We all have those times when we sit at a computer staring at a blank screen and wondering what to write. Even me. Or we write an opening sentence seventeen times because it doesn’t sound right. It’s tempting to just give up on the whole blogging thing altogether, right?
Wrong. If you’re even attempting to write a blog it’s because you know it’s a good idea. It helps you to communicate with people who need you and will love what you do. So how do you do it? The truth is, if you write to entertain your customers you can’t go far wrong.
Here’s how to do it.
Imagine your perfect customer
Writing well starts with knowing your audience. In fact, that’s also the key to great marketing. You might think that anyone can use your services (and perhaps they can) but you can’t market to everyone. Even massive corporations have customer avatars that help them to focus their marketing on the people who are most likely to buy.
If you’ve never profiled your ideal customer before, start with the ones you already have. Who are the people who come back time after time? Is there someone who is a pleasure to deal with? Conversely, who do you hate working with? If you haven’t got an ideal customer yet, maybe you’ve had some nightmares. Focus on someone who’s the complete opposite of that.
Then, when you start writing, picture your ideal customer. Imagine you’re talking to them. You don’t have to do a comedy routine, but think about what you’d say to make them laugh.
Be yourself
The beauty of writing for an ideal customer is that you can be yourself. The people who want to work with you are the ones that like you as you are. They know that they’ll get great service from you.
Think about conversations you’ve had with great customers in the past. What do you share that makes them laugh, smile or simply nod in agreement? The topics themselves could inspire a blog post. You can also write using the same phrases you would use in a conversation. The final text might need a few tweaks but overall it sounds more natural. Best of all it sounds like you.
At the end of the day you’re the face of your business. The more your writing can sound like you, the better.
Talk (then write) to entertain
If you can hear your own voice in your head when you write, you’re onto a winner. It’ll work even better if you can imagine your customer responding positively to what you’re writing. It can feel overwhelming to think of a huge audience of potential readers. If you can focus on one customer and write to entertain them, you’ll attract others like them.
You might find this a struggle to start with. A lot of people do. If you find yourself staring at a blank page, try something else. Use the voice recorder on your phone or download a dictation app. Talk to your phone as if you were talking to a person then transcribe it. This can feel unnatural at first, but keep practicing. I know a few people who’ve pushed through the initial awkwardness and ended up with some great results.
How will you write to entertain your customers? Try writing a new blog post with your ideal customer in mind and see how you get on. If you’ve tried this approach already, leave me a comment and let me know how you got on.
Resources
For more about talking to your ideal customer, read this blog.
The Dragon speech to text app is free to download to iOS phones – I’ve heard some rave reviews.
If you need a transcription service, www.rev.com come highly recommended. If you’re using video in your marketing, they provide subtitles too.
