Awhile back I shared one of my favorite productivity guidelines: “Don’t write ANYthing unless you can use what you write at least 3 times!”
One of my subscribers replied, “Repurposing sounds great. But how do I get enough time to write the content in the first place? And frankly, I don’t enjoy the writing process at all…especially if it’s about me.”
Being a “prolific writer” can sound like a goal for someone else…about as likely as becoming a pro basketball player or ballet dancer.
But being prolific doesn’t require you to be born with talent or invest thousands of hours in practice. Many professional writers learn techniques to improve both quality and quantity of their writing.
Being a prolific writer comes with a nice payoff. You create a presence on the Internet. Even when you go on vacation, you’re still attracting signups and sometimes clients. If you know your stuff, you become a thought leader. People react when they see your name: “Oh, you’re the person who…”
So to start, think of the ways you write easily and effortlessly. For instance, let’s say someone sends you an email. You probably have no trouble replying. And you probably don’t experience the slightest bit of writer’s block.
Another way to write marketing content as effortlessly as you write a note to a good friend: associate each content creation challenge with a story.
Content Creation Challenge: Demonstrate your expertise without bragging.
A constant challenge for most business owners is, “How do I show I know what I’m talking about”
and at the same time, “How do I get started writing when I’m staring at a blank page?”
Here’s one way: Use the Advice Column hack.
Advice columns have been around for over 100 years because people like to read about other people’s problems. The New York Times — a staid, serious newspaper — has several Q&A columns about such topics as resolving ethical dilemmas, making career decisions, dealing with quirky social situations, and more.
So when you need to create content, imagine someone has sent a “Dear Abby” letter to you. The name comes from a columnist named “Abby” who wrote a nationally syndicated column for a long time. She was famous for light-hearted advice that got straight to the point.
Now imagine your ideal client sent you an email message asking for advice.
Margaret, a money coach, identifies her audience as, “Forty-something women who just got divorced and don’t know how to manage their money. They may need to invest a significant sum after the settlement or they may be more broke than they’ve ever been in their lives.”
Now we imagine the letter one of these women might write. What’s her backstory?
“I’ve never had to set up a budget before. How do I know how much to spend?”
“How do I handle investments? Where do I find a financial advisor who won’t do a Madoff?”
“I got the house in the divorce settlement. It’s more space than I need. If I keep it, should I run an AirBnB? If I sell, where should I move next?”
“How do I find my credit rating, now that I’m divorced, and how do I build it up if it’s not where I’d like it to be?”
You answer each question with advice. And now you’ve got your content: an opening with a client’s story and your own thoughtful response.
You might even encourage your clients and prospects to send questions and (with permission) turn them into content. I did this with a question from an audience member on this blog post.
By the way, if you’d like to go deeper into this topic of creating content faster and more easily …
Cindy Bidar has a really good course to help you leverage every word you write for more profits and a bigger reach. The real secret to getting predictable results through content marketing: consistency. And like most things, it’s a whole lot easier to be consistent when you have the step-by-step processes laid out for you. When you buy Cindy’s course through my affiliate link, send me your purchase receipt and I’ll send you a coupon so you can take 10% off the Strategic intensive.
https://cindybidar.com/order/aff/go/phillycat?i=62
And if you’re a busy successful business owner, you probably know a lot about writing your own copy. But it’s easy to put “write copy” on the back burner, especially if it’s hard to clear the decks for an uninterrupted hour…or two…or three.
I help service-based business owners create successful content they’re proud to share. Many work in the financial services sector, where they have to be especially careful to send a strong but professional message.
The truth is, You don’t have to wince at loud copy that could be written by Tony Soprano. You don’t have to settle for sweet, unpersuasive copy that makes you look like Miss Congeniality. My storytelling method helps you build a compelling robust website presence (and your message gets stronger as we work together).
Get started with a one-to-one 90-minute consultation. Or send me a message to see if we’re a good fit and get questions answered. (If you prefer Facebook Messenger:
http://facebook.com/cathygoodwin
