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.

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