Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

How to Make a L.O.V.E. Connection With Every Article You Write

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Blog-love

I’ve had readers who’ve become clients years after reading my blog updates, and others who’ve contacted me after one or two weeks. In general though, effective content marketing requires consistent publishing over time to help readers come to know, like and trust you enough to buy your products or services.

While everyone has their own natural cycle, here are some writing suggestions to help you make a quicker L.O.V.E. connection with your readers:

L is for Love: Love your readers – know, understand and care about their biggest challenges and interests, and write about those in your articles.

  • Know who they are. Write a profile of your ideal reader/client/customer. Then, imagine you’re writing each article just for that one person.
  • Write how they talk. How would they speak to a friend about their challenges, questions and situation? Use that language as you write.
  • Expect a connection. Write to your readers as if you’ve already had a positive interaction and this is a continuation of that conversation.

O is for Open: Open a door – create opportunities for two-way communication.

  • Ask for comments. Make it easy to comment on your blog or reply to you by email.
  • Respond to all feedback. Respond publicly to public comments, and privately to private emails.
  • Get it started. Ask direct questions to prompt your readers – sometimes the more provocative, the better!

V is for Validate: Validate their trust – make them feel good about their choice to follow your work.

  • Deliver quality goods. Do your best to provide answers to the specific issues your readers ask about and respond to the most.
  • Give social proof. Share stories and quotes from people you’ve helped. Connect your readers with each other.
  • Be human. Remind your readers that you’re traveling with them on this human journey, and maybe you’ve even had some of the struggles they’re having now.

E is for Express: Express yourself clearly – make it easy to understand and follow your message.

  • Be concise. Limit your article to one main point and a few supporting sub-points. Your leftover words can be the start of future articles!
  • Be spacious. Create lots of white space around your main point and sub-points – sub-headings and lists are two great ways to do this.
  • Keep it simple. Keep your language basic and conversational so your readers can grasp your ideas quickly. There is plenty of time to go deeper in other formats.

Content marketing is about more than keywords, search engine results and click throughs. When you take the time to make a L.O.V.E. connection with your readers, you will build long-term, trusting relationships that often lead to opportunities to provide solutions.

This article originally appeared on Karri Flatla's snap! web marketing solutions blog, but is no longer available at that site.

Five Ways to Spot a Potential Blog Post Series

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Five-fingers At a recent blogging workshop in Barrie, the room was alive with excitement as beginner bloggers were brainstorming in pairs about potential topics for future blog posts.

As I tuned in to one conversation, I suggested that one of the ideas I heard could actually be a potential series of four or five posts.

Wow! From no blog to your first five blog posts – all from one idea!

And just imagine if you were using my Weekly Blogger method. That series of blog posts could serve as your monthly articles for FOUR OR FIVE MONTHS! Then you would simply add some connecting posts each week that link back to each feature article.

Sounds pretty sweet, but how do you know if an idea will work for a series?

  1. You have different clients with similar problems. For example, a relationship coach might be writing about how to compromise, and realize this is just as relevant for business partners and friends as it is for life partners.
  2. You’ve made a list. Maybe you’ve already come up with a Top 10 (or 5, or 3) list and now you want to delve deeper into each point.
  3. Your writing is overflowing. You start writing and as you get into the flow, it turns into a long post that is no longer focused on a single topic, but is now a collection of related ideas.
  4. They’re asking you for more. You’ve received several frequently asked questions that are similar but don’t have exactly the same focus.
  5. Things are getting heavy. Sometimes you’ll want to teach your readers a deeper, more complex system or explore aspects of a theory you’re working on (e.g., this series I did about the stages of content marketing).

Another approach for generating a blog post series is to convert a longer piece of writing (e.g., a book chapter or longer article) into several blog posts.

So when you get your next great idea, why stop at just one post? See if you can get a whole series out of it!

Five Ways to Find More Time For Content Marketing

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TypingWhether you're starting a new blog or trying to keep one going, a common concern for all of us is finding time to write.

