Content Writing 101

Hey everyone

Today I want to talk more about Content writing. As people who regularly read my blog will know a did a couple of pieces on content, content marketing, and content writing about a month ago (see the bottom of the article for links to these articles). Now I want to do an overview of content writing or copywriting and the processes surrounding this method of promoting business.

I will be discussing the basic steps involved in content writing; researching your subject, having a topic you want to write about, having the tools to create an article, creating the content, promoting the content and finally measuring the success of that content in advertising your business.

Research 

You can find content almost anywhere and with so many articles and blogs it can be hard to know which sources of research are useful and which aren’t. Research also takes time and it’s not something you can achieve on a whim. So how you might ask should a content writer go about finding the information they need.

The best way, in my opinion, is to follow other bloggers and copywriters producing content on and around your topic. Find plenty of sites to follow so that you get a wide range of opinions and discussions. Pick big well-known names to draw readers in and get the most accurate information but it can be useful to choose a few smaller bloggers too so that you begin forming a network of people’s work you regularly use to influence your own writing. Also don’t be afraid to step a little outside your subjects range since you never know where inspiration may come from. This is called content curation and its a well known and used technique of collecting a range of others work and then using that to produce your own.

However, my own tip about this technique would be to make a habit of collecting pieces that are likely to prove useful even if you don’t want to touch on something straight away. By using this method you should have your own private store of knowledge if you will. Also, it’s well worth keep these articles stored in the same place since this will make it simpler to group similar pieces together or spot a pattern across a few discussion giving you your own angle to follow.

Ideas 

Coming up with fresh ideas for content can be difficult as I just explained most of the time your research should inspire likely topics for you to write on but sometimes you have to be creative. For example, sometimes a particular topic might be too large to cover in just one piece so can be split into many different articles looking at the subject from every facet.

However, gleaning inspiration from others isn’t by any means the only way to come up with ideas for your content. One such method that I like to try is word association or you can try free writing. These processes allow you to follow your minds train of thought. Word association is a lot like brainstorm you take a particular topic such as social media and just jotting down any other words that are linked to that subject such as engagement or marketing then you can repeat the word association for the new words. This process can be repeated many times until you have a whole host of words about your topic any of which you may wish to write about. Free writing is similar only instead of writing just odd words you simply write whatever comes into your head about a particular subject then see what you can make of your errant thoughts.

Tools

While it is true that in today’s world of technology there is an app for practically anything and everything including to give you ideas for content and research there are much more basic tools that a writer requires in order to produce their best work.

These include but are by no means limited to books, a place and device to work in and on, determination to avoid distractions and silence to aid in concentration. Books are a wonderful tool since they supply knowledge which any writer must have in spades but they shouldn’t be just books relevant to your subject. Writers also require books about the craft of writing itself and of course books on spelling and grammar since writing has to be correct in its essentials. A comfortable and spacious workstation is also a must since good content is not produced in a matter of minutes. Using a device or a number of devices that work for you is important but having a notebook can be useful too since it can allow you to jot down ideas or even draft your work. determination and concentration are just some of the disciplines that writers have to master to be able to produce their best work.

Content 

Content exist to be read so a content writer needs to be aware of what content will engage readers. When comes to creating content for business the purpose behind it is usual to create conversions meaning simply that the content is meant to drive readers into becoming customers. content writers need to be versed therefore in many different types of writing such as writing inform or educate, writing to entertain, in emotive writing and inspirational writing.

Each of these different forms of writing has its own function. Educational writing is where you give readers specific information such as about your products or services but it can also teach readers like how to articles. Entertaining writing is fairly self-explanatory and it can be used by businesses to build a more positive relationship between them and their customers. Emotive writing is used to form a much deeper personal connection with your readers and tap into the issues that matter to them most. Finally, inspirational writing can be success stories or testimonials things that make customers want to share content or connect with it.

More than having a flexible writing style content writers have to catch the eyes of would-be readers so having a store of flashy pictures and witty headlines is almost a must to help draw people in.

promote 

Once a piece is written a writer’s task is by no means over now they have to work hard to shove their piece under every nose they can. If no one knows your content exists then all that effort is wasted.

