✍️ Business & freelancing · Guide
Say What It Is
Product descriptions that answer the question before it is asked.
Say What It Is
Product descriptions that answer the question before it is asked.
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A4 · this is a layout preview in the “Washi” design. When you generate, the studio writes every chapter in full, paints the cover and chapter art, and composes a downloadable A4 PDF with your name, bio and store link on it.
Most product descriptions describe the wrong thing. They tell a buyer how the maker feels about the piece and leave out the size, the weight and how it will arrive. This guide gives you a running order for the facts, a way to write the opening line, and a short check to run before you publish.
What's inside
- 1What A Buyer Is Actually AskingSets out the five questions behind every purchase and the order in which people ask them. After it you can audit an existing listing in two minutes and see which answers are missing.
- 2The First Line Does One JobHow to open with the plain noun so a stranger can picture the object immediately, and where the atmosphere belongs instead. After it you can rewrite the first line of any listing you already have.
- 3Facts, Sizes And MaterialsThe exact details to include, in centimetres and grams, plus care instructions and what is in the box. After it you can build a facts block you paste into every listing and edit.
- 4Borrow The Words Buyers UseWhere to find the words your customers already use in messages, reviews and searches, and how to work them in without sounding stiff. After it you have a short list of phrases pulled from real conversations.
- 5Cut The PaddingThe stock phrases and filler sentences to delete, and the test for whether a line is earning its place. After it you can shorten a description by a third without losing a single fact.
- 6One Template, Ten ListingsA reusable skeleton with the five answers in order, and a publish check to run each time. After it you can write a new listing in ten minutes rather than putting it off for a week.
A sample from chapter one
The five questions behind every listing
Before someone buys, they are running a short list of questions in their head: what is it, how big is it, what is it made of, when will it arrive, and what happens if it turns out to be wrong. A description that answers all five in that order does most of the work. Everything else you write is decoration sitting on top of it.
Read your last three listings and mark where each answer appears. If a size only shows up in a photo caption, or postage is left to the shipping tab, the buyer has to go hunting for it. Move each answer into the description itself, in the order above, and keep the sentences short enough to scan on a phone in a queue.
- Open with the plain noun: a stoneware mug, before any talk of quiet mornings.
- Give dimensions in centimetres and weight in grams, never small, medium or large on their own.
- Say how the item is packed, how it is posted and the usual dispatch window in working days.
- Name the one quirk you would mention in person, such as glaze pooling or a visible seam; it prevents most returns.
Key takeaways
- A description is a list of answers, not a mood piece.
- The opening line should let a stranger picture the object without scrolling.
- If a fact is missing, the buyer either messages you or quietly leaves.
The studio writes every chapter from this outline, paints the art and hands you a PDF you can sell the same afternoon.
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