You need clients. You’ve been told to use the Internet, put up a website, get on Facebook and start to tweet.
So, you listen and spend months tweaking your web content. Your Facebook page is beautiful and your Twitter followers number into the thousands. But if the Internet is the Information Highway, it seems there’s no exit leading to where you live.
How do you keep clients from speeding past and get them to come in and stay awhile?
The answer is writing great content on your blog.
Blogging is the off ramp that leads potential clients straight to your door.
Blogging Is Easier Than You Think
For many, blogging conjures up images of 20 page articles using words of only 5 syllables or more. With that nightmare in mind, no wonder they don’t want to blog.
Relax. Take a deep breath. I have good news. It’s much, much easier than that.
When people are reading information on the Internet, they want it to be short, simple and easily applied.
It’s less like War and Peace and more like sharing a favorite recipe with a friend.
You can do that.
10 Keys to Creating Great Content
1. Know Your Goal – Don’t try to teach people what you think they should learn. Create relevant content that they are already searching for so that they will come to you.
2. Know Your Audience – Remember people are rarely on the Internet searching for a coach; they are looking for a solution to a problem they already have. Get out there. Talk to them. Read their books and blogs. Ask them questions such as, “What is keeping you awake at night? What problem keeps popping up again and again?”
3. Be Yourself – At its heart, coaching is a relationship. People will choose you as their coach because they resonate with who you are. Be authentic in your writing. Let your quirks show. Don’t be afraid to let people see the real you.
4. Keep it Simple – Remember, most of your prospects came online to look for a simple solution to their immediate problem. If you find yourself constantly rewriting to explain a concept, you’ve made it too hard. Short and sweet is better.
5. Share Don’t Sell – Sharing great content showcases your generosity, professionalism and expertise. You don’t need to sell, just occasionally share the benefits of coaching for those who want more than written articles can provide.
6. Make it Catchy – Approach your topic from a slightly different angle than all the others. Stand out, and you’ll be remembered.
7. Variety is the Spice of Sharing Content – Mix it up. Vary your posts by using top ten lists, how-to explanations, success stories and more. If you’re not sure where to start, top ten lists are incredibly easy to write. Just come up with 10 short tips and then expand each one with a sentence or two. What could be easier than that? (Hint: Want an example? You are reading a top ten list right now.)
8. Create Conversation – A relationship consists of at least two people talking, and the Internet offers rich possibilities for making these interactive connections happen. Invite your readers into the conversation by closing each article or post with a provocative question. Encourage them to contribute their wisdom. Make friends.
9. Play to Your Strengths – You are unique, and God has created you to be especially good at certain things. Don’t feel like you have to write like everyone else. In fact, don’t feel like you have to write at all. Record a podcast. Make a video. Do what comes naturally. That way you can keep doing it again and again.
10. Make It Shareable – Make it easy for readers to pass your content on to others by providing Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn buttons with each post. Imagine the power of your fans eagerly spreading the word about you without you having to do a thing.
Blogging is the road that leads clients straight to your door. And it’s not that hard.
For me, I have to remember to ‘make it catchy’ while wholly remaining myself. Having a commitment to blog 5x/week can make me fall into less than creative habits.
I’ll be sharing this post!
Wow- I’m not sure how you keep up with 5 posts a week. That’s impressive.
You’ve given me an idea though, maybe we could all use a post at some point about blogging burnout. I’ll put some thought into that as I’m sure it strikes every blogger sooner or later 🙂
I especially like your suggestions for variety and conversation. I shall try to incorporate more of those in my own blog.
Hi Cheryl – Good for you. I find creating conversations to be the hardest one. People tend to be in a passive, receiving mode while they are reading blogs, but I know they would learn so much more and help others along the way if they had some interaction around the information. I keep looking for new and better ways to help this happen on my blog. I’ll pass on what I learn.
Great tips! I am just getting started blogging and need to remember to “solve a problem” for my reader. Perfect article for me to read today!
Thanks, Cindy. I’m glad it helped. Good luck with the blog.
Great tips! I’ve noticed that way too many out there struggle especially with keeping it real and leveraging their strengths and abilities. It’s sad to see so much wasted potential just because entrepreneurs are scared to think outside of the box. Thanks for another great article 😉
Hi Silvia – It is sad so see tremendous people feel like they need to squelch their personality to “keep it professional.” The world has plenty of “professionals,” what they need of more of “you” (the unique person God created each of us to be.)
Thanks for the good thoughts.