Content writing is sexy. It drives traffic, builds authority, increases your brand awareness... plus even increases your sales conversions.
Content writing is a great way to connect with your audience and building a rapport without being on the phone.
BrightonSEO - Search Engine Omnipresence_ Why SEOs need to look beyond Google
Content Writing Is Sexy And How To Get Some Sugar
1.
2. Content writing. It is not just a catch all
term, for anything written online;
3. it is the written representation of you and your business and
all it represents.
Basically, its your ideas online.
4. Writing has been a
powerful influence for
centuries. Now, in the
information age, it is
more important than
ever.
Content writing can
make or break your
business, your
influence and your
bottom line.
6. What is content writing?
How do I use it as the powerful tool in my business arsenal
and where do I find good content and/or a good content
writer?
Funny you should ask. I was just about to get into that.
7. What is Content Writing?
It is basically using the written language in any
forum that will be read by the masses: websites,
blogs, magazines, forums, social media,
newspapers, flyers, and newsletters. After that, the
definition can move into a thousand different
directions.
8. ! On blogs, content writers are not only
bloggers, but also designers. They format
their posts with images and video.
! In newspapers, content writers are journalists
and editors.
! On websites, content writers can code HTML
as well as write web copy.
! In sales funnels, content writers craft sales
copy.
! On social media, they tweet, comment, post,
like, share and write keywords for pins.
What is Content Writing?.
9. They work for:
! Government
! Grass roots
organizations
! Small business
! Large corporations
! Newspapers
! Magazines, and
! Themselves.
They can work
for you.
10. If you are a blogger or contributor, then you are in
the business of content writing. Though it seems
that everyone is moving towards video, content
writing is here to stay.
11. *found on business2community.com
So How Much
Should You Pay for
Content Writing?
Here is an infographic
that is a good
benchmark (if you look
harder and know what
you are doing you can
get it cheaper)
13. Writers – An
experienced writer has
the tools to do the
research and can write
about anything. Writers
are a dime a dozen, but
really good content
writers are worth their
weight in gold.
14. Content – Not any old content will do. Content
writing, in order to be effective, must be excellent, well-
researched, written for the target audience and
captivating.
15. Research – This is
needed to add
legitimacy to your
content. Citing your
sources not only
strengthens your
argument, it also builds
your readers’ trust.
Ashley Robison of
Independent Fashion
Bloggers dedicated an
entire blog post to
Reader Trust: Your Most
Valuable Asset as a
Blogger.
16. SEO – Search engine optimization, keyword research, good
keywords, and not keyword stuffing are vital for blogs and
other online content. Understanding basic SEO is a must-
have for content writing.
17. How Does Content Writing Turbo Charge
Your Business?
The right content can really give your business a boost. It
can give your business the professional voice it needs, or
be witty, conversational or scientific. Depending on your
target audience and the goals of your business, great
content marketing can go out into the world, get its
attention, and bring back adoring fans and customers.
18. Here are some of the
ways content writing
can boost your
business.
19. Increase your website traffic.
Combining SEO with great content can send you a steady
stream of traffic long term. Small bursts of traffic can be
attained with targeting trending (and relevant) topics.
20. “By producing quality content, not only
are you able to gain a stronger foothold
in the search engine rankings, you will
also engage your readers more
effectively. This, all things being equal,
should lead to higher conversions.”
According to William Jones at SEOIreland
21. Planning is key to attracting a lot of traffic. If
your content is boring, no one will share it and
no one will come back to reference it.
22. Grow your email list.
Assuming you have email
capture methods in place,
once you start getting the
traffic you want, you should
automatically start growing
your list.
More traffic SHOULD mean
more email subscribers.
However, there is one
important point that I have
to make: It has to be good,
targeted traffic.
23. If your content is
good, your traffic is
targeted then your
opt-ins will be going
up.
This is great, because
as experienced
marketers know, the
money is in the list.
24. Remember, having good
content is key to growing
your email list.
You have to write something very informative. Your
blog post must show them the expert that you are.
This is what will make them subscribe to your list.
You cannot write the same thing that is out there,
except you do it in a unique way. Your blog post must
wow them. Remember these are not just 10,000
emails, but 10,000 REAL people that would be
spending an average of $1 a month with you and
giving you the lifestyle of $10,000 a month income!!!
According to Kenneth Chooks at The Traffic
Police
25. Position yourself as an expert in your field.
When your writing resonates deeply with your audience, it
sets you up to be an authority in your field. Great writing
backing you up will tell your audience with distinction that
you are the expert. Expertise goes far in a world where
many industries have fierce competition.
26. “Creating … is where you produce content that
secures you that expert status. Choose your
channel wisely here according to what fits your
audience. You could for instance write blog posts,
newspaper articles, record podcast or produce
video content. If you are really serious about
becoming an expert, try your hand at writing a
book. Whatever you choose to do, the results of
your creative output will lead to further promotion
of your personal brand and increased interest
from customers.”
Jorgen Sundberg of Undercover
Recruiter
27. Your
publications
never stop
selling for
you.
If you have a blog (which is a really
wise idea), then your content can be
picked up by SEO, social media
sharing and syndication.
They are your sales agents, even if
they don’t have one word of sales
copy.
As mentioned above, they establish
you as expert, so they are bringing
interested, targeted web visitors to
your business.