There are a number of ways that writers can use to help promote their content such as social share buttons, mailing lists, sharing your own content and networking with influencers. Social share buttons are automatic links for people to share your content on Facebook or Twitter. Having these button at the bottom of each of your articles allows people to easily post your blog to their social circle, therefore, increasing its reach. Mailing lists are a great way to give regular readers updates and access to your blog, every time you update your blog they get notified. Sharing your own content on your own social sites is important again because it a way of notifying people who follow you as soon as you produce something new. You can also offer them exclusive access enticing them futher to keep up with your work. Networking with other bloggers or people with a relevant link to your business or its marketing efforts is also very useful because it can increase the reach of your article. So it’s well worth forming good relationships with these people or influencers.

This can all be a lot of hard work but it’s very important to this is done not only when you just release an article but consistently. This is the best method to keep the hits rolling in.

measure

This leads us into the importance of tracking the success of your content. Writers must be prepared to take constructive criticism and learn from it. This process is just as important with content marketing since without tracking a blogs progress it will be impossible to know if your marketing message is being effective. Studying your articles can also be useful for spotting mistakes or trends or even just subjects readers find interesting. You can use the information you glean from measuring content to improve your work and provided readers with content that is interesting to them.

But writers don’t have to do this tracking for themselves though there are a number of programs that can be linked to your social sites that will track your progress for you including Google Analytics which is an app I have endorsed previously (again for a link to that article see the bottom of the page). All of these programs provide a wealth of data and metrics on how best to improve to content writing.

 

The Final step I wish to mention in the process of content writing is to repeat the process regularly and often. As I hope you can now understand a writer’s work is never done and each new piece teaches us something about the next. Thus a content writer and their marketing will only improve, hopefully creating more interesting articles for their followers to strengthen the relationship between writer and reader.

 

 

Sources:

http://www.artofblog.com/copywriting-tools/

https://blog.thesocialms.com/12-amazing-tools-to-rock-your-content-marketing/

5 Types of Content That Will Boost Your Traffic And Engagement

Related blog articles:

Content about Content

Blogging about Blogging

Your Content Writer and You

Analytics Essentials

Blogging about Blogging

Hi all

As regular readers will be aware we are currently focusing on Content and its importance in marketing. We have looked at the basics of content marketing and the tools of content creators. Now I want to to drill into the very popular form of content creation and marketing; blogging.

Blogging can be a great way to communicate with others through sharing meaningful knowledge with a community. This sharing of knowledge fosters relationships and can promote trust. However, blogs are everywhere today and it can be very difficult to achieve success. In this article, I’m going outline three basic building blocks for creating and maintaining a healthy blog.

 

Content

The foundation of any blog is its content. So the first step is to choose a subject for your blog and the best way to do this is through identifying the audience you want to attract then ascertaining what information or knowledge would be useful to them. Writing content that is meaningful to your audience is the best way to build the trusted relationship I mention which will lead to a healthy blog.

Once you have begun writing you blog it’s important that you both capture and keep the interest of your readers. In addition to writing valuable content, you can add visual stimuli to your posts such as pics or videos to help hook your readers in. Another method of attracting readers to your blog is to ensure that the information your providing is both factual and current, so researching your topic is vital. Providing facts to back up opinions or sources that show where you are getting your knowledge adds authenticity and helps to build trust between you and your readers.  Finally, a good way to ensure that your readers return to your blog is to post regularly so that there is also new content for them to engage with.

As you move forward with your blog it’s important that you pay attention to which of your posts are resonating with your readers since that help you to really tap into the kind of information they are looking for. Once you have an even more detailed idea of the type of content your readers want to know about you can create a detailed content scheme that provides that knowledge which will help ensure that your blog remains relevant.

Engagement 

Once you have begun delivering this good quality content the next step is to work on the engagement with that content. Engagement can be as simple as reading your posts but it’s important that you do everything in your power to make your content reader accessible.

Part of this is making your content as user-friendly as possible. You can do this by adding pictures or screen shot to grab readers attention or creating a content calendar to ensure that you are posting regularly. However, the best way to create a high level of engagement is to make sure your content is easy to share. If people read an article that they like they are likely to share this with their community so as a blogger it is a good idea to make this as simple as possible. You can do this by adding call to action buttons that link to various social media sites on each piece of content that asks readers to share that content. Of course, some blogging sites such as WordPress offer this as standard procedure so be sure to check that.

