Author Archives: Amrit Hallan

About Amrit Hallan

Amrit Hallan is a professional content writer who helps businesses improve their conversion rate through credible and compelling content writing. His main strength lies in writing search engine optimized content without compromizing quality and meaningfulness.

How to keep your emails personal yet professional?

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Every email marketing guru advises you to keep your emails personal.

What does being personal mean?

Here is a list to keep in mind:

Use your name for the “From:” field.
Know the name of the person and start with “Dear name” or “Hello name”.
Use a conversational style – write in a manner you would talk to someone sitting across the table.
Be specific in the message; this way the person knows that you’re specifically talking to him or her.
Mention something familiar (but not intimate).
Introduce yourself in the first line without sounding salesy.
Inform the person why you are writing.
If possible, inform the person why you are writing to him or her, especially.
Avoid using long sentences.
If it is a compound or complex sentence, keep just one sentence in a paragraph.
You can have 2-3 simple sentences in a paragraph.
Be genuine and come to the point as fast as possible.
Remember that your language represents your business, and more importantly, you.

How to keep your email message professional at the same time?

There is no need to do something extra. Professional writing doesn’t mean writing highfalutin sentences or injecting jargon in every expression.

Being professional simply means sticking to the business. No need to bring up intimate knowledge even if you possess it.

Be culturally sensitive. Remain as gender neutral as possible. Don’t use words and expressions that you wouldn’t use when talking to your child or someone you care for.

Should content writing be done in-house or outsourced?

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Should you hire in-house team for content writing or outsource?

It is very important for your content marketing strategy to know whether you should do content writing in-house, or you should outsource it.

A few days ago I advised a client to hire an in-house content writer even when she was eager to outsource her organization’s content writing requirement to me.
Initially I had agreed because I thought it was a one-off assignment.

They wanted me to work on a document of around 22-25,000 words. I agreed to work on the assignment because initially she had said that they would be providing the research material and I would just need to compile the information in a “writerly” manner.

But the next day she said that they also wanted me to do the research.

The problem with the research was that it needed to be verified from multiple sources. Another problem was, they wanted to pay a fixed price – per word.

Yet, another problem was, they were finding my content writing service a bit expensive, although, considering the quality I was providing them, they agreed to pay me my price.

I was about to start the work when I got another message from her that she was interested in outsourcing 10-15 such assignments every month.

I told her that they needed to hire an in-house content writer for such a job, and politely declined to work on the current document.

I couldn’t afford to spend so much time on research and writing for an ongoing project for which they were eager to pay a fixed rate. One never knows how much time such research is going to take. Especially when research needs to be verified and confirmed from multiple sources.

How to decide whether you should outsource your content writing or hire an in-house content writer?

To be frank, I have a content writing and copywriting business. It is in my interest when people outsource their content writing needs.

One needs to take multiple factors into consideration before deciding whether hiring an in-house content writer is the way to go or it makes sense to outsource.
I don’t take bulk content writing assignments. Most of the clients who hire me go through my website, like my writing style, and hire me expecting that I’m going to use the same style and the same quality for their websites or blogs.

Therefore, often, it becomes difficult for me to hire multiple writers or outsource my content writing further. I need to manage most of the writing myself.
If the content writing agency can handle the volume of content writing work that you have, well and good, you should outsource.

Outsourcing definitely has its benefits. But if lots of research is required and you don’t want to pay a variable rate (according to the number of hours spent on your work), it is better to hire an in-house content writer. Or a team of in-house content writers, if you need to publish a lot of content.

Take for example the above case of writing documents containing around 25,000 words. And they need 10-15 such documents every month. Add to that research. Sometimes research takes as much time as the actual writing. Sometimes, even more time.

Even if cost-wise paying per word works for you, it doesn’t work for the content writer. If I had taken the assignment, I would have ended up spending all my time on their work, neglecting not just the work from other clients, but also neglecting my own marketing that I need to do to keep getting assignments.

