Content Mastery Guide

Editor and Ghostwriter

Five Writing Resolutions that are Worth Keeping

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Want to write more and better blog posts this year? Then

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  1. I will plan out my writing time and topics.
  2. I will write masterfully, always pausing to step back and ask, “How can I make this even better?”
  3. I will read my writing out loud before I send or publish.
  4. I will publish more frequently than I’m publishing now, by first getting more consistent, and then gradually increasing.
  5. I will share my writing with as many people as possible, in as many places as possible, while always aiming to treat each reader as if they were the only one.

My newest book will help you with all these resolutions, with five sections devoted to how to:

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

Write Your Way to More Clients Online: How to craft captivating content for newsletters, blogs and social media is available from Amazon.com and Coaching Toys.

NEW: Write Your Way to More Clients Online is now also available for your eReader.

A New Daily Blogging Habit – It’s not what you think!

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If you want to post new content more frequently (I recommend 2-5 times per month), I’m going to suggest that you develop a daily blogging habit.

Stop. Breathe. Don’t worry. It’s not what you think.

I do NOT want you to post every day. For most people, that’s an unrealistic goal, and not necessary for reaping all the benefits of blogging.

It’s like I suggested in a previous post, Five Writing Resolutions that are Worth Keeping: To increase your writing frequency, look at how often you’re aiming to publish right now. Get solidly consistent with that goal, and then gradually increase your number of posts.

Otherwise, you’ll be trying to change too much, too fast, without having these foundational supports in place:

Five Foundational Supports for Your Daily Blogging Habit

  1. Blog post calendar – Have at least a rough plan for how you will keep your blog fresh throughout the month. I recommend Charlie Gilkey’s planners, available in two versions – free and premium. I just sprung for my second year of premium planners (combined with his Freelancer Workweek planners) and have found it well worth the small investment.
  2. Blog post planner – Make use of the feature on Charlie’s planner that allows you to group your posts by categories. That way, you can see at a glance that your blog is balanced.
  3. Article time – If you’re sitting down to start, finish and publish a blog post all at the same time, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Instead, devote time to take each post through four stages – brainstorming, drafting, writing and editing – with at least a short breather in between.
  4. Idea catcher – Have a place (or many) to capture your new brainstorms wherever you may be, and a set time to transfer those into a draft post where you can proceed through the rest of the stages.
  5. Draft posts – Set your blog to save your new posts in “draft” mode by default, and use that space to develop your ideas and polish them for publishing.

A daily blogging habit is a commitment to devote time to your blog. But blogging every day doesn’t mean posting every day. It means that no matter what day it is, you have at least one blog post that you’re working through the stages of the writing process.

Top 10 Reasons We Love Lists

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“The human animal differs from the lesser primates in his passion for lists.” – H. Allen Smith, American Journalist

Preparing for next week’s call, “How to Write a Better List,” I stepped back to reflect on why lists are such a popular format for blogs and articles. Here are my conclusions, some of which I wrote in an earlier article, “The Top 10 Reasons to Write a Top 10 List.”

As readers we love lists because:

  1. Lists are familiar and we know what to expect right off the bat.
  2. Even when the topic is serious, we have a positive association with Top 10 lists as a source of entertainment.
  3. Lists break information down into digestible chunks that are easy for us to absorb.
  4. Lists are easy to skim, helping us get a broad overview of a topic, even when we’re busy.
  5. Lists are linear, logical and organized – even when we’re not. There is something comforting about that.

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As writers, we love lists because:

  1. Readers love them, so there’s a better chance they’ll keep reading and read/receive more content from us in the future.
  2. Lists provide an instant structure for generating article or topic ideas.
  3. Lists help you focus your mind, your topic and your writing.
  4. List items can be the foundational material for countless other projects such as other articles, book chapters, entire books, workshops, coaching programs or presentations.
  5. Lists challenge us to think of more ideas in order to come up with the number of points we’ve promised in the title.

How to Focus Your Mind, Your Topic and Your Writing

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When you first emerge from a productive brainstorming session, it may seem like there will never be enough time to develop all your ideas.

