This is a shorter post just because it is on my mind.
You Do Not Have To Publish Anything. Remember That!
So many people I have spoken to lately, this is where they tell me, consistently tell me that they struggle to put out enough content.
So they are struggling with the production of content?
The Production of Content Is The Easy Part
The follow up questions I have are simple.
Do you know who you are writing to before you start writing?
They normally answer no.
That tells me that they are struggling with writing because they are not prepared to write. They are not ready to speak wisdom, encouragement, and advice into an audience. They are not ready to point out things that their audience didn’t know. What value can you bring to a conversation if you don’t know who you are talking to.
If you feel like you are speaking to your computer then you are wrong. Your computer doesn’t care what you have to say.
The internet doesn’t care what you have to say.
How To Fix This Problem
You have to put your writing on hold. You have to stop everything you are doing that is not of the highest priority.
Pick your target audience.
Find one of them.
- Find one online.
- Find one in real life with email.
- Find one in real life that you can meet.
- Find one in real life that you can call.
- Find one that you can set their picture on your desk.
Now that you have someone to talk to. You are almost ready to write.
Interview these people.
Don’t write a long survey interview. Ask something general and just ask for a candid response. Realize your assumptions and dismiss them.
How To Find the Pain Points of Your Audience
If you can gain an open dialogue with a few questions and follow ups, then you can find out what is really painful to your audience.
Find out why they dislike things instead of general terms.
Read the comments of other blogs that are in your field for questions.
Learn to interview your audience like a champion. If you can conduct this market research then you can write.
Once you have the questions that matter you will uncover a new line of thinking. I promise.
All of the sudden the current will show itself. You will realize where the waterfall is. Then you can talk about the life jackets.
Give examples. Speak in metaphors. Learn to tell stories. Then saturate your writing with the answers to these pain points and the distinct appeal of what they are.
Find out more about your audience.
These easy steps will make you a world class marketer.
Outsource Your Writing
If you can develop a list of questions and then cross reference them with keywords then you have gold.
Let’s talk about what to do next in the next post.