Copywriting · 5 October 2026
Five things good business copy actually does
Not clever. Not creative. These five, in order, or the rest does not matter.
Adapted from a longer piece in the archive.
Most advice about business writing is about style. Style is the last thing to get right and the first thing people argue about. These come first.
It knows exactly who is reading. Not a segment — a person, with a job, under pressure, who did not wake up wanting to read this. Everything else follows from getting that right.
It says one thing. Copy that makes four arguments makes none of them. The discipline is choosing which one, and that is a decision the business has to make before the writer can start.
It gets to the point in the first line. Not the second paragraph, and not after a scene-setting sentence about how the world is changing rapidly. The reader has decided by then.
It is specific. "Significant savings" is not a claim, it is a way of avoiding one. A real number, a real timeframe, a real named thing — specificity is the cheapest credibility available, and almost nobody spends it.
It asks for something. One action, stated plainly, in the words the reader would use. If you are not sure what to ask for, the piece is not finished.
None of these are about writing well. They are about deciding well, which is the part that actually takes the time.