hear some solid reasons people might want to pay me to do this … very encouraging, though since you’re a friend, there’s that whole grain of salt thing…

@Julie–Oh, I’m good at tweaking! Love the tweaking!

By: Joanna Young

Joanna Young — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 18:37:10 +0000

–Deb, I’m smiling as I read this because I bet we *all* found it really hard to write those pages. I know I’m always changing mine, and it’s always much harder to write your own stuff than it is other peoples. This is a conversation that Brad and I have had many times together!

By the way - it does help to get feedback from others and to test ideas and words, also to ask them for ideas on what your strengths are.

My starter for 10:

Some of the reasons I might want to hire you: you know how to write in an engaging and entertaining way on the internet; you know how to connect with readers and customers; you’ve got a great grasp of the English language and can help you improve your copy so it’s friendly sounding but also grammatically correct.

Hope that helps.

Joanna

PS If you ever want to bounce some copy off me - you know where I am.

Joanna Young’s last blog post..October Theme: Writing With Responsibility

By: Julie Roads

Julie Roads — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 14:10:40 +0000

Hey Deb! Thanks for mentioning my page…of course, that made me look at my page for the first time in, well, a long time - I need to edit mine too. That’s the thing, it’s a constant tweaking. For instance, to follow some of your advice, ehem, ehem, I have too many services listed! I abhor long sales letters! What was I thinking. You’re going to do fine - because you rock.

By: --Deb

--Deb — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 13:00:19 +0000

It’s certainly true that I know what works when I see it, but building it for myself is much, much harder–especially when I’m still trying to figure out the direction I’m going (grin).

–Deb’s last blog post..Service with a Smile

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:24:17 +0000

Deb, Best of luck with your new enterprise! You certainly have the talent. Thanks for mentioning my page - I’m flattered to be in such fine company. It may comfort you to know it took about 10 iterations for my Services page to get to where it is now, and reading this post has given me ideas about how to improve it. You gotta start somewhere.

Brad Shorr’s last blog post..Trust Me

By: Lillie Ammann

Lillie Ammann — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:29:53 +0000

Deb,
You’ve listed some excellent examples—thanks for including me in the list, and you’ve got a good handle on what you need to do. I look forward to seeing your new Services page.

By: Gary Fletcher

Gary Fletcher — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:15:22 +0000

Great list. I’d add two things to it:

1. A bit of personality. Show people your business approach, formal, friendly, big corporation style,…

2. A call to action. Make it easy for someone who got to your services page to take a next step.

Your examples such as the Men With Pens have these elements.

Good luck with the freelance writing. I’m trying that to, and yes my site is lame even though I’ve read and absorbed tons on what it should be
Gary Fletcher’s last blog post..Are Good Ideas Killing Your Projects?

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 04:27:24 +0000

I think you’ve got a great grasp on what to add to your services. And thanks for the honorable mention, by the way! I’m tempted to suggest sticking with writing services and leaving design out for now, but that’s really a judgment call you have to make. I can’t wait to see how your site and services unfold!

Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..October News and Announcements

By: Chris Moran

Chris Moran — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:06:28 +0000

Nice writing style. Looking forward to reading more from you.

Chris Moran