Outsourcing is good when you don’t need lots of content. Cost wise, if you need to publish hundreds of thousands of words in a month, you either work with a bulk content writing agency (and compromise on the quality in the process), or you hire an in-house team that is going to spend all its time researching and writing content. You will get quality content, and the writers will be compensated according to the pay scale they have agreed to.

What is a cliffhanger in copywriting?

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What is a cliffhanger in copywriting?

A cliffhanger in copywriting is also called the “curiosity gap”.

You want your readers to read your entire copy, right?

Making them read the entire copy is important for call-to-action and conversion.

You want to keep them hooked.

You need to pique their interest.

They should quickly want to read what comes next.

What makes reading gripping? What do you call a page turner?

When the writer always keeps you on the edge.

Something is always just about to happen.

You must have seen cliffhangers in many Netflix series: the current episode ends at a drastic juncture, and you desperately want to know what happens next.

So, you watch the next episode instantly.

You can use cliffhangers similarly for writing copy that you want people to read till the end.

Why is it important for your readers to read your copy till the end?

You are building a narrative.

You want to inform, educate and motivate them enough so that they convert.

Your entire narrative builds towards your call-to-action.

If they lose interest midway, they will never respond to your call-to-action. They will never be motivated enough.

Therefore, it is important that you keep your readers hooked with the help of cliffhangers.

Build the suspense. Tantalize them. Hook them with incomplete sentences and opportune questions.

Here are some examples:

“He wasn’t sure if he could afford it, but then…”

“Just when he thought he had seen whatever could have been seen, something totally unexpected unfolded.”

“This app doesn’t just help you manage your tasks, it does much more than that. Want to know what?”

Don’t overdo, though. Use cliffhangers in copywriting strategically for maximum benefit.

Writing effective cold emails

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Writing effective cold emails.

I think suddenly a web page that talks about my email writing services has risen in its rankings. I get lots of queries about my email writing services. Many clients also want me to write cold emails for them.

What are cold emails? No, they’re not written after keeping your laptop in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Or maybe they are called cold emails because you expect people to give you a cold shoulder after receiving them.

Cold emails or unsolicited messages are sent to people who are unaware of your existence. You offer them your product or service through the cold email. They are not expecting to hear from you. They don’t know anything about you. They are just going about their life and then suddenly your message pops up in their inbox and low and behold!

I have never written cold emails to promote my content writing services because I have rejection issues, but I have written plenty of them for my clients.

There is a difference between cold emails and bulk emails

Cold emails are different from the usual bulk email marketing campaigns mostly considered as spam. A cold email is sent directly, preferably to someone you know, with a unique business proposition or a unique idea, or a unique bit of information that you feel will be useful to the person.

A cold email is good for one-on-one interaction. You come across a person. You have his or her email address. You know what the person does and what sort of business partnership you can have. So, you send a proposal.

How to write an effective cold email that generates a response?

Keep it personal

Address the person by name, something like “Hi Balbir.” Use a conversational tone.

Use a compelling subject line

By “compelling” I’m not saying using hyperbolic expressions or promising the stars. Avoid something like, “This email is going to transform your life!”

When sending out cold emails, my personal recommendation is that try to build a relationship instead of getting a business deal or trying to sell something.

A good example would be, sharing a piece of information that would be useful to the recipient. And use that thing in the subject line (Here is something I found that will be useful to you… ).

Use a recognizable “from” line

Use your name instead of just your business. The “from” line can contain something like your first name, your first name and the title, your first name and the company name, and so on. Just make sure that your name is there.

Quickly introduce yourself

It takes someone just a couple of seconds to move to the next message. As soon as the body text of your email begins, tell about yourself. Possibly in just two sentences. Introduce yourself in a manner that it is relevant to the cold email that you are sending.

For example, if I want to offer my content writing services, I should introduce myself like, “I am an experienced content writer who…”

Start with some words of encouragement

Don’t start with “me, I” – start with “you”. Something like, “I really like what you have written on your website, particularly on this web page…”

Or, “The point that you made in the recent LinkedIn conversation was quite revealing and informative.”

