I am not here to suggest that my writing is “prose”, but do feel that there are ideas, thoughts, plans, experience and education to share, in this space, regarding b2b marketing.

Within the discipline of b2b marketing, i do spend quite a bit of time writing copy.  At times it can be one of the most exciting parts of a project and at times it can be the most exasperating!  As one who writes for our clients, it is often times the moment of truth…how well do we understand the client’s message, how well did we research the technical aspects of their offering, have we taken out the jargon and most importantly, have we presented the information to the reader in a way that is meaningful and relevant to them??!

Part of the process of getting the words out can be excrutiating…we want precision, clarity, engagement and creativity.  And, we want that on the first pass!  What ends up happening is that the pressure mounts and the fingers go silent over the key board, until we are paralyzed…let’s come back to it tomorrow, when the day is fresh.  And so it goes.  Recently, I received this article from my friends at Psychotactics (see links) and it gave me, at times what I might consider to be a life-saving tip…a 70% effort is ok!

I know what you’re thinking, “who can be ok with 70%”, or at least admit to that!  But some times, to get the ball rolling, to get off the dime, to shake a tail feather, maybe you don’t have to give it 150%.  Maybe it’s ok to give that 150% a little later in the process, say after the rough draft is tossed out (but before the client sees it!).  Because 70% is a lot further along than zero.