Creating good content is not rocket science, but it is an essential skill to master. Here are some of my top tips that work well for me, and will for you too.
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Have a purpose. Of course you need great content to bring traffic to your blog or website but there is something you must do first.
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Focus on getting it right first time. Of course this doesn’t happen without practice, but take an example from a daily newspaper journalist. Their deadlines mean they don’t get time to write, edit, re-write and touch up their copy, so they have got to get it as right as they can first time round.
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Force challenging but realistic targets on yourself. It’s quality not quantity that counts here, so your goal should be to create and share that every single day.
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Give sound bites, not manifestos. A really great example of this is Twitter – you get 140 characters, or less, to put over you point of view. That forces you to be succinct and to the point.
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Have a point of view. People buy from people they trust, and they won’t trust you unless they feel they know you.
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The Insiders Scoop. This follows on from the previous point, because in order to become an authority to your prospects and customers you want to make a real connection with them. People love to have the insider view, and you can give that to them, so tell them as much of your life and experience as you can.
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Always summarise! Back to school here. You remember with essays you were always told to ‘tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them it and then tell them what you’ve told them.’
It’s essential to have a goal before you start writing anything at all. You need to know what you want to get out of what you produce, whether that’s to drive more visitors to your site or to educate and inform your market.
This is particularly important for any copy to your blog posts; they should be 95% right the first time you write them.
Entrepreneurs fail most often because they don’t realise how important speed and execution are. Being a perfectionist is not a good idea in business, good enough will outperform perfection every single time so do not waste time ‘perfecting’ your copy, just get on with it.
A bonus to this technique is that if you really focus on getting things right first time then you you don’t have to go back and fix them later.
Most inboxes are overcrowded and your message is easily lost so make your emails short and punchy.
Save the big ideas for the right medium and time when your customers have the time to sit down and take it in.
I know I say you have to have speed and execution, but it also has to have something of your own personality in there. People are interested in your thoughts and opinions on the topic, so don’t make it neutral and bland but state your views clearly as someone who has a genuine interest in the topic.
BUT, it must have a point to it that is relevant to your market or product.
That is so true for content creation as well because you will make the greatest impression on your reader by repeating key points and making your message unmistakeable, and unforgettable.
About the Author: Neil Stafford is Editor and Publisher of the Internet Marketing Review the UK’s longest running PRINTED Internet Marketing Newsletter. ‘Test drive’ the Newsletter for FREE – Visit this special web page for more information: https://www.InternetMarketingReview.com/sya