Come to the point as fast as possible

Preferably, your cold email shouldn’t be more than 60-100 words. If you can manage, even less, even better. Most probably the person on the other side will be checking your message on his or her mobile phone. It is not convenient to read long email messages, especially cold messages, on a mobile phone.

If possible, don’t try to sell something

Sales messages are really off-putting, especially when you’re not expecting them. No matter how useful a product or service is, nobody wants to spend money just like that. When people want to spend money, they want to spend money when the thought of spending money comes to them, not when someone else brings it up. Just let the person know that you would be interested to know if there is a possibility of you and him/her working together.

Don’t go on and on about your product features

Tell the person how the product is going to help him or her improve his or her life or the way he or she does his or her work. Offer a solution rather than a product or a service.

End with a call-to-action

Don’t ask for something a person would hesitate to do. Just ask him or her to send you a quick reply. Just one word, something like “Yes” or “No”. The person will really appreciate it. Avoid asking to click a link or fix a 30-minute call.

Remember that the best response is that the person responds and responds without a negative reaction. If he or she is eager to take the conversation forward, your cold email has succeeded. Even if it is just a blank response to let you know that he or she has received your mail.

What is quality assurance in content writing?

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What is quality assurance in content writing?

Quality assurance may have simpler meaning and it may have a bit evolved meaning in terms of content writing.

It goes without saying that the quality of your content must be good in the sense that it should be easy to read, there should be no spelling and grammar mistakes, and the flow must be engaging. Your readers must be able to make sense of what you’re writing.

If you want content writing to be an integral part of your content marketing, then it becomes an ongoing activity. Content marketing is not a singular campaign. It is an ongoing thing.

Since it is an ongoing thing, you need to have a strategy, you need to have benchmarks, and you need to have a quality assurance mechanism. What’s that?

When you are writing and publishing content as per your content marketing strategy, you need to ensure you publish content regularly – out of sight is literally out of mind on the streets of content marketing.
You maintain a publishing schedule and publishing calendar.
The voice of your content represents your brand’s voice.
You have sourcing guidelines when you use data in your blog posts and articles.
The titles or headlines are as per your engagement, branding and search engine optimization needs.
Every piece of content takes your content marketing a step forward.

You may have budgetary constraints but don’t allow them to compromise on your content writing quality.

If it comes to choosing between quantity and quality, go with quality. It is fine to publish just a single blog post every month if you cannot spend more money, but make sure that that single blog post adds value to your content marketing efforts and isn’t just there to fill up random gaps or just to cover keywords.

You should document your quality assurance guidelines. This way, whenever you have a new blog post or an article, you can quickly run it through the guidelines to make sure that most of the conditions are met.

Quality also matters when you’re posting on social media. Just because you are publishing 50-100 words, it doesn’t mean that the content that you publish on LinkedIn, Twitter or Instagram is less important. They say that you should let your hair loose on social media and social networking websites. Although this is fine, every message represents your brand. So, keep that in mind.

Your content writing quality assurance must include your vision

Content writing quality assurance shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should represent your overall business and content marketing vision.

A couple of days ago I was talking to a client, and he has a very clear idea of what he wants to publish for his blogs. He doesn’t want to follow the hackneyed path. He knows how he wants to engage his audience and for that, what type of content he must publish (and I must write). This clarity should be there in your content writing quality assurance guidelines.

Should the creativity of your content writer be sacrificed at the altar of quality assurance?

Not necessarily. Remember that your content exists to engage and inform your audience. Therefore, choose a content writer with whom you can feel the synergy.

Having a clearly defined set of quality assurance guidelines doesn’t mean you don’t let your content writer do his or her own thing. In fact, an effective content writer is always quite individualistic.

Clients who have been working with me for a couple of years keep coming back to me not just for my content writing skills, but for the way I write. But, it doesn’t mean I write something that is not going to add value to their content marketing efforts write in a manner that goes contrary to their vision or quality assurance guidelines.