28. If you are doing everything
correctly, eventually,
increased traffic will
convert to sales.
The point that I have to stress the
most is that these pieces of written
content, or as I like to call them,
online real estate, are constantly
out there, 24/7.
They are accessed by anyone in
the world with internet access.
Your
publications
never stop
selling for
you.
29. Written content can be recycled.
A fantastic piece of written content can be turned into an
email broadcast, an ezine, a free report, or an article. It can
also be stretched across media; talk about it in a video,
discuss it in a podcast, or turn it into a series on social
media.
30. Written works are
relatively easy and
inexpensive to
market online.
If you are writing your own
work, then it costs you
nothing but time. You can
list and share your written
work around cyberspace
quite a bit before having to
pay anything. It is easy to
do as well. The ways of
sharing content writing
online are in the hundreds,
if not more.
31. How To
Create Epic
Content
If you love to write, you still may be
facing the challenge of writing epic
content.
Why?
Because no one wants to read
boring, regurgitated text. The
problem is that there is so much
crappy, useless content out there that
people are just tired of it.
Do you throw in the towel? Absolutely
not.
32. This is your
opportunity to
shine.
This is your chance to show
your market that not only are
you an expert, but you create
captivating, useful content that
they will want to reference
again and again.
You need a game plan. You
need a strategy to hook the
thousands and thousands of
people with whom only you
will resonate.
33. Now, think about your target
audience. Do you think:
● They are scientific thinkers who love nothing but text,
facts, figures and industry jargon?
● They are mavericks, who buck the system and but still
love a good intellectual challenge?
● Visual people who prefer graphs and charts?
● Members of Generation Y who love to consume video?
Only you know the answer to this.
34. Recommendations for epic
content.
Here is a template of recommendations to use for your
articles. You don’t have to use them in every article,
however, it helps to make your writing flow, and it
makes it easier for your audience to read it.
35. 1. Shorten your paragraphs. For
effect, you can use one sentence
at a time. Large blocks of text can
shut down your readers brain into
thinking, “Oh this is too much
trouble to read, better keep
going.”
Recommendations
for
EPIC
Content
36. 2. Numbers and bullets are your
friends. They create lists and
content that is easy to skim. For
people who are looking to read or
just need the basics, bullets and
numbers are a huge help. A
person doesn’t need to read the
entire post to get some benefit
out of it.
Recommendations
for
EPIC
Content
37. Read the best content you can
get your hands on. Online, it
should not be too difficult to find,
as they usually dominate the top
five of Google for your search
term.
Otherwise, you can use
Stumbleupon, Technorati, or other
content aggregates. Reading the
best content keeps you in the loop
as to what works and what doesn’t
work, but it also helps give you
fodder for future works you
publish.
38. 3. The title has to be one of the single
most important tools you can use.
Your work can be worthy of a
Pulitzer prize, but if the title sucks,
no one will read it. Think about it.
Would you rather read, “Make
Money from Home” or “9 Dirty Little
Secrets to Make Money from
Home.” The title is super important
– make it count.
Recommendations
for
EPIC
Content
39. 1. Don’t publish right after you write. Sit on it,
even for a couple of hours if you can. Trust
me, you will always find a way to improve. At
the same time, don’t sit on it so long that it
goes stale. Wait a couple days at the most.
2. Grammar, spelling, punctuation. Look, you
don’t have to be a grammar Nazi in order to
publish great content. But you should at least
have the basics down.
3. Finally, add lots of data – pictures, video,
charts, graphs, colors, infographics, memes,
links to your site and others, rhetorical
questions, calls to action and whatever else
you can pack in that your readers will love.
Keep building your expectations.
Recommendations
for
EPIC
Content
40. Aside from writing it yourself, how do you
get a hold of some super hot content
writing? There are several ways.
If you are looking to hire someone, Kristi
Hines of iAcquire lays out a strategy to find
someone in content writing:
1. Look in-house first – Ask people who
work in your own company. Benefit?
They already know the company culture
and how things are done to make the
business run. You also already have a
relationship established with them.
2. Don’t just hire any writer – Find
someone who has the skills you need
(for example, knows basic HTML, legal
terminology, fluent in
Where To
Find Great
Content
Writing
41. 3. Look in social media – Many
professional writers advertise on social
media and they are very easy to find,
especially in Twitter.
4. Ask around – you never know who is
in your social media circles,
professional network or even family or
neighbors.
Where To
Find Great
Content
Writing
42. Where Else
To Find
Content
Writing
Online?
I’ve used Elance for years to do a variety of tasks
but one of them is content writing with Elance.
Here are a couple tips to Hiring a
Content Writer on Elance or any
sourcing site:
1. Hire SLOW and Fire FAST
2. Set expectations EARLY, not after
you hire
3. Look for established writers vs
training someone new
4. Ask for sample work
5. Have your topics and keywords
ready before hiring
43. Hiring content writers from
freelance sites.
There are several sites like oDesk, Elance,
Fiverr and more where you can hire people.
oDesk has an excellent tutorial that has
videos, FAQs and articles on how to find the
right person for your project or longer-term. I
personally have been using Elance for years.
Finally, you can use guest
bloggers.
Find some great bloggers who love to guest
blog and start contacting them. It is only a
matter of time before you establish a good
relationship and have a steady supply of
awesome content writing.