As your blog continues, just as it is important to track which posts resonate reader the most, it is also important to take into account which of your posts your readers are engaging with and even more importantly sharing on their social sites. This too will give you a better idea of what is your most successful type of content not just in terms of interest but also in how much traffic they bring to your site.

Visibility 

The last block in this metaphor for good quality blogging is visibility of said blog. If people cannot find you blog that no matter how good it is it can’t be read. So part of your job as a blogger or content creator has to be to make your blog accessible.

There are a number of ways you can work to achieve this such as self-promotion, tagging your posts and working on your S-E-O (search engine optimisation). Self-promotion can be as simple sharing your blog posts on your various social media sites or can be done through the more difficult method of becoming a guest blogger on another large blog but either way; your objective is to reach a larger audience in the hope of drawing more readers to your blog. Another method of widening your audience is through adding keyword tags to your articles this makes them easier to find for readers who are searching for blogs on particular subjects. Which ties in nicely to my final suggestion for making your blog more visible through Search engine optimisation which means making your blog easier to find on search engines sites such as google. This is an ongoing process but simple steps such as having a clear distinctive title or a detailed description of what the blog contains can only add your reader’s ability to find your blog.

Again your blogs visibility will need to be something you work on over time since by paying attention to your visibility or incoming traffic you can only improve your reader’s ability to find your blog. For example; if you saw all your readers found your blog through your facebook account that would suggest your self-promotion is working well but that your S-E-O wasn’t so your might try discovering why search engines aren’t recommending your blog. Making sure your traffic doesn’t only come from once place can vital to building up a stronger reader basis and creating a healthy blog.

 

In conclusion, there is no quick and simple recipe to blogging success it a process that has to be worked on and it could be some time before you have a successful healthy blog with a strong reader basis but that is no reason to be disscourage. Much like the famous phrase; if you build it they will come, if you follow and work hard on these three building blocks your reader base will grow in time.

 

 

Sources: https://en.blog.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/get-more-readers/

https://moz.com/ugc/10-simple-tips-for-creating-a-blog-your-readers-will-adore?utm_source=socialmediaexaminer.com&utm_medium=socialmediaexaminer.com&utm_campaign=socialmediaexaminer.com

5 Important Metrics Every Blogger Should Be Tracking

Your Content Writer and You

Hi all

As regular readers will know last week I wrote a piece on content marketing. To follow this up I’m now writing this article on hiring a person to create this content for you. Many businesses hire content writers or Copywriters to ensure their content is the best it can be. It’s important to choose a writer that you can work with who understands the message of your businesses brand. Here are some points to consider when hiring a writer; experience and education, availability, price vs quality, turnaround time, interest in your topic, diversity of portfolio and finally reviews or references.

 

Experience and Education 

It’s important to see a writer’s previous work either in the form of a specific sample which you request or in a portfolio of writing samples that the writer provides. This will give you a realistic idea of their ability to produce quality content. it’s also important to study things like their voice or style which as I talked about in my article on content marketing is a vital component to any piece of content. A writer’s education is also important since writers often write what they know, so a degree or training could very well enhance their writing ability so their knowledge should be a factor in your decision.

 

Availability 

freelance writers often take more than one job at a time such is the nature of their work. So it’s important to know that they have the time for your project. so be prepared to give them a timeline to work with that estimates how long the project will take. If however you are looking for a regular writer to work on a company blog, for instance, you might be better off hiring a staff writer that is exclusive to your company that way they only work on your content.

 

Price Vs Quality

The higher the quality of work required, the higher quality of writer needed, so the higher the price. You need to weigh the cost of a writers time and work against the quality of the work you need. This can be a very difficult process but as content marketing become such as a successful form of marketing finding this balance has never been more important for businesses.

 

Turnaround time 

it’s important to know how quickly a writer can produce the work you need but you also need to know if it fits with your own timeline. These are thinks to discuss together and that way you can find the schedule for your project. It’s worth adding a margin of error to this however since life often can get in the way of work for one reason or another.

 

interest in your topic 

Sometimes hiring a writer with a personal interest in your topic can be to your advantage since they will be more passionate and will have greater knowledge around the subject. For example, if a publishing company wanted to start a blog reviewing books then they might be better off hiring a writer who also reads a lot and has studied their craft rather than a writer who say has a business background.

