Extra Curricular Writing

Last week I received an email from a new-business prospect asking whether I write non-technical copy. Yes, I said, I do. In fact, if you want to see a couple of example websites, go to Contract Decor International or The New York Wedding Group. The first is a company in the hotel drapery and bed covering business. The second is a NYC-based professional association of wedding vendors.

Writing non-technical copy is actually good exercise, and fun too.

I bring these up to make a couple of points. First, I am always intrigued by people who ask me if I can write non-technical copy. Good marketing copy is good marketing copy -- yes? If anything, writing for technical audiences is harder. It adds another layer of complexity, but doesn't take anything away that a "regular" copywriter has to do.

In technical marketing, you can no longer get by with just explaining how something works (which is hard enough and is what technical writing does). That may often be necessary, but it is almost always insufficient. You also have to do all the things good marketing writers do -- like convey a value difference in a compelling way. In fact, the requirement to do that is greater now than ever, since a lot of what used to be considered high tech, is now part of everyday vocabulary.

The second point I want to make is that I think writing non-technical copy is actually good exercise, and fun too. It employs a different part of the brain, and gets the writer involved with people who have different interests. In the case of The New York Wedding Group, I help my wife by playing marketing consultant, web designer, consumer ad copywriter, data base administrator, and a bunch of other roles -- some of which I would not get to do if all I did was write white papers, brochures and case studies all day for tech companies. In the long run that simply is not healthy for me or my tech clients either. The NYWG also lets me do things (like design databases) that actually let me get more hands-on with the technology in a way I would not if I just wrote about technology. That is definitely good for my tech clients.