Advertising
Writing Content that Your Audience Loves
Passion for the subject is important; in fact, I think you ought to write and publish everything on your blog and in your emails that shows you have passion for your niche. Develop a persona and express it with passion!
But there is a lot more to write about than just your feelings. Your audience wants guidance, expertise, engagement, recommendations, news, events, thoughts from niche leaders, and acknowledgement. Where do you get ideas to give your audience all these things? You watch the niche closely and keep tabs on the news and events within the niche.
Here are some ways to do that:
- Subscribe to newsletters and magazines in the niche and read them faithfully looking for thought-provoking ideas
- Set up “alerts” at Google and elsewhere so you are notified of news-related happenings in the niche
- Visit the top-rated sites and the most popular sites (daily or weekly) in the niche to find out (and participate in) the discussions they are having
- Having a subscriber list will be critical for you – make it easy and non-threatening for people rabid about the niche to sign on
- Nurture your list and interact with them. Ask subscribers what is important to them personally – do surveys with them – engage them so they will open up to you and give you feedback.
- Interview thought leaders in the niche – give them a platform – accept guest bloggers that have authority.
- Be sure to “guide” niche participants – give them a reason to follow you – show your expertise in the niche, not just your passion. If you don’t have expertise – learn it or experience what you need to know.
- Create a detailed outline of your niche. Google will be your friend. List every aspect, activity, subject, or technique in the niche. Get as detailed and specific as possible. You should have over 100 detailed line items in your outline. Make it dynamic and keep adding to it every time you think of something else about the niche. Now for each item you have ask these questions:
- What is it and what does it mean for the niche participant?
- Why is it important and why is it a useful part of the niche?
- How is it done? How can I guide someone to use it?
- Where is it most effective/useful/efficient?
- Who discovered it, promoted it, and who is it best suited for?
- When is it best used/experienced/learned?
- What are the expected results, outcomes, rewards?
Now write a blog post about each of these seven questions specifically answering the question for every one of the 100 line items (or more). That’s 700 blog posts relevant to the niche with the subject already defined.
If you want to be seen as the authority in the niche, you can’t just expect to gain that title on passion alone. You have to step up and be a leader. It doesn’t matter whether there are already other more well-known leaders in the niche. Put yourself out there – treat your audience (subscribers) like gold and the human beings they are – and lead them. A certain number will follow you and look up to you because they want to know and experience what you already have in the niche.
One lesson I learned early in my online career is this: no one hands you anything on a silver platter. You have to claim your place on the Internet and within your niche. Don’t be timid or shy. Speak out about things that are important to you.
I hope these few suggestions will at least get you started. I could write a whole lot more about this (and have in other posts).
Successfully presenting great content to your target audience is certainly a skill that pays you dividends in your niche business. If you don’t already possess great writing skill … all is not lost. You can learn to be a better writer through study and especially practice. Remember that the Internet is overflowing with content; but really, much of it is either rejected, duplicate, or boring.
To your online business success,
Steve Browne
www.stevebrownedirect.com
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