My clients often ask me how to write powerful copy and how to build their confidence as writers.
My answer is always the same: PRACTICE.
When I started writing my bi-weekly newsletter over four years ago as a health coach, I would write about eating more kale and I was too afraid to let me personal voice come out into the world.
It would also take me 4 hours to write a newsletter whereas today I take between 30 -45 minutes. So progress is possible.
However, over time, by committing to writing consistently, by studying other people’s copy and trusting that my audience wanted to read what I had to say, in the way that I say it, my confidence began to grow and so did my level of engagement.
There is no doubt that if you are in business, learning to write well, from your point of view and with ease is important.
Business writing after all involves a LOT of writing from weekly blog posts, sales pages, longer newsletters, auto-responders, e-books and freebies, funnels, Facebook ad posts and the list goes on.
So below are my top tips to become a more confident and compelling writer for your blog posts:
1. Tell stories: Stories are memorable, engaging and humanize any situation. It’s also widely known that stories sell while facts tell. So when you go to read a blog post or any copy, think about the story behind it. Paint the picture for the reader.
What were you thinking, feeling, sensing, fearful of and, dreaming about? The story doesn’t have to be a mega-thriller to be engaging. Just tell the story as you remember it and allow it to connect with the audience from your heart to theirs. In a sea of social media content, personalized stories from you are what will stand out.
2. Lower your barriers: In Access Consciousness® they talk about lowering your barriers to create more connection. So before you write, tell yourself three times, I lower my barriers, I lower my barriers, I lower my barriers and then imagine your walls of protection dropping in your mind’s eye and from that space you will feel more connected to your audience and less guarded. Also use good judgment and common sense. If something feels just too personal or may affect someone else, reconsider your topic or the angle from which you are writing.
3. Write as if you’re talking to your best girlfriend over afternoon tea: In this way your tone is intimate and you write from your heart and connect to your feelings. This was one of the best tips I ever received because it takes me out of my head and out of writing what I think I “should” write to look professional, and instead I write what I feel from the heart. You can also imagine your client avatar and speak to her dreams, pain points and goals.
4. Don’t worry about saying the “right” thing, write the “true” thing: This is an awesome piece of advice I got from my speaking coach years ago. It’s so powerful. When in doubt about what to write, just connect to what’s true for you. This is after all what people want to hear: your truth, your voice, your point of view. You can do it.
5. Stay relevant to your audience: How can what you are writing about be a contribution to your reader’s life right now? What’s their takeaway from your post? Are there 3-5 tips that you can share that can support someone with what they are going through currently?
Thinking about this can be the difference between going on a rant or an emotional outpouring for the sake of healing yourself to showing your expertise and bringing it back to a higher purpose and lesson for the reader to learn from. When in doubt, let the storm of emotions pass before you write about a powerful life experience. You and your audience will be grateful for it.
6. Start where you are: Everyone’s journey to writing confidently is unique and yet, everyone shows up to a blank page on their screen and has to start somewhere. So trust that where you are is perfect and just start writing. You can always edit and choose not to publish something but the point is just start and then to keep going.
7. Practice. Practice. Practice: Practice will support you in honing your voice, discovering deeper parts of you and being willing to share them in your own words, on your own terms at the time that’s right for you.
There is no bypassing this step. To become a better writer, you must practice.
It’s ok if you cringe at your initial writings (many of us have), the key is to keep going no matter what. Put yourself on a writing schedule that’s comfortable and a bit of a stretch for you and then keep writing. And then write some more and get it out there into the world.
8. Study other people’s work: This is not to copy someone else’s style or voice, but rather to see how people tell their stories, what they are talking about and how they construct their work. What do you like about someone’s post or tone? What resonates for you? What do you remember? It will give you some parameters to start writing your own posts as well as ideas and inspiration. Then you can write down a list of possible blog posts topics for you to write and then let it rip in your own voice.
9. Honour your writing style: While studying other people’s work can be helpful at first, it doesn’t take away from the most powerful element of yours which is to write in your own voice and point of view. If you tend to write long posts, honour that. If you are more direct in your writing, that’s fine too.
Just respect your style and trust that your audience will appreciate it just the way it is. There is no one single formula for writing amazing blog posts. Again, just write from your heart and be sincere.
10. Trust yourself: Know that whatever you write about, you are helping someone else. So trust yourself enough to be yourself, to share your own stories and to know that you can help someone right now with your writing. There is someone out there who really wants and needs to hear what YOU have to say, in your own voice, today. You are the messenger they have been waiting for. You are unique.
No one will write what you will write in your voice. Stay true to you and believe in yourself. And no matter what, don’t listen to the gremlins in your head. Your voice matters. What you have to say matters.
11. Connect back to your overall message: Ultimately you want your blog posts and the topics that you write about to link back to your overall message and to what you want to be known for. In my case I talk about living your dream life, creating your dream business and soul work. There are endless options and possibilities that show up within this context for me to write about.
If you are living in alignment with your message, your stories and life experiences will naturally align with what you are writing about. If you choose to write for online or paper publications on other topics, then this doesn’t have to apply of course.
12. Let your personality shine through: Let what makes you, YOU, come alive in your posts. If you love sparkles and glitter and pretty things, talk about it. If you love to travel and adventures, share about that. If you have an awesome sense of humour, let it rip. If you love it (whatever the “it” is), then believe that your audience will too. If you trusted that people would love the real you, would you be willing to share it with the world?
13. Staying inspired: Give yourself space to trust your own cycles of inspiration. While there are some people that will tell you to just sit down and write, I have found that to be a more painful and less effective option for me. While I will do it if necessary, I have learned to trust my own inspiration. I set my intention each week to write a blog post, often having no clue what I will write about. Then I just ask the Universe to support me with the inspiration.
And then it will hit unexpectedly or a client will ask me about a topic – as was the case with this one – and my thoughts turn into a blog. So trust the times of day when you are most inclined to write and also your writing rhythms and styles.
And finally, baby steps.
We are ALL a work in progress and your inner voice is Divine and perfect and won’t let you astray.
Trust in it.
And remember that truth is love and love is truth. So the more you share your truth, the more love you are spreading into the world.
If you are writing for an online blog, keep in mind that their guidelines for length, tone, angle from which you write will be more specific. Plus, they often require original content that has never been published elsewhere, including on your personal blog. However, many of the tips above still apply.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: WOULD YOU LIKE ME TO WRITE THE COPY FOR YOUR NEXT PROGRAM LAUNCH?
Do you have a new program that you are launching in the Fall and you want your copy to wow your ideal prospects to sign up for it?
If so, I’d love to help. I am only taking on 2 clients this summer for this offering.
The service includes writing your program’s sales page and an auto-responder sequence (4-6 emails) for your email list.
The entire copy will be channeled from the soul of your program and your business.
If you’ve been reading my sales copy and emails lately, several of them over the past couple of months have been directly channeled from my business.
The copy will be targeted to your ideal audience and specific program details.
If you are interested, email me directly to set up a time to discuss: Priscilla@priscillastephan.com
