Even if you don’t write a vision statement, create a writing guide that tells readers what your topic is about. You will use this whether you are writing a novel or a newsletter.
Your goal should be to persuade your audience to do something. I suggest you start with yourself – telling yourself why you need to write this book next year. It can serve as a roadmap for more conscious creation.
Then go outside into your beautiful world and see all the things that are happening around you. Are people being helped or harmed by these events? What changes could you make that would help other people in some way? Make sure your conscience is happy before moving forward.
Next, decide how much time you have and how willing you are to work without pay. For many, it’s not enough time to complete a project.
But there are also exceptions. Have patience and follow your curiosity. You may just find one of your projects worth keeping for years to come.
What is yours?
Your product or service has one, and only one, outstanding quality that makes it different from all the others.
Your USP isn’t what you do best, it’s something that explains why you are great at what you do.
It is how you achieve success through mastery of your craft.
When people ask you what you do, you should be able to say with confidence that you solve a problem via creating or offering X.
If you can’t explain how you help other people, then they may not need your help.
Writing good copy is not an art form, it’s actually quite simple if you understand the most important rules. But in order to master the skills of copywriting, you have to learn how to organize your thoughts effectively, so there’s no way one can help you do that. You need to work hard at it.
The first rule for developing as a copywriter is to always think like your target audience. It sounds very simple but this is what all copywriters seem to forget.
You should think about why they want to buy what you are offering. Are they looking to spend money? Or are they simply trying new things?
Your mindset affects your attitude towards buying something. If you approach selling with more confidence, then you will give yourself some leverage when it comes time to ask for purchases.
Writing for an intended audience has been around as long as there have been writers. However, in the past 10 years or so, we’ve seen a surge of interest in writing focused specifically on that audience.
You can find examples of this trend starting with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s recent app release, but back in 2004 it was uncommon to see a magazine targeted at women readers who were not already avid fans of the author/brand.
Today, that situation has changed greatly. I believe this focus on an intended audience is much more prevalent now because people realize the tremendous power of spoken words (or written words).
More people are reading books now than ever before, and most folks plan on spending time online (especially using social media) so they look for content that catches their eye and keeps them coming back for more.
Writers today know that if they want to reach an audience, they need to write something they think those audiences will like. And they try out different ways of writing in the hopes of reaching their target audience.
Writing style is the tone that you use throughout your content. Your writing tone can be funny, serious, or anywhere in between.
Your writing tone comes from your voice. You can set this tone for each of your writings.
You also have control over how other people will perceive you; their view of you depends on what you say and how you say it.
Thus, we need to focus more on our writing tone than on our grammar since good grammar doesn’t mean bad writing if its not supported by a great sense of humor.
We need to understand the importance of choosing a writing tone and learn how to adjust this choice through repetition.
Writing is both an art and a skill that you need to learn. You can’t become a writer if you don’t read!
But reading isn’t just finding books you like and spending money in the store. It’s about experiencing a passion for the story or idea.
With every book you read, ask yourself why you read it and what you got out of it. Ask yourself questions such as “why did I choose this book?” or “what message or advice would I want people to take away from this book?”
Your answers to these questions are up to you; however, knowing why you chose the book helps you with the writing process.
Reading works both ways. You also have to put time into thinking about what you have written and how you has affected the world (including other peoples’ perceptions of you).
This way, over time, you will grow as a person and as a writer.
Copy that ends with a preposition, also known as a dangling prepositon, is an awkward copywriting style where there’s no full stop or capital letter after the word.
The copied content will still have proper sentences and words, but it may seem less coherent than other portions of the document.
This can be particularly noticeable if the same person who wrote the intro also composed the body of the text.
When you’re writing a bio or an article, it’s important to use subheads. This helps your reader know what is coming next.
Subheads should help them read faster too. It makes their reading experience more efficient and creates a stronger contrast between the subheading and the body of the text.
Also, using subheads allows you to put longer phrases down instead of entire sentences. You can save your shorter sentences for the body of the text.
Using subheads is also helpful for people who learn best by hearing. The auditory portion of the brain processes information through sound patterns (rhythm, syllables, words). By giving the listener/reader a trigger word (i.e., “hearing”) they can begin listening at the right place.
Triggers are very useful for kids because they can listen while reading. They don’t have to wait until they reach the end of a chapter or verse. Triggers allow children to move around in the story with ease.
They also benefit adults when it comes to reading fast. A study conducted by professors from Yale University found that regular trims help people make gains in reading speed.
The researchers looked at two different groups of people; one group received no trims, the other did receive trims but didn’t watch the video. After sixteen weeks, both groups watched the video again, but only those
Once you’ve got a good grasp of the topic and audience, it’s time to plan your content.
You want to make sure that each piece of content serves an informative purpose and meets your target audience’s needs. Your content should also be engaging and relevant (not random!).
It’s easiest to start with a block of content and work toward becoming more strategic. Or, if you already have a body of work, try focusing on finding places to add value.
Perhaps you can find a place for additional coverage or a secondary benefit? Find places where you can add more information, less confusion, or interesting nuances.
Think about what questions people could ask or things they might need to know once they hit “enter” on this article. This will help you stay focused and avoid wasting effort on duplicated content.
Also consider whether there are any gaps in terms of providing enough detail to meet your audience’s needs. Maybe someone needs further explanation of how something works than what is provided in the product documentation.
Finally, spend some time familiarizing yourself with how your audience consumes content. Will they read text-based info blocks like yours? How much visual content do they consume? What tools do they use to access content? These may all factor into determining best ways to deliver content to them.
Content marketing can be changed to fit the needs of different audiences
