How a Not-so-good Writer Can Be Successful at Blogging


I like to joke that I'm a great example of how someone who can't write can still have success with a blog.

The fact is, in my past career I did a lot of writing: job descriptions, standard operating procedures, workflows, and reports of all kinds for all levels. And I had to un-learn every bit of it for blogging. None of it prepared me, other than good grammar. I had to learn to stop using words of many syllables ending in 'ion'... like implementation and clarification.

All that un-learning didn't help me be a better writer. Writing, and watching how others' wrote on their blogs, and paying attention to readers' responses - those things help me be a better blog writer.

I'm still not a great writer. But being a better writer isn't why I write. Writing is the absolute best tool I can use to share important info that my target market needs to know.

Click to Tweet this Article

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Pay Attention to Your Headline, It will Get Attention

Image
When a client mentioned CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer , I hopped on over to check it out. (Thanks Natasha!) Here's the promise I found there: "The free blog post headline analyzer will score your overall headline quality and rate its ability to result in social shares, increased traffic, and SEO value." My initial thought was that it would have to be run by algorithms so its value would be limited. But my skepticism turned to enthusiasm with my first use. The rather mechanical breakdown of my proposed subject line was detailed and looked at different success factors. The Headline Analyzer was useful to help me brainstorm alternatives and especially to consider options I wouldn't have otherwise devised. I think success came partially from paying more attention instead of rushing to publish. Go check it out - it'll take only a few minutes to improve your headline score. photo by Benjamin Ellis / Flickr Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Combine Networking with Research for Killer Content

Image
Looking for a unique and easy content idea for your blog or newsletter? It will even improve your networking at the next event you attend. Think of a survey question where the answers of many people will give you market insight . Make sure: The results will be useful to you in understanding your market. The results will be interesting to your readers, and perhaps be useful to them, as well. The question is simple and can be articulated easily in a networking setting. The possible answers are easy to record so you can tally them up later. Here are some examples: I might ask, "How often do you send out a regular email newsletter?" My article might be something like: 45% of Small Business Owners Surveyed Don't Send Out Newsletters , with the results of the research (and how it was gathered) within. A health coach might ask, "How many times during a week do you skip breakfast?" His article might be something like: Skipping Breakfast is Rampant Among ...
Keep reading »

Does your Content Strategy Match your Small Business?

Image
You sell services or you sell products, or you sell both. Whatever your product mix, a component of your small business content strategy needs to be informing potential customers about those products and services. Make sure your promotional messages fit with, and flow from, your informational content. It’s a balancing act. We’re all familiar with the feeling of being blasted with too many repetitive sales offers (not good for us). At the other end of this spectrum is creating great information but having no call to action (not good for you). Direct promotion This includes things like advertising and special offers. A banner ad is pretty direct. A BUY NOW button is also pretty direct. Indirect promotion This is where you work your promotional messages into your informational content, writing articles that naturally lead into a call to action. Success stories are an example of this; at the end you can say something like, “If you want to feel like this, get in touch.” A ‘How...
Keep reading »

Colour Palettes for Fall Marketing

Image
An image might be worth a thousand words but it's actually worth more in colours, likely several hundred thousand. No doubt a photo will first catch your eye because of the overall composition, and the foremost colours play a role. Not only do each of us see colours differently , we feel about them differently, too. We think of autumn colours as vibrant reds, golds and oranges, or muted browns and greens. But they can also be cool shades, like frost on the morning grass or the pale blue sky. What does your fall marketing campaign look and feel like? Here are some traditional colour schemes, plus a couple of not so common themes to spice up your fall marketing. All of these images are free to use and can be found at pexels.com . These are the colours of October and Thanksgiving - bright, warm colours. For Halloween, add some purple for a sense of the mysterious. Muted shades, these colours feel outdoorsy and healthy. This scheme feels se...
Keep reading »