 

Diversity of portfolio 

As I said previously writers often keep a portfolio of their work which is always worth asking to see. It can demonstrate their different styles and forms of writing but also their ability to channels another’s voice. If you a hiring a writer then it’s vital to know they can write about your business your way. That’s not to say you feed them their lines word for word, just that the message you are trying to convey to your customers is understood and can be translated into the content that they write. A portfolio of work can be a way of testing this since each different sample will show different sides to that writer’s ability.

 

Reviews or references 

Just like any other job application you should always ask for references from previous employers to testify to the writers ability to work but it’s also worth exploring for reviews of their work where possible. This will enable you to get a better idea of how people respond to their writing which is very important since readers engagement is vital to all projects. So when asking for previous samples see if you can find them online and read any comments left by readers.

 

I hope this helps you all to better understand how to go about finding a good writer to produce your content. The most important thing to remember is this process is all about finding a partner. Someone to work with as well as to find someone to write your content so be thorough and take your time to find a writer that suits you as well as your businesses needs.

 

Source: http://blog.thesocialms.com/how-to-choose-the-perfect-content-writer-for-your-blog/

Content about Content

Hi all

Today I’m here to talk about content marketing. Content marketing is an approach to business advertising that involves creating educational, entertaining and informative writing to distribute to customers. While there is no unifying theory of content marketing there are certain universal rules to provide this good quality content. I will be discussing four qualities any content marketing scheme should include; relevancy,  an authentic voice, creation and curation and Some basic key content elements.

Relevancy 

It is important when creating content about your business to identify issues or values that matter to your customers. As I’ve discussed previously marketing can’t be just about selling products since customers are unlikely to respond to this method. So instead, you must use the content to connect with your customer base. Writing about important things that matter your to customers builds a business’s brand and productivity.

However, it is important that there is a direction to the content businesses put out. You can’t just create content for content’s sake. There needs to be a purpose behind each piece of content and then this marketing process should lead to sales because by providing this quality content you are building trust.

Authentic voice 

An authentic voice simply means a piece of writing that contains thought and ideas specific to the writer.  Even when writing professional pieces its is important to communicate who you are, what benefits your products and services offer customers  and why they should buy them.

if there is no voice behind content then it can seem flat or impersonal causing people to lose interesting in reading that content. Having an authentic voice behind your business content can also help to strength that trust between your customers and your business since through reading your content they will understand your business better.

 

Creation and Curation 

Curating content is the opposite to creating content; this is where you share other people writing rather than formulating your own. This process can be useful to businesses since it can provide alternative views or relevant information. However only sharing other people’s content can be damaging since if you only share writing that already exists elsewhere why should people follow you.

It’s a careful line to walk but I believe a balance between creation and curation is the best way to educate, entertain and inform followers. This balance can be beneficial because not only because you are putting across your own voice and the voices on relevant topics but also sharing other’s work can help to create site traffic while sharing your own writing can help strength connections.

Basic Key Elements 

As I previously wrote there is no universal theory of content marketing meaning that there is no definitive way to produce the good quality content needed for high-level content marketing success. However there are a few tips you can follow to put you on the right path:

• Outlining goals or objectives you want to achieve before you start writing your content can help to give content that purpose I discussed above.
• Deciding who you want your content to reach and how you will target this audience can ensure that your content is read.
• Adding relevant anecdotes can pack more punch in your pieces and is showing that all-important authentic voice.
• Asking rhetorical questions can get readers thinking for themselves which not only helps them to better engage with your content but also adds to the informative and educational aspects of your content.
• Finally letting other writers inspire you can, in turn, create inspired content. This content, therefore, combines the processes of creation and curation.

 

In conclusion, content marketing can be a tricky process but if used correctly, it can be an extremely effective way of developing a successful business strategy to enable not only sales but also communication. Which is the foundation of any working relationship. This might explain why content marketing has become a very popular method of advertising in the world of social media.

