Today’s post will show you a way to massively improve the effectiveness of any important content you write. It will also show you how to avoid one of the most common and damaging copy writing errors.
Stop limiting your options
Most people will write their initial piece of content, call it their draft copy, then tweak it until it’s as good as they think they can make it.
The challenge with that approach is that you are working from the mindset that the initial draft is the best foundation for the content. This is almost never the case. You need to write from the best foundation possible, not simply the first draft you write down.
The most effective content comes from experimenting with ideas and one of the best ways to get new ideas, is to refuse to restrict yourself to working from one perspective. In other words, instead of writing an initial draft and then building on it, you commit to writing your message in 5 or more different ways. In my experience, by writing the content in a number of different ways you open up new possibilities, which often lead to breakthrough ideas that make your content massively more compelling.
Yes, it takes longer than writing from one perspective and hoping it will work, but the goal of your content writing is not to write as fast as you can – it’s to write the most commercially valuable content you can.
It works like this
- Write down exactly what you want to achieve from your content, so you know what your outcome is.
- Next, write down what kind of action you want the reader of your content to take. For example; email you, call you, visit your premises, fill in your survey, etc.
- Then, write 5 pieces of content, which address the previous 2 points as clearly as you can.
- Remember, you are not looking for 4 revisions of your initial piece of content, but 5 fresh perspectives to help you achieve the outcomes you listed in points 1 and 2.
- Finally, look for the most compelling of your 5 pieces of content, then build upon it.
If you do that, you give yourself a greater chance of writing your content from your best foundation – not just the one you thought of first.
Yes, sometimes that initial version will be the best, but every time it isn’t, you will have improved the quality and effectiveness of your writing.
Would you like to talk to me and Pick My Brain for answers or ideas? Well now you can.
Jim Connolly
Latest posts by Jim Connolly (see all)
- Marketing 101: The race to the bottom - December 5, 2013
- 15 Reasons to start blogging in 2014! - December 4, 2013
- What everyone needs to know about marketing automation - December 2, 2013