#148 Martin Booth – Copywriting

Copywriting with Martin Booth Copywriting is second nature to Martin Booth. He learnt his trade as a journalist. Now he runs Leboo Media in Kingston, south west London. A Career in Sports Journalism Martin's background is in journalism. Particularly, sports journalism. He spent more than 20 years on the staff of various national newspaper titles on the sports pages. He worked for the Daily Express, Sunday Mirror and News of the World (when it closed down in 2011). After that, Martin moved into the betting industry both in business and consumer markets. After his contract with that industry expired he just knew he should be doing words. The Go-to Copywriter When someone around him in his various job postings wanted something doing with copywriting or words (LinkedIn profile, a strategy for horse-racing, etc) Martin was the person they turned to. He realised this was his sweet-spot. 18 months ago, he started networking around his home in Kingston, SW London, and picked up several contracts. He went from there. What sort of material does he write? You name it, Martin will write it. "I keep hearing I'm supposed to find a niche and specialise." He writes: webpages blogs case studies emails articles white papers annual reports brochures leaflets big documents audio scripts video scripts plus a lot of proof reading! Who are his copywriting clients? Nor does he work for any particular sector of clients. Recently, he has written for: charities carpet cleaners bike makers garden suppliers solicitors planners data security specialists someone who makes mayonnaise property experts mortgage providers At this stage in his businesses development, he is happy to say, "come one, come all". His niche is words. What has mayonnaise got in common with journalism? http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Mayonnaise.mp4   LISTEN - your initial briefing Who is your audience? Who are you trying to get this over to? Shorthand Martin One icebreaker Martin deploys is shorthand... Listen to the story and re-produce it faithfully (hence shorthand) for the client in a commercial context. from wsj.com LeBoo Media - it's French isn't it? http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/LeBoo-french.mp4   When a client says their audience is 'anyone really', who must delve deeper to help them. is it people in a particular area? age group? demographic? Then you can write for the audience. So the message is phrased and targeted to the right people. It is always better to absorb feedback from customers' clients. Speak to happy customers and adopt that as part of the copy. This message: I needed this The company provided that Therefore I'd recommend them The Manchester United Transfer Story - promote the headline grabbing story that will attract readers. Martin wrote a book last week 10,000 words, loads of illustration, for the centenary of a design company. He loved it. The research. Listening to people who have worked there. He enjoys getting the tone of voice. So Martin is a ghostwriter in waiting. The designer in question designed Welwyn Garden City? [a cemetery with light?] Copywriting versus Journalism So much comes down to clients. It's about establishing trust. Client: leverage their satisfaction. What fails has Martin observed? how often do you go on a website and YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY DO and the benefit they bring to you. absolutely critical we are, we do - rare do they use YOU heres how we are positioned to solve your problem Martin would love it if everybody used the word YOU. LeBoo - Getting the Message Across The first word on his website is You've... Focus on benefits All his networking group sell 'peace of mind'. Mortgage, IT support, copywriting = peace of mind. Ease that burden.