Last week I highlighted how important it is to prepare your subject matter before you start writing. There’s no point writing hundreds or thousands of words if it’s not giving your audience what they’re hanging on for. So having spent the last blog focusing on your target audience, now I want to spin the focus 180 degrees. This is where you come in.
You’re addressing topics that will grab their attention and now is the part for you to do the real sharing. Share your knowledge, share you expertise, share your advice. Considering the subject matter, what can you ad to the discussion? Surely you’re aware of the questions that continually crop up when dealing with your customers- why not save yourself some time and answer them, once and for all? Beyond that, there are surely things you’ve come to accept as second nature or no big deal in your line of work over the years- but it could be gold for your readers. There are few things that make me feel more special than when somebody expresses real gratitude for something I thought to share in a post. Knowing that sharing something I’d come to accept as “part of the job” made a big difference for somebody who read it, makes me glad I did.
By providing a clear answer to the questions or problems of your target audience, you become the expert to them. You become the voice of your industry. The great thing is that although your readers might not need your services or your products, if somebody they know needs what you sell or what you do then you’ll be their number 1 recommendation. This is when you’ll begin to see the power of your blog posts, when it manifests into an organic referral tool. The beauty of it is that you haven’t done “the hard sell” but are managing to secure new leads AND establish your professional reputation at the same time. This is how you get the edge over your competitors. No need for gimmicks or discounts- just little nuggets of gold that you share with your readers.
If you sit down and write out a list of top tips, handy hints and awesome advice to share in your future blog posts, you’ll be surprised just how much comes to mind! On a long enough time-frame, you’re essentially writing future cheques to yourself. Next week I’ll show you one tiny thing that can cost you a tonne of sales if you leave it out of your blog posts. It’s so small (and obvious) you won’t believe you missed it. Until then, stay tuned. Go and dedicate time to writing down a list of all the gold, just waiting to be shared with your target audience …
You’re addressing topics that will grab their attention and now is the part for you to do the real sharing. Share your knowledge, share you expertise, share your advice. Considering the subject matter, what can you ad to the discussion? Surely you’re aware of the questions that continually crop up when dealing with your customers- why not save yourself some time and answer them, once and for all? Beyond that, there are surely things you’ve come to accept as second nature or no big deal in your line of work over the years- but it could be gold for your readers. There are few things that make me feel more special than when somebody expresses real gratitude for something I thought to share in a post. Knowing that sharing something I’d come to accept as “part of the job” made a big difference for somebody who read it, makes me glad I did.
By providing a clear answer to the questions or problems of your target audience, you become the expert to them. You become the voice of your industry. The great thing is that although your readers might not need your services or your products, if somebody they know needs what you sell or what you do then you’ll be their number 1 recommendation. This is when you’ll begin to see the power of your blog posts, when it manifests into an organic referral tool. The beauty of it is that you haven’t done “the hard sell” but are managing to secure new leads AND establish your professional reputation at the same time. This is how you get the edge over your competitors. No need for gimmicks or discounts- just little nuggets of gold that you share with your readers.
If you sit down and write out a list of top tips, handy hints and awesome advice to share in your future blog posts, you’ll be surprised just how much comes to mind! On a long enough time-frame, you’re essentially writing future cheques to yourself. Next week I’ll show you one tiny thing that can cost you a tonne of sales if you leave it out of your blog posts. It’s so small (and obvious) you won’t believe you missed it. Until then, stay tuned. Go and dedicate time to writing down a list of all the gold, just waiting to be shared with your target audience …