Writing For The Internet (again)

Just last week, I blogged about writing for the web. If we write as if the visitor is standing in front of us, we can have a more personal exchange (and convert more visitors into customers.)

Then a couple of days ago, I signed up to go to a usability conference. Today, the usability guys sent me back a form letter:

Robbin,

I think it’s great that you’ve decided to join us for the UIE
Roadshow. It’s shaping up to be a fun and exciting day, one that
you’ll find yourself talking about for months to come.

We’ve already had a bunch of people sign up. I’m expecting that
we’ll be near the room’s capacity in each city. It’s good that
you registered early.

Sound like a form letter to you? Right, it doesn’t sound anything like a form letter. They wrote it as if it were a personal letter, from them to me. How fabulous!

Wouldn’t it be great if we could write on our sites like we write to our friends? We sound so genuine that way — potential customers must just believe us.