A friend of mine is pregnant and she’s having some physical challenges as a result. An alternative health clinic in her neighborhood put out a newsletter and one of the practitioners, who specializes in pregnancy, wrote an article about some of the issues he treats successfully in his practice.
She saw herself and her own symptoms in the article, called him up to make an appointment and now he has a new client!
Writing prompt: What problems or symptoms do you solve for your clients? How can you describe them in the same language your clients use, so that they see themselves in your writing and are drawn in?
I’ve been writing a monthly column in a local magazine (distribution ~5000) since July 2009. Every article has a blurb with contact info on me and calls to action. I get lots of compliments on the articles but even though it’s written as an advice column I’ve never gotten a “Dear Abby” style letter and continue to make them up around common issues. How common is it? I once heard from someone whose relative writes the PBS “History” magazine that they do the same thing.
oops! Make that July 2007;) — over year and half.
Hi Dana,
Thanks for writing. That’s a great question! It definitely takes time to build relationships with your readers, to the point where they will reveal things about themselves to you and ask for help. Keep at it and in the meantime, creating characters who are composites of your target market is a perfect way to help your readers get to know, like and trust you. I just took a look at one of your articles and I think you’re doing a GREAT job with it. Feel free to email me if you want to talk more (www.lindadessau.com/contact.html).