“I’d like to attract clients by writing articles or a blog, but I’m not sure what to write about.”
“I tried blogging for a while, but it didn’t bring me any business.”
“When I write, people seem to like it, but I have only a handful of readers.”
These are some of the comments I hear from self-employed
professionals who think that writing about their area of expertise might
be a path to attracting clients… but feel like they don’t have a map. I
understand their frustration. It’s easy to make crucial mistakes when
using writing as a marketing strategy. But you CAN do this successfully.
Here are six guidelines to make writing pay off.
1. Consistency is key. For writing to succeed as a
marketing approach, you need to write regularly. Whether you are posting
to your own blog, publishing in your ezine, or writing articles or
guest posts published elsewhere, you must write frequently. I recommend
writing at least weekly if you have your own blog, and twice a month at
minimum if you’re publishing elsewhere.
2. Write content, not copy. Articles and blog posts
aren’t the place for marketing copy. Write to educate, entertain, or
evoke emotion in your readers. That’s what will keep them coming back
for more of your material. Write about the same topics you discuss with
your clients every day; share that same expertise with your readers. See
#6 below for where your marketing copy belongs.
3. Showcase your work. Go beyond just providing information to your readers. Give them a glimpse of how you work. Include phrases like:
- One of my clients had this problem, and here’s what I helped him do
- A student in one of my classes asked about this and here’s how I answered
- I’ve developed the following solution for the clients I work with
- Here’s what I’ve learned in helping my clients with this issue
4. Once you’ve written, promote. Don’t rely on
readers finding their own way to your blog posts or articles. Get your
writing in front of potential readers in as many different ways as
possible. Send your articles or posts via email, mention them on social
media, link to them on your website, pass out copies at speaking
engagements, and announce them to your professional groups.
5. Position yourself as an expert. Include with your
writing – wherever it is published – an author bio that tells people
exactly what you do. Be sure to add to it some credibility-boosters like
your years of experience, degrees or certifications, where you’ve
taught or spoken, or roles in any professional groups. Having a credible
bio will give your words more weight.
6. Build a path to sales. Wherever your pieces
appear, be sure that a way to contact you and a call to action are
visible on the same page. This could be in your author bio, as a P.S. to
the piece, or in a sidebar, footer, or floatbox on the page. Invite
readers to join your mailing list, download a bonus, follow you on
social media, sign up for your program, or call you about working
together.
When you follow the guidelines above, writing quality, content-rich
blog posts and articles can become a powerful marketing approach for
you. You’ll often find that people who’ve been reading your material for
a while will be pre-sold before they contact you, and ready to hire you
on the spot. Isn’t that the kind of result we’d like to see from all
our marketing?
Copyright © 2015, C.J. Hayden
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