One of the hardest thing for most of us to do is to find something to write about. If you are not a natural or practiced writer, this can be the primary debilitating moment of your online marketing. Like me, you may get frustrated after staring at a blank screen for hours with no creative output.
We all know Content is King, so this is a big issue and needs to be resolved for our online social marketing to take off and become effective.
Services such as my own ListPipe help by writing great content for you, and then personalizing it so that you can have ownership over the resulting snowball as the content rolls out to your friends and friends of friends.
When developing your own online content, look to sources in three areas:
1. Company or Corporate Website.
There are plenty of stories, news items, and lists of product features on your corporate website to create a story from. Simply pick a product that you like and write a short story about a single component, for instance a single feature or benefit.
One of the reasons we get writer’s block is because there are too many options. I learned this lesson when I used to tell my daughter to clean her room; on some occasions there was so much for her to do that she simply didn’t know where to begin. The job becomes easy once we learn to break it down into bite sized chunks; work on the shoes first, then move to pants, and then shirts, etc. Choose a single feature or benefit, and start from there. No need to do more, just stop at the one item if that’s all you can do.
2. Relevant News Sites.
Look to news sites that cover similar topics as your own, and then give your own opinion about the industry news. You should have a handful of related websites in your browser bookmarks, and you should be browsing them occasionally to see what others in the industry are saying. Frequently you will come across a new story that sparks your interest or raises your motivation to comment. Perfect! Copy a portion of the story and write a paragraph about your thoughts or opinion on the excerpt.
3. Listen to Your Community.
Watch your Facebook or Twitter accounts to see what others are saying about your products or marketplace. Again, this is a great opportunity to formulate an opinion and write about it. Better still, look for opportunities to clarify your friends’ statements or opinions with your own research; referencing other websites and adding research to a social story is a great way to create content and a great way to build credibility for yourself as a researcher-in-the-know. Post it to your blog, and then announce it back to your Facebook or Twitter community.
Finally; one of the barriers to writing is feeling overwhelmed by a false expectation. Particularly with volume; many start an article feeling a need to write a 1200-word article with research, references and footnotes like we learned (and hated) in school. This is not necessary. Shoot for articles between 250 and 300 words. This is three or four paragraphs, or about half a page of writing. Most of us speak this many words in less than a minute of conversation. Next time you are on the phone with a friend, make a note of any comments you feel might make great content for your next post.
In summary; look to your company website, relevant news sites, and your social network for great ideas to write about.
Hate to read? Listen to this week’s podcast social media marketing tip of the week right here…
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Tags: copywriting, marketing, Writer's block