Here are five concrete actions you can take to free up time for this crucial task:

  1. Batch your tasks – Dividing up your article writing time will make the most efficient use of your time and energy, and you'll accomplish more in less time. And once you're in brainstorming or writing mode, don't stop with one post; use that same mindset to work ahead on the next few.
  2. Be purposeful on social media – As soon as you publish a new post and it's fresh in your mind, preschedule 3-4 updates to announce the post to your social networks (I call these conversation starters). That way your content marketing task is done, and it won't get pushed aside or delayed if you get lost in conversation.
  3. Plan ahead – Have you ever zigzagged through the aisles of a grocery store because you didn't have a list? You'll also spend more time on content marketing if you don't have a plan. Your actions here may include laying out your blog categories, following a weekly blogging system or using a weekly/monthly blog planner. 
  4. Blog on the go – Grab some writing/blogging time while you're standing in line or waiting for an appointment. You may not be at your freshest creative time, but you can come back to polish later. Save and store your work online, either as a draft post in your blogging platform or in a system like Dropbox or Evernote.
  5. Maximize your brain power – Give your blog the best part of your day. You'll get more done faster because you're at the peak of your creativity.

How are you finding time to blog? Add your best tips below and let's learn from each other.

Content Marketing for Coaching Business Success

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I'm thrilled to announce that my article about content marketing is featured in the June 2011 issue of choice, the magazine of professional coaching. Please click on the cover below to read the article.

Content_Marketing_cover_choice_magazine_v9n2_Jun2011 Inside, you'll find insights into the three stages of the relationship-building process, and learn how producing high-quality content on a consistent basis will help you attract your ideal clients.

I also reveal my three must-do writing activities, and tips for applying the five-part content marketing strategy outlined in my book, Write Your Way to More Clients Online.

Click on the cover or click here to read the article. I hope it's helpful to you – please let me know!

To subscribe to choice magazine, visit their website.

Finding the Creativity in Every Moment

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Clock-275w-183h In 2005 I wrote an article for the Muses Muse about one chapter of the exceptional book Free Play: The Power of Improvisation in Life and the Arts by Stephen Nachmanovitch.

The book was first recommended to me by Casey Sokol, one of my favourite professors at York University. Casey taught musicianship and piano improvisation, and was also my first contact when I came to do my audition.

Inspiration and Time’s Flow

In this chapter, Nachmanovitch challenges us to experience free play and creativity in our “ordinary” activities. He states the ideal existence as one of nonstop flow, and he refers to the Balinese philosophy that “We have no art. Everything we do is art.”

Here are five key points of learning from this chapter, and how they relate to your blogging efforts:

  1. In creating a work of art, there are two kinds of time. There is the flash of inspiration (brainstorming) and the labour of capturing that in a form that can be shared with others (drafting and writing). Performance (editing and publication) introduces a third kind of time. This distinction is helpful, since usually when someone is struggling with blogging, it’s only with one of these three areas, and it’s usually only temporary.
  2. Our aim is to improvise without being attached to the outcome, “because the doing is it’s own outcome.” What does it mean to blog without being attached to the outcome? While it would be great for every post to get rave reviews, chasing that unrealistic expectation will tire you out pretty fast. Instead, interact with what comes up in your day-to-day travels, and see how you can use it to help your readers solve their problems. Do your best, stay consistent, and let the results take care of themselves.
  3. The teacher’s art is to connect the living body of knowledge with the living bodies of the students in the room. When you write for different learners by accommodating their preferred learning styles, you help them connect with your ideas.
  4. Scripts are appropriate sometimes. They are a part of being committed and responsible to your audience. Templates and writing prompts can spark you into writing action so you can keep delivering valuable content that helps you connect with your readers.
  5. Once you’ve learned techniques, it’s essential to let them go and just relate to what’s in front of you. While you’re learning and practicing, be sure that you’re also finding and tuning your own voice.

Do you relate to this concept of “everyday improvisation”? Here are a few questions that will help you explore it futher:

  • When have you experienced “being in the flow,” either when you’re writing, working with clients or any other time in your day-to-day life?
  • What precipitated that state? What helped you stay in it? What brought you out of it?
  • Where in your life is improvising not an option? When do you find it necessary to stick with a schedule or outside structure?
  • What’s been your experience in the different “times” of creativity? The flash of inspiration, the creation into form and the performance?
  • Which are the underlying techniques that you need to “forget” when it’s time to improvise or create something new?

Writing prompt: Open a blank document or a notebook, and “improvise” a piece of writing. Find ways to forget what you know and who you are as a writer. Experiment. Get into the flow. Then take a break and walk away.

When you come back to it later, look at your work objectively and ask: Was this solely a creative exercise for you, one that will spark new ideas later? Or is there something here you can turn into a useful post for your readers? (P.S. Here are three questions that will help you decide.)