In my other (other, other) life, many of you know I do freelance article writing for a little extra bump in the old financial stream. Today, I was made privy to a prior version of an article by a client who had already been through two writers trying to get a relatively simple support article done. When I opened it, I gave it one read and went, “Yeeeeaaaaaah…”
Thine articles shalt not suck, lest I do raise me from my reeky monument
And buffeteth thee about thine head and shoulders!
With so much emphasis on quality content and real value in blogs today, it astounds me that more writers don’t realize that it really does matter what goes on the page. Many people seem to be of the opinion that “if I throw enough crap at the wall, something’s going to stick.” This is exactly the WRONG way to write a blog that’s selling something. I’m going to let you in on a dirty little secret here. I personally HATE writing promo blogs for my books, because I don’t like selling things. If I wanted to sell things, I’d be working for Kirby or Rainbow Vacuum Cleaner Company, or God forbid, Convergys. This may sound odd, but when I write a blog in promotion for a book, it’s not really the book I’m trying to promote. It’s me. I am ultimately the product I want to sell the reader on. If I can do that, then the reader will want to seek out my work. Logical, right?
So, with that in mind, here are 6 tips on writing blogs for pay or exposure that will make your clients happier and attract more readers!
1) Know your material.
I do not get why this seems to be so hard for many writers, but they think it’s enough to say something’s great, superlative, the greatest thing since canned beer…but don’t explain WHY. As a reader, I need hard facts and real information to help me influence my decision. You can tell me this new product’s going to change my life, make my breath smell better, and make the people around me want to throw money at me just for the privilege of breathing my air…but if you can’t back it up with facts that show you’ve, um, you know, done a little research, then I’m not going to care and neither will your target reader.
2) Keep the salesy stuff to a minimum.
No, seriously…keep this guy in the background for now.
Okay, so you’re trying to sell a book on personal finances, an article about a certain brand of air conditioner, or trying to convince someone that your new razzle-dazzle product is really the in thing to have on your mantel this season. There’s nothing wrong with this: it’s kind of what authors do. However, I have a 90-10 rule: 90% facts and expert opinion on why this whosit is a good thing, and 10% hard-core sales. If I catch myself doing more than that, I stop and rewrite it. (This does not apply to book excerpts, blurbs, or buy links. None of these are or should be overtly salesy, but they need to be there.) A good rule of thumb is to never have more than 5-10% of the total word count of a blog or article be sales-oriented. When in doubt, err on the low side, because too much is worse than not enough.
3) Don’t underestimate your audience’s intelligence.
Have you ever read an article where you found yourself mentally (or verbally) singsonging the words like you would if you were talking to a kindergarten class? I don’t know about you, but I personally find this highly insulting. I’m a reasonably intelligent mammal who understands the function and use of a dictionary. If I don’t know a word, I’ll look it up. P.T. Barnum allegedly said (sources disagree on this) that “No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.” Maybe so, but if the bigger word is the right word, then guess which one you should use? Don’t insult your audience by assuming they’re too damned stupid to keep up unless you break it down to the last compound using a Dick and Jane vocabulary.
4) Make it personal.
But…maybe not quite THAT personal.
A good article makes the benefit or the need implicit in the article personal to the reader. But then, you already know, or at least suspected that, because you’re here, aren’t you? You’re looking for tips or pointers on how to write articles that will pay off. See what just happened there? I made it personal. I gave YOU a benefit that you perceive as not being available anywhere else. Now YOU, if you derive real benefit from this article or think I’m talking any kind of sense, will likely tell someone else about this article and how it can help THEM. I’ve already hooked you in so I can sell you on the benefit of what I’m trying to tell you, and if you tell one other person about it…I’ve succeeded. Think about how you can apply this same concept to your articles.
5) Don’t make it all about “you.”
There’s nothing wrong with speaking from personal experience, as I’m doing right now. However, the focus of this article isn’t me. It’s YOU. I want to help YOU write better articles and get more acceptance, and hopefully more money, for doing what you’re doing. In the same way, your articles should reflect personal experience only to the degree necessary to convince the reader you know what you’re talking about and then change the emphasis to THEM.
6) Use the PDB formula.
Have you ever read a blog that sounded like it was ad-libbed from the copy on the back of a cereal box? “Frooty-Ohs are awesome because they taste good, have 2,000% of the US RDA of vitamins A,B,C,D,E,K,T, and X, and are made from only the top 1% of all kernels of wheat dusted with pixie powder!”
Ed: Excuse me. I just threw up a little in my mouth writing that.
I like to use the PDB formula for writing articles to avoid the “cereal box” trap. I start with Personal Experience. Who knows about this product? Who’s used it, read it, or worn it? What did they think of it? Do I know anything about it, or can I rely on this person’s reportage? Then I go to the Description of the product. What makes this product unique or different? How do they know it can go through 10,000 washings and still look brand-new while cutting tomatoes and galvanized steel nails like this? What makes this widget different from that one over there? Finally, I end with the Benefits. Why do I think the target reader wants this thing? What makes me so sure this is something the reader will benefit from? The last step, then, is to apply everything you’ve learned up to this point and build it up into a clear benefit statement or call to action that will make the reader want to learn more about or go out and get the whatever.
You’ll notice that I’ve followed the PDB formula here. I started off with a little personal-experience rant about something I saw that annoyed me enough to say something about it. Then I described the product I’m trying to push. Finally, I demonstrated the benefits of writing articles this way instead of that way. Once again, this doesn’t apply to promo blogs like interviews, et cetera. However, these concepts and ideas will pretty much hold good for any article where you’re trying to sell or promote a product or service. Even yourself.
And that, folks, is really what successful writers are trying to do.
Until next time,
Best,
J.S. Wayne
Any questions, comments, gripes, or thoughts on how this could be better? Leave a comment!
