Where would we be without words?!
They have the power to make you laugh, cry, BUY and everything in between.
But it’s all in how you use them.
As a stamped and certified word nerd, I draw on word play, alliteration, idioms, analogy, metaphor, symbolism, repetition and all those other literary devices I learned about in 8th grade English.
Scroll down for 4 tools I use everyday to find the perfect words for any project.
The 4 Best Copywriting Tools for Business (or My Favorites, at least!)
1. Power Thesaurus
A thesaurus is a must and this one is my favorite. I love Power Thesaurus because along with your standard synonyms, it includes more casual language, idioms and turns of phrase. When I’m writing copy, this helps me “write how people talk”, and when I’m creating a strategy or messaging, this helps me translate concepts into simple, familiar language.
For example, check out this entry for “adventure”.
2. Rhyme Zone
I got my first rhyming dictionary as a poetic pre-teen (it was Pepto pink and pocket-sized). But this digital version is WAY more powerful.
Yes, you can find rhymes for any word, organized by number of syllables. But you can also find near rhymes (for words that just sound good together like ‘elevated creative’ or ‘beautiful musical’), synonyms and related words, phrases that contain it or similar sounds (for creating alliteration like “fewer flowers” or “the sensation of sunshine”. And my favorite of all, descriptive words related to your search (for example, if I search love, love is used to describe “affair” or “story” and love is described as “true”, “unrequited”,”erotic”, etc).
3. Idioms by Free Dictionary
Idioms are figurative expressions that are unique to our language. Think “raining cats and dogs” or “spill the beans”. We use them constantly in casual conversation and they make our language rich and engaging.
On this site, you can search for a word and find all the idioms associated with it. While you don’t want to go overboard with idioms, they can help casual-up your copy. And when it comes to messaging, they can be a great jumping off point for wordplay–where you make a clever tweak to a familiar expression.
For example, check out this entry for “home”.
4. Word Associations Network
Brainstormers rejoice! Strategy is all about connecting the dots between a bunch of different concepts and ideas. This site is like a mind map for words, helping you find all of the different words that are related to yours. It’s really helpful for idea generation, messaging and naming. Plus, it’s fun to go down some deep lexical rabbit holes.
For example, check out this entry for “lightning”.