On February 25th, the guest on my Talk About Success Radio Show was Tom Bruein of Sharp Content, a San Francisco based copywriting firm. Tom’s services include the writing and editing of marketing copy for small to mid-sized companies, with an emphasis on website copywriting. I’ve known Tom for over 25 years and he has been my “go to guy” for content editing from the very beginning of InStep Coaching.

Tom is quite the expert when it comes to getting your right message across; especially on the web. He says, “They may not know it, but anyone reading your marketing material is hoping to get certain key points covered before they decide to take action. Leave one of these out, and your prospect may still feel as if they have a lingering, unanswered question in the back of their mind.”

To help his clients, Tom has developed seven guidelines for creating marketing content that delivers the impact you want. Here’s a sampling of the guidelines that Tom discusses in our interview:

1. Target Audience – clearly state and connect who you are marketing to so they know they are your ideal client and you are suited for them.
2. Problem – you need to describe the issue that you help them overcome, so they know that you understand their needs.
3. Solution – what should they expect to experience? This is your big promise, the reason why you run a business that serves others. It should convey a benefit not just features or advantages, and ideally it is in the form of an emotion, rather than just a product or service.

To hear how Tom can help you create or refine your website’s copy, listen to his complete 30-minute interview right here, and get all seven of his guidelines.