Sharpen Your Content Writing Skills

Focus on Client Needs The whole point of writing content for your clients is to provide value whether on their website, via their print marketing materials or on a billboard.
#1. Know their needs – spend time with your client obtaining relevant industry information, current marketing materials and noting their business insight into the industry (if it’s unfamiliar) and lastly, their company’s goals & desires.
#2. Know & Convey How Your Services Can Make Their Company Better – Be clear yourself and then convey to the client the benefits your services can provide them.  Most importantly here is to establish a trustworthy relationship with them by making sure they know that:

  • they have a professional who has the talent and experience to fulfill their needs.  Provide references and previous examples of your work if needed.  AND
  • by connecting that experience & expertise to their content needs and how you can improve their professional credibility and financial line.

Stay Focused! – We may have our own ideas about a particular industry, political topic or the like, but you are being hired to do the job THEY want you to do.  You have been hired to write about this client’s business, needs, ideas and standpoints-not your own.  No matter how well you may write, you need to keep your writing focused on their area of expertise, products and/or services.

The Key to Keywords
#1. Remember to talk & write in the same industry language of your customers. A good tactic to employ here is to do some keyword research.
#2. Figure out how your customers (and their competition) think and how to write from that same level of expertise.  See more from one of my previous articles http://bit.ly/Nsuub4 .
#3. Use a business based thesaurus.  Here you will find other related words for a particular term that will showcase your assumed business prowess as well as increasing your clients SEO success.

I hope these few tidbits have been helpful.  I’d love to hear what’s in your content writing toolbox and what tools you employ that I can add to sharpen my own content writing skills.

Branding Joneses Style

About a year ago I saw this seemingly interesting film in Redbox on a solo Friday night and since I had no big plans thought why not.  It listed a host of stars including Demi Moore, David Duchovny and Lauren Hutton so I thought it looked promising.  After the first 20 minutes of it I quickly caught on to the main theme/plot and thought how brilliant a concept for a movie & in business!  It’s about what appears to be a classic, wealthy suburban family who seems to have it all.  But as the story unravels, you come to understand that “the family” is commissioned ($$$) by an international marketing company, which I’m sure is a conglomerate of several, to introduce their products into the right market niche via unconventional & REALLY smart methods.  (Yes, you should totally rent it. Check out the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=achUBX71Fj0 ).

So since I’m not a movie critic (at least professionally that is…) you might be wondering why the heck I’m blogging about this.  It’s because the clever concept they employ is all about having confidence when talking about the brands they are selling and consistency of their sales tactics.  And that my friend is what easily translates I gotta have it now to big sales for the product or service.  HOW A BRAND IS REPRESENTED TRULY AFFECTS THE SUCCESS OF WHAT’S BEING SOLD!  Representation of your brand, via your website or print marketing materials, is paramount to supremacy as opposed to mediocrity in your market industry.

Do you have the vision, tenacity and marketing savvy to leverage your brand to all its potential and watch your sales and profit
margins soar?  I’m sure the answer to the latter part of that question is yes but you may not be sure about how to employ the leverage part.  I’m no expert but I do give some noteworthy morsels in my last blog titled http://blog.jpdesigntheory.com/branding-to-dos-tidbits/ .   So take a few maneuvers from my playbook and let me know how implementing just a few works for you, your potential or current clientele, and I look forward to hearing back on the blogs.  Until then…decide if you’ll be Jonesin’ on your competition or if they’ll be Jonesin’ on you.