Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How to make each reader feel like the only one

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Big Bright Bulb Founder Crys Williams and I recently chatted on Twitter about how clients really want to feel like they're your only client.

BigbrightbulbOct27-10
(The one thing you're missing in this view is her tweet about me writing an e-book.)

Well, Crys, I don't have this one figured out yet, but I'd like to present a few ideas that will help make our readers feel like they are the only ones. I have a feeling that if we apply these to all of our relationships, including with clients, it will have the same impact.

  • Be present – Give yourself time to sink into the writing process with your whole being. (I wrote about the problem of rushing in a previous post.) Then as you're reading your writing out loud (you never skip that step, do you?), imagine your ONE ideal client is sitting across the desk from you. Think about the benefits this information will have for that person. Stay with that feeling as you edit.
  • Be responsive – Read and reply to your emails, comments and social media messages. Thank people for their opinions, even when they are different from yours. Most of all, learn from these interactions and shape your future writing around exactly who is in front of you.
  • Be a friend – In my memorial to my greyhound Chyna, I commented that everyone she met was a friend waiting to happen. Assume the same is true of your reader. Write from the assumption that you already have a positive connection – that attitude will shine through your writing.
  • Be there – Show up in their Inbox and/or social media stream on a regular basis. And certainly be there when you SAY you're going to be there. Show them you are someone they can count on to be consistent.

Everyone wants to feel special, appreciated and well taken care of. Instead of seeing that as a demand or a challenge, see it as an opportunity to connect more deeply with one reader at a time.

P.S. Crys, thanks for the inspiration to write this post!

What’s in a name? How the right title can captivate your readers

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There is a lot of competition for your readers’ attention. They’re busy, they’re distracted and they just want what they want – NOW! And that includes information about your area of expertise.

So you’ve written a great article, but now what? How do you get your subscribers to open that email, your social media followers to click on that link or those website surfers to land on your website?

A captivating title is crucial.

Previously, I suggested you be keyword rich and creative in your article titles. My main point was: Ideally, your titles will be rich enough to show up in front of hundreds of people, and creative enough for your ideal readers to self-select and click through.

We’re going to delve into this topic on November’s Content Mastery Action Day presentation call.

What: Title Teasers, Powerful Questions and Catchy Keywords
When: Thursday, November 11th, 2010. 9:30-10:00 a.m. Eastern (in, out and on with your day)
Where: Telephone conference line – CMG subscribers, watch your emails for call details.

Content Mastery Action Club members will also have the opportunity to join me at 1:30 p.m. to play The Name Game and hear a special guest expert answer your questions about SEO. Watch your members-only emails for more details. 

If your content isn’t working, check for these root problems

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So you're blogging, tweeting and updating and you're growing your numbers of friends, fans and followers. Yet you're discouraged by the lack of concrete results (i.e., more clients and sales) and you're not sure that content marketing is worth the HUGE effort it seems to take.

Before you give up completely, have a look to see if some of these common root causes are to blame:

  1. Lack of planning – Your lack of planning may be more noticeable to you than it will to your readers. Are you constantly scrambling to come up with your next "big idea," or always questioning whether you're on the mark? Back up and do some planning.
  2. Rushing – I'm all for efficiency and batching similar tasks, but be honest: Are you always pushing out your blog posts at the last minute or rushing through the process? Writing artfully is a skill and deserves the respect of your attention and time.
  3. Skipping the editing step – Do you click "Publish" the instant you type your last thought? Or maybe give the article a cursory read-through immediately? That might not be enough - I guarantee you'll find more errors if you walk away and come back to it later.
  4. Patchy publishing – When is the last time you updated your blog? Writing takes practice, like every other skill. Writing and publishing regularly, even if your creativity comes in fits and spurts, gives you that practice. It also sends the message that you are reliable in other ways.
  5. Writing in isolation – What's going on in your industry? Even more importantly, what's going on outside of your industry? If you're in a writing rut, click farther and farther outside of your regular circle. You're bound to find new inspiration and ideas. Then write and share with those new people and expand your network of possibilities.

In my brand new book, Write Your Way to More Clients Online: How to craft captivating content for newsletters, blogs and social media, I address each of these root causes in five parts:

Part 1: Plan Mindfully
Part 2: Write Artfully
Part 3: Edit Skillfully  
Part 4: Publish Consistently
Part 5: Share Widely

The first test copy of the book is already en route to me and as soon as I've signed off on that your orders will be shipped! 

P.S. Here some other article writing mistakes to avoid when you're trying to grow your business with content marketing.

Conversation starters help you share your content

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I can really relate to what Lena West recently wrote about the cobbler's son having no shoes. [Update January 12, 2013 – the article is no longer posted at the original link.]

Since Kristen Beireis and I talked about conversation starters (social media updates that build on and link back to my recent blog posts), I've noticed my mentors and colleagues using them, and I've even been creating them for some of my clients!

But until very recently, I haven't been using them myself! 

While I have Typepad set up to automatically publish each new blog post to Twitter, after that the sharing stopped. My contacts on Twitter and LinkedIn had to be online and watching me in their stream the instant that I published, or they would never see it.

Now, I'm writing several social media updates about the topic of each post, and sending them out over the following days. While Kristen's stance was that you should not include a link in all of your updates, I think it's a good point of reference for the conversation you're trying to start. From there, you can engage with people directly.

Here are just three of the reasons that conversation starters are such a good idea:

  1. You'll reach more people than just those who happened to be online when you published or posted about your new content.
  2. You can learn more about your readers and what they're interested in, by monitoring, measuring and analyzing which links they click on.
  3. You can stay active and visible on social media without having to think of brand new conversation topics each time you post.

Social networking beyond the link: 5 ways to turn your blog post or article into a conversation starter

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In today’s post I chat with social networking and marketing implementation specialist Kristen Beireis of the Coaches’ Marketing Source.

Linda: Kristen, I’ve never heard the term “conversation starter” before, related to social networking or content generation. What’s the difference between a conversation starter and a regular status update?

Kristen: A conversation starter is intended to get a discussion going. It’s not an “in the moment” or “this is what I’m doing” post, like a regular status update would be. This is a pre-planned update that is meant to stimulate a conversation with those in your network.

Linda: My new blog posts and ezines are automatically posted to my LinkedIn and Twitter accounts already – why isn’t that enough?

Kristen: Blog posts are great information and should be posted to your accounts, but there is  much more you can do. Posting a blog link just says “read this,” and constantly broadcasting to your network can really get people to tune out. I’m sure there’s a conversation to be had around your blog post – you just need to find a way to invite people to engage in that discussion with you. That will get them tuned back in.

Linda: Great points, Kristen! So how do we do it?

Kristen: Expand on the content in your original blog post or article, and take it just a bit further. For example, you can:

  1. Ask questions that get a conversation going around the topic.
  2. Post controversial statements that get people to think about the topic.
  3. Start a conversation with a colleague to ask their opinion about the topic (you might want to email them privately first to let them know you’ll be doing this).
  4. Post quotes from some of the comments you received on the blog or by email (ask permission first for the email comments!)
  5. Ask people to share stories if they can relate to what your piece was about.

You can also include some “teaser” posts with links, the same kind of thing you might use as a promo or introduction in an article directory, but keep those to a minimum and focus on interacting with your network. People get tired of seeing those links all the time.

The point here is to create an engaging discussion around a topic that you are an expert in.

Wow, thanks so much to Kristen Beireis for stopping by and enlightening us about how go “beyond the link” when we share our content on social networking sites.