Content Plans were Made to be Broken

Image
You might be very successful if you're working on your content once a week for a couple of hours, independent of your other business activities. You're working to a plan and that's great. Break away from your routine this week and be spontaneous . (The planner in me loves making plans and the rebel in me loves to find creative ways to break them.) You'll find the content you develop is more inspired if you can take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Here are some examples of short pieces of content you can write in the moment. You have a phone discussion or meeting with a customer. Write a success story , answer a question, describe a service, describe something that makes you unique. You receive an inquiry by email, or on Facebook or LinkedIn. Answer the inquiry on your blog and include the link when you reply. You learn something new.  Perhaps you took a course or maybe you read an article. Learning anything translates into great content. Check o...
Keep reading »

3 Questions That Need Answering: Lessons Learned From My Lunch and Learn

Image
(Guest post by Mike Tanner) I recently (like, earlier today) had the pleasure of speaking to a room full of close to 50 people on a topic near and dear to my heart: podcasting. Now I’m not going to sit here and give you a recap of that talk. If you want the VERY basic details you can find them on my website but you’ll never recapture the magic that we all shared in that room that day... Instead, I’d like to talk about three questions that I was asked during the talk and how they relate to running your own business, podcasting or otherwise. How Much Do You Charge Someone To Sponsor a Podcast? Pricing is complicated. It’s a fact. Ask anyone who does consulting or coaching or training or anything where there’s not a defined cost or supply and demand issue, and they will tell you that pricing is one of the most difficult things to figure out. Whether you’re trying to figure out how to price your course or how much to charge for web copy or how much to charge a sponsor to be a...
Keep reading »

If Efficiency is Your Goal, You'll Want These Tools

Image
“You’re assuming efficiency is my goal,” my good friend replied one day when I suggested a better way (to me) of doing something. Oddly, I might be inclined to say that about some parts of my own work (just not whatever it was we were discussing at the time). This is not a story about the dangers of assuming (although that could be another article). This time I want to dish out some advice about how to be more efficient (since Danielle doesn’t want to hear it). I’ve written before about my essential small business tools ( Part 1 and Part 2 ) but these ones below are especially important to my productivity . FreshBooks (aff) Immediately upon implementing FreshBooks, I saw an improvement in outstanding accounts receivable. Reminders are automated and I rarely have to follow up with anyone myself. No more wondering, "Did I already remind that client?" Canva I've been using graphics applications for over 20 years - for fun and work. Nothing beats Canva's ...
Keep reading »

Content Template - The Checklist

Image
Using a content template can shorten your writing time and also keep you more focused. The purpose of this particular template is to give people a useful tool to complete a task more efficiently. This type of article shows off your expertise . Because it is so useful, people will bookmark it and return. Part of its usefulness is its simplicity: no long paragraphs, no complex sentences. Grab The Checklist content template here (.pdf). Get More Templates If you like this template, grab the mini workbook Quick and Easy Content Creation with 14 more templates , plus some tips for using them to be more productive. Click to Tweet this Article
Keep reading »

Why You Need to Create Original Content

Image
"If all you're sharing is other people's content, why do people need to follow you?" ~ Anita Kirkbride Recently I've sat with a couple of small business owners who have been "on social media" for a while but have not been doing much. In planning to ramp up their social game, one of the first things they both wanted to do was to get apps that help curate (bring them content based on keywords). This way they would have content to share. I couldn't understand why this was important to them. I'm never at a loss for something to share. Granted, we all have different strategies and goals. Here's where I find my content to share: Experts I Know - I'm really lucky to know a few of them and their information is very relevant for my target market. Clients and Friends - I follow all of my clients on all social media platforms. Their information is not always relevant to my target market but sometimes peripherally. I pick and choose to s...
Keep reading »

Content Ideas for Consultants - Teach Something (Part 3)

Image
It's been said that the best way to become expert at something is to teach it and I've certainly found that to be true. Teaching forces us to research and prepare, to find the answers to tough questions, and to be open to feedback. This is where you write an article (or more) to teach something but first I challenge you to learn something new that's relevant to your business. If you've already been through Getting Started (Part 1) and Useful Content (Part 2) , you've had some practise. Keep your momentum going with this exercise. First, pick something to learn. This shouldn't be hard but, if you don't already know of something you want to learn, search topics for your industry online. Next, do the learning. This might involve taking courses, talking to experts, online research, and so on. Be tuned in for blog-worthy content. How you choose your learning method can also be part of what you write about. Make notes along the way. Now, teach. Yo...
Keep reading »