Writing Great Content, Your Brand, and Passion
Content:
1) Write.
Simple and effective, and often not done as much as people would like to admit to. Write a post on your blog, then post it. Write a few pages of a novel or a non-fiction book, but write. This is the foundation to ‘content.’ Next, edit the content for any problems you might think there might be. The last action step is publish this writing.
If it’s on a blog, you can set a time to publish it so you can go back and make sure it still sounds good. The past is the past, but write anyways. Keep on writing even when it gets tough to write, because you have a lot of people counting on your writing. Even a blog will fail if it’s not updated on a regular time.
2) Make it interesting, not just for your readers but for yourself.
If you can’t write in it everyday or even at best every other day, why are you writing or joining something at all? Writing a blog is about writing for living, and it’s a full time job with no vacation or anything else to begin with, the same as any other business. Let’s be clear, if it’s a business, then it isn’t a hobby and your time will be set accordingly. The more you make the content interesting the more your readers will respond to your writing in a positive manner.
You have a brand- and this brand is your blog and your books. Make sure people ‘see’ you as the face of it all.
3) It’s okay if it’s not great to begin with, we all start somewhere.
Your and writing will improve the more you work at it. Enjoy what you do and learn about what you write about. The next step is to beat inertia and move forward and fix up some older writing so that what you have learned works for the past as well. Just start writing and the rest will come, be it a blog or a book.
Enjoyment:
1) Write what you know, that’s the fun part.
Branching out and writing about topics you might not know as much about and will be required to do some research. This doesn’t mean you won’t find it more fun or interesting, but it allows you to find a deeper level of enjoyment, because it’s new.
Write what you know.
You’ll find that ‘fun’ is only a part of what defines enjoyment. Some writers tell me they can’t stand the art of writing fiction, but I’ve learned to jump into it with both feet and have had a lot of success, at least when it comes to writing a draft. It’s made me enjoy my writing more.
It’s also allowed me to branch out in my reading, as instead of mostly non fiction books, I’ve re-read authors or found new authors I’ve wanted to read.
2) If you enjoy what you’re writing it will show.
Your brand relies on your passion as well as your content. If you simply write ‘to make tons of money online’ it will show too over time. This is about helping people do what you are doing with your writing- you need to enjoy being a part communicator and teacher with your online writing.
3) Network With people, but be honest and use your mind.
Will the Real You Please Stand Up: Show Up, Be Authentic, and Prosper in Social Media
This is a must have book, it has really made me sit down and see what I can do to improve myself. I am a writer, but I am more- and Kim Garst really showed this to me. It’s easy to understand, and very honest. The thing is you still have to get that word of mouth going.
It is about connection and the more you enjoy your writing, the more passionate you are the more you can connect with people deep down. Stand up and be the real you as a writer, means the content will flow. This has changed my mindset about writing.
I asked the writers at Living a Life of Writing to connect with their dreams, and this was when the blog and its potential became real to them. It was also when the level of excitement rose. That’s passion and that’s building a brand. Writing great content is only the beginning, the next is making it become a part of you.
