How do you write for your business when you don’t know what to write?
We all need to tell people about our businesses. There are many ways to do this and a lot of them involve writing, even if the words end up being spoken. But writing isn’t always easy.
Content marketing coach, Rachel Extance, regularly helps our members work on their writing skills with lots of fun challenges and a regular Writing Club.
In one our weekly meetings, Rachel asked our members what they find difficult about writing.
Here’s how they voted:
What would be top of your list?
Stop chasing that dopamine hit
Do you log onto social media and groan? You’re faced with posts of little value and it feels like everyone is already selling what you do and getting far more traction.
We spoke about the uncertainty you can feel over whether anyone wants to read what you have to say. You want to write useful information but people write superficial material that seems to grab all the attention.
A great piece of advice was to “stop chasing the dopamine hit on LinkedIn”.
The vast majority of people on social media do not engage in any way. They don’t post, comment, or even hit the ‘like’ button. You don’t know they’re there but they are quietly reading and watching. Don’t take a lack of engagement on your posts to mean that they are no good. You have no idea who has seen what you had to say and made use of it or took note of your details for later.
The algorithm serves what it thinks you are interested in. If you are writing posts about marketing, it will show you posts about marketing. If you are sharing posts about coaching, it will show you posts from other coaches. You’ve shown an interest in that topic after all.
Focus on what you’re doing and don’t pay attention to the others. Ask people how they came across you when they get in touch and check your website analytics to see where you are getting click throughs from. This data will help you identify if you are gaining traction.
Where to find inspiration
What are you going to write about?
● What do potential clients need to know about what you do? Guide people through your world.
● What would you like people to know about you and what makes you different from other people offering similar services? Introduce yourself and how your approach benefits your clients.
● Do you find similar topics come up repeatedly during client conversations? Use those as inspiration (you can do this without breaking any confidences or identifying your clients).
● Share case studies which show the results people get from working with you.
● What have you done this week or this month? Share your insights.
Don’t worry about word count. Think about what you would like your ideal client to take away from your post and write with them in mind.
Where to write
Start with your website, if you have one. That’s your online home, your digital store, even if people can’t buy from it directly. You want to send people to it so they can find out more about you and what you offer.
Search engines like to know websites are active so having a regularly updated blog sharing articles based on the ideas above will have the added benefit of increasing organic traffic.
You can then take whatever you have written on your website and turn it into posts for social media and share it with your email list. Create once, and then keep sharing what you have written.
If you haven’t got a website yet, then start by posting on LinkedIn. This enables people to get to know you as you begin building your online network.
Here are the various places where Drive members are sharing their writing:
Five tips to make it easier
We don’t do things we find hard so you want to make writing as easy as possible.
1. If you don’t like writing, or you struggle with getting started, you could buddy up with someone and ask them to ask you about the topic you want to write about. Record the conversation and transcribe it. You can use Fathom if you do this on Zoom or Otter.ai if you’re face to face.
2. If you’re on your own, use the voice typing function on Google Docs or Microsoft Word and imagine you’re answering someone’s question.
3. If you’re put off by the tech, then consider outsourcing this aspect of writing. Someone else can upload your latest article to your website. You can also find someone else to help you with email marketing and social media marketing.
4. Find a way of making a habit of it. You could have a set time when you write each week. One Drive member said they write every day, inspired by 750 Words.
5. If you really don’t like writing but you do like recording videos or podcasts, focus on creating those instead. They can be repurposed into written material either by you or a VA.
You can find people to help you with content creation, email marketing, social media marketing, website development and website management in the Drive members list.
Rachel Extance is host of Rachel’s Writing Club and works with coaches and consultants who want to share their original thinking to attract their ideal clients. You can also read Rachel’s posts on LinkedIn