Before I share my top 3 secrets on how to write content that engages and sell, I would like to tell you a story.
I never, ever imagined, not even in my wildest dreams that I would, one day sit in front of a computer and write an article about teaching others how to become better writers.
I always thought I was a mediocre writer. I was a 4.5 girl at school.
4.5 was my writing mark out of 10 in Italian literature and essays writing. My handwriting was unreadable.
I remember writing from the time I could hold a pen between my fingers. Writing was a way to escape to other worlds and not accepting the reality I was living in as a child.
I kept writing diaries till not long ago and only when I started my business I had to find the courage to go out there and write my own content and let the world knows about me and my work.
Unexpectedly, considering my 4.5 label, I started to receive praise for my writing from left, right, top and bottom, from everywhere. I had people messaging me complimenting me on my writing, telling me they never skipped past my posts and read them all.
My content started to bring attention to me and my work, and consequently, my soul clients began to notice me, pay attention to what I was offering and trusting me to buy my services and products.
I started to feel on top of the world and no longer a 4.5 girl. I began to feel like a real talented writer with a mission to teach others how to unleash their writing genius.
Do you think it is a coincidence that I started this article by sharing a part of my story with you?
You might think so, or you might think that I am full of myself and a bit egocentric……
No! Not at all. I did it for a specific reason which is the number 1 secret I will start sharing with you:
1) Build an emotional connection with your audience.
I want you to know that people buy through feelings and emotions. It is vital that your audience feels connected to you emotionally.
I decided to start this article by sharing a little bit about me and my story of how I felt a 4.5 girl, to help you connect with me. When you started reading this article, you did not know me. You had no clue who I am and probably to you, I was another entrepreneur ready to teach you something.
But now that I shared my story with you, I am not “another one” I am the 4.5 girl with a story.
Sharing your story is the best way to initiate an emotional connection with your audience. They will feel they know you more, understand what you do and why you do it. Also sharing your stories will generate the “relatability: factors with your audience. Often your soul clients are people who have been in the same kind of journey as yours, and they are just a few or many, steps behind you.
I once wrote a post sharing a part of my story, which I was so scared to talk about for fear of being judged. In that post, I had not even mentioned that I was a Business mentor; I just purely shared my story. That posts to this day got me more clients than any other piece of writing I had ever released.
So start writing down parts of your story where you experienced the most significant transformations or had the biggest “ah ah” moments and share it with your audience.
2) Find your unique writing personality
We are bombarded by content, images and messages every day, that our attention span and “STOP span” is becoming more and more selective, short-lived and sensitive.
You must find your own unique way to stand out from the crowd and be YOU, as there is absolutely nobody like you on this planet. You better use your own unique style to your advantage.
To help my clients bring this out, I always ask them a few questions:
-What is different about you?
-What are the things you truly love?
-How can someone recognize you from a mile away?
When I started my business, I wanted to be perceived as a serious, corporate, all in one-piece person. I was writing content in a way that it was not me at all and consequently I was attracting the wrong audience. Then I started to think what my friends and family say about me, what they like about me and what I like about myself.
I am a funny, witty, bold and often a sarcastic person with love for salsa dancing and travelling.
Was I putting any of this in my writing and my business? NO! Nada!
I realized that I had to be 100% totally myself with the awareness and acceptance that I was not going to be liked by everyone but only by the RIGHT people.
I started to bring fun, joy, and boldness to my writing. I began to use the language I use every day when speaking to my friends. I started to add catchy phrases and emoji I love. I began to introduce a lot of direct speech in my writing as I always loved theatre plays. I love the “Directiveness” of direct speech writing. Reading a direct speech makes you feel like you are living the scene in real-time, almost hearing the voices, and being totally present. And remember, the feeling is essential. The more you can make your audience FEEL, the better.
People started to notice me from far away. One lady once said “ Debora, even if I do not see your picture or your signature, I recognize it’s you from miles away” BINGO! I had created my own writing style by simply being who I am and blending in all the things I truly loved.
I invite you to do the same. Maybe stop for a second and write down the answers to the above questions or go and ask your friends and loved one what they think about you and what are your unique and distinctive gifts.
3) Remember to entertain
Let’s face it. People love to be entertained. And your audience loves it too.
Some of the most successful people on social media are famous and popular because people love to watch or follow their every step as if they are entering their life.
Your audience wants to know about you, not only about what you do. I do not mean about documenting every day what you eat for breakfast or how many times you go to the gym.
What I mean is about taking your audience with you and show them, for instance, the “behind the scene” work you do. Some suggestions for you here to give you an idea are these.
For instance, take your audience in your mind when you had the idea of creating a new product. Tell stories of how the idea came to life, do not just show them the end products.
Take a picture before doing a live video, before an interview you have been invited to as a guest. Take a picture backstage or on the way to a special place.
You see so many entrepreneurs sharing ONLY the end result and not the journey.
Another way to entertain your audience is to build curiosity and create suspense. People love to guess and love to know more if the message is intriguing enough and of interest to them.
You could make them guess the name of your next program or the meaning and the colour of your new branding.
Give your audience half of the solution you provide or half of a story you tell.
I invite you to write down a few ideas on how you can start to entertain your audience using the examples above.
Think of how you would like to be entertained and then create some ideas around it. Why? Because, in the end, you are always your best ever client so what entertain you will entertain your clients as you usually attract people with similar energy and views.
It is time now to get a pen and paper and start writing.
I always say to my clients and to the members of my writing club, there is not such a thing as a “bad writer”, just a writer that has not tapped into his/her writing genius yet!
There is a writer in each and every single one of you. A writer who is desperately waiting for you to give her a pen and a piece of paper.
I know, you might be scared to do it. Because you might fear that she might start to talk her truth, be too direct and maybe hurt others on the way or She might start to express her controversial opinion and not being liked by her audience.
These are all fears I had.
Not anymore.
And I wish that for you too.
There are so many people out there waiting to read your words, heal with your words and solve their problem through your content.
You just need to start and go out there.
Start writing if you have not done so yet.
And if you have…
Keep writing!
Keep writing!
Keep writing!