 

My Sources:

http://quuu.co/blog/how-to-create-a-content-marketing-strategy-for-any-company?ref=quuu&utm_content=buffer8a461&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/simple-formula-success-content-marketing

Content Curation vs Original Content: The Battle In Social Media Marketing

The 9 Essential Elements of any Content Marketing Strategy

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2016/03/tips-personality-content/

Correcting with Grammarly

Hey all

Just  a quick endorsement for the app Grammarly

https://app.grammarly.coHeym/

Grammarly was recommended to me because I have Dyslexia and as such I have a lot of difficulties with correcting my own Grammer and spelling. Grammarly works with Google Crome to electronically correct as you type. I have been using it for about a week now and everything is working great. In addition, to correcting my writing, it also teaches me about the errors I make most commonly so I can prevent then in the future.

Since Grammarly had been working so well for me I have also gone back through all my old blog articles and corrected the issues.

Finally, the basic Grammarly app is completely free for all users, so if you also struggle with grammar and spelling I would really recommend installing Grammarly on your devices today.

 

The Importance being a Writer

Hey all

Well today I found this great article 8 Reasons why Writers (such as myself) are Valuable in the ‪#‎Socialmedia ‬world

http://blog.thesocialms.com/8-reasons-why-your-team-needs-a-writer/

And as soon as I read it I became so inspire and full of thoughts that I just had to write about so here a quick summation of the 8 points in the article (for more in depths points please read the article) and my own personal conclusion.

1. Without content, you have no chance of Social media success since content in necessary to gain a following.
2. you need your own content since people won’t follow you if you’re just re-sharing pre-existing content.
3.  a writer can provide you with all the you need since if someone can write well the can produce an endless stream of content at very little cost.
4. in social media, more content can lead to more success. just posting flat information doesn’t allow you to connect with your customer which as explained previously in this blog is very important. creating valuable content that your followers/customer can appreciate however can lead to a better professional relationship
5. in social media content is the key to pushing growth since valuable content leads to great engagement of customers
6. good content is a do opener. a writer can help you connect with key influencers in your field through maybe doing some guest writing which can allow you to interest their readers in your business
7. marketing messages work better if well written. As all marketing messages are important it’s important to take the time to make sure they’re written well.
8.  copy is everywhere and good copy counts which mean good writing is something that you can learn but it can be better to your advantage to hire someone who is trained.

So those are the article points and here is my own personal pitch for hiring writers:

With almost everyone on social media these days it’s important that customers have a reason to follow you. While it’s true that offering them exclusive online deals can get customers to Like your pages it is unlikely to get them engaging with you. Customer engagement is so vital since it builds those strong business relationships and is what will boost your business reputation. Valuable content is one way of achieving this reputation.

So in order to build this content, your social media sites need to be so much more than just biographical. They need fresh and engaging content that is relevant to your business and its consumers. Having a writer on staff is a powerful and effective way to create this content.

from English lit experts to journalist, from copywriters to prose and poetry writers (such as myself) all writers are trained how to analyse the written word. To write and re-write to the best of their ability till every pieced is polished.  These techniques can be so relevant in the world of social media where engagement is so vital and the competition for good content is so high.

So in short I completely agree that having a writer as part of any social media team can be of great advantage.

Creative Writing

Source: Rowena Redman

Hey, Guys, I thought you might like to see some of my work from my old creative writing days Just click the link

Intro to My Journey

 

Hey People

This is a story of a how an active Fandom admin transforms herself into a successful Social media representative for Business (Or at least, I hope it is)

I’ve been an admin on facebook now for over two years and I’ve really fallen in love with the whole world of social media. I will talk more about my work on facebook in a different post right now I’m just giving you an idea of what this Blog will be about.

Well have been searching for a career in life for some time and as my mother always told me its best to do what you love so I’m trying to create myself into someone who does social media for businesses. which as the title of my blog should suggest is going to be quite a task. While I’m computer savvy, have a degree in creative writing and as I said a Very active poster on facebook, the business world of social media is very different.

so I’m going to be posting regularly about the things I already know from Facebook, my Writing degree but also the new stuff I’m teaching myself like, how to use platforms other than facebook, Basic terms translations, useful tips and Video’s for others out there interested in the Same ideas and Generally how the whole learning process is going.

So to strip it down to the bare bones this is my Mission to explore the strange worlds of Social media, to seek out New Knowledge and adapt old information and to Boldly try what I’ve never tried before. (Yes I made a star trek references; Fandom geek remember)