There’s a sense of glee and excitement about sharing your topics, and maybe even a little bit of fear that it was the last productive brainstorming you’ll ever have.

Mix those feelings together and it becomes tempting to pour every single thought into your very next blog post. The unfortunate result can be a hodgepodge of topics that take the reader on a long, winding journey – if they stay with you that long.

Content marketing is most effective when each piece of content addresses one specific question or challenge that is important to your ideal client.

Here are some tools that will help you focus, long before you sit down to draft, write or edit:

  • A current content strategy with the topics that will be most meaningful to your audience – update this regularly with surveys, interviews, metrics and other research techniques
  • A blog post calendar where you can slot in future post topics (I use and recommend Charlie Gilkey’s Blog Post Planner and Calendar)
  • Idea catchers for when inspiration strikes, including at least one high-tech or low-tech mobile option for when you’re on the go (remember to schedule regular times for transfering ideas from your idea catcher to your blog post calendar)

Here are some tips to help you focus your mind and your topic when it’s time to draft, write and edit:

  • Use lists either as the main content of your article (e.g., a top 10 list) or as a way of structuring your work (e.g., present one main topic and then list three supporting points) – for more help with lists, join the free call, How to Write a Better List
  • Write to one ideal client, imagining they are sitting right across from you
  • Keep asking yourself, “what is my point?” – if anything you’ve written doesn’t support your point, save that content for another article

So don’t try to write the article of a lifetime by pooling together all of your freshest ideas at once. Instead, remember, you have a lifetime to write articles! When you spread your ideas out, they’ll be easier for your audience to take in – ensuring a long and healthy exchange of ideas and services.

The Art of Writing Clear Instructions (or How to Tell People What to Do)

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If you’re a coach or other service-based business owner, you may not think writing instructions is very important – after all, you’re not selling technical gadgets or furniture with “some assembly required.”

The truth is that your clients, prospective clients, readers and website visitors absolutely need clear instructions from you! After all, the whole premise of content marketing is that you are providing valuable information about how to solve their unique problems.

A common format for blog posts and articles is to present a topic and then include some actionable steps at the end to help your reader apply their learning. Here are a few ways you might do this:

  • Reflection: Ask your readers to ponder or consider the new idea or perspective you shared with them, and how they might integrate it into their lives.
  • Journaling: Ask your readers to write about the topic. You can provide specific questions for them to answer, or invite them to ask and answer their own questions.
  • Rehearsal: Ask your readers to practice a new behavior, habit, thought pattern or language. Suggest how many times per day or week they should do it, and in which specific situation(s).
  • Action: Ask your readers to take a specific action or actions. Suggest how many times per day or week they should do it, and in which specific situation(s).
  • Documenting: Ask your readers to keep track of their progress; give them a checklist to mark off their actions or ask them to record it in a journal. You may also ask them to keep track of their results, feelings or thoughts during this process.
  • Reporting: Ask your readers to share their results with you, your community or an  accountability partner.

Tips for writing clear instructions

  • Limit each list item or sentence to one action (for more details, join us on January 13th for the free call, How to Write a Better List)
  • Give your readers an idea of how long to spend on each exercise
  • Separate any commentary about the exercise so it’s not mixed in with the list of instructions
  • Use a numbered list if the order and number of steps is important; otherwise, use a bullet list
  • Walk through the instructions several times yourself, from your readers’ perspective
  • Ask volunteers from your target market to test your instructions

Some of the above material was adapted from Chapter 23 of The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write. The Guide also contains similar writing guidelines for other common writing projects.

Clear instructions are also crucial when you’re writing your blogsite pages, to help people navigate your site and especially to take the next step to work with you.

When you take the time to write clear instructions, you increase the chances of helping your reader apply their learning. After getting such good results from your ideas, they will come back for more. And when they’re ready to go to the next level, you’ll be right there.

P.S. I searched online and found some more fun and helpful tips from Dennis Jerz, who uses the lyrics of the song Coconut (“You put the lime in the coconut…”) as a teaching point in his blog post, Instructions: How to Write for Busy, Grouchy People.