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10 Easy Steps to Start Writing Today

Posted by Carole Mahoney on 11/24/10 1:00 PM

Guest Post by Ovetta Sampson, Write Way Writing

Creating content is the single most important thing you can do for your inbound marketing. If you are like most, it is also the thing that seems the most difficult to actually do.

Here are ten steps to help you start writing- today.

10. Read first, and then write. Check out your competition’s website. Read what the trendsetters in your industry are writing. Get a feel for what is working in the universe and then adapt accordingly.

9. Research your audience. You have to know how they communicate to learn how to communicate with them. Google your business name to see what people are saying about you, punch your company into a Twitter feed and see what’s trending about you. Get a feel for how your customers see your business and then write accordingly - dispel myths or reinforce strengths.

8. Create a 3-sentence outline. I use a 15-word summation – three sentences of five words each that help me focus on the beginning, middle and end of a piece. The shorter the piece, the more important the outline.

7. Write your headline first. After you write the outline, write the headline. You need to know what you’re writing about before you sit down to write. Writing the headline is the toughest part and it can serve as a one-line outline to keep you on point. So write between 5-7 words to sum up what you’re post is going to be about. It will keep you focused.

6. Rewrite. The only true writing is rewriting. Once you think you are done, take a walk, clear your head, then come back and read what you initially wrote and make your edits.

5. Get a second opinion. Can’t go wrong with a second pair of eyes to catch typos, miscommunications and the occasional bad word.

4. Get to know you delete button. While reviewing your work if you see a phrase you like chances are it is unnecessary. Cut favorite words or phrases and anything else that feeds your hubris. Remember your audience, talk in their language- not yours.

3. Again with the delete button. Cut out all those “ly,” adverbs, replace “to be,” verbs with action verbs and delete adjectives. Just give customers the straight dope.

2. Read it out loud. Yes, fourth-graders are doing this as well. But writing online you have to be clear and nothing will tell you faster that you’re unclear than if you stumble over your own words.

1. KISS. Keep it Simple... If you can say in it in 5 words, then say it in 5 not 15. 

Still don't think you have time, or have writer's phobia? It's ok, help is here.

Topics: copywriting, guest blog post, online copywriting