Writing for your business

Writing for your business can be daunting and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be.

Time is precious, so you need to make sure the energy you put into your writing is valuable to you and your reader - don’t waste your time writing for the sake of it.

When you're ready to write, choose your topic and know the fundamentals of writing. 

The fundamentals of writing in a nutshell:

• Grammar

• Punctuation

• Spelling

• Vocabulary

• Clarity

• Brevity (concise and exact words)

• Engagement

• Proof reading

There are so many reasons to write good content for your business, such as:

• To build brand awareness

• To be part of your marketing strategy

• To use in your content schedule for social media platforms

• To reveal a USP

• To add value

• To show expertise in your field

• To educate readers

• To show thought leadership

• To promote a product or service

• To show a human side to your business

• To share an opinion and advice

• To announce news

• To answer your customer’s questions

• To offer solutions

• To create a valuable shareable asset

• To educate you through your research

• To give instructions or offer tips

• To encourage readers to engage with you

• To improve your writing skills

• To be part of your company’s growth and effective communication

All of which can create new business opportunities or add value to your current customers.

When constructing your written piece, whether it's for a website or blog pages, a newsletter, email campaign, press release, magazine article or product description, the first considerations are:

• What is the purpose of your written content? What is your goal?

• Who is your audience?

• How much detail is needed?

• What do you want to gain from it?

There are slightly different approaches for different writing requirements. 

• Is it for your website pages?

• Is it for your blog on your website?

• Is it for a newsletter?

• Is it for an email campaign?

• Is it for a press release?

• Is it for a magazine article?

  
  

In this article, I am going to give you some guidance for writing an article.

Remember, written content should be valuable, relevant and informative.

• Decide on the topic and the best way to approach your article

• Prepare and create a plan, a skeleton - an outline

• Gather research, relevant links and references

• Choose the style and tone of the writing

• Note the key points

• Make some draft notes

• Have a title, headings, subtitles, hooklines and paragraphs

• Use engaging sentences

• Make it easily understood

• Make sure that it is well presented

• Use the correct words in the right places

• Spell names, places and people correctly

• Use bullet points if appropriate

• Include keywords and phrases for SEO purposes

• Answer questions with your content

• Edit your content

• Proofread. There are lots of different AI-powered writing assistant tools available

• Ask someone to read through it if you think it will help

• Do a word count

Important tips for writing articles:

• Make your writing impactful

• Understand plagiarism

• Understand copyright

• Make sure to add any USP

• Look up keywords and phrases for your topic to help with SEO

• Avoid controversial topics - unless it’s appropriate

• Avoid inappropriate language

• Avoid slander

• Be creative but not too creative

• Show a human side or try something different

• Don’t overuse words and phrases

• If you are using facts and figures, you may need to revisit the article and update it

• Recycle good content

What to do with your finished article or other written content:

• Publish it online 

• Insert a call-to-action and contact details if appropriate

• An article, for example, is a shareable asset for social media platforms

• Share the article in an email campaign or newsletter

How do you know if your piece of writing is effective and worth the effort?

• Are people commenting about it?

• Use website analytics and social media analytics to see what traffic there is

• Try A/B testing, for example, the same content with a different title - see what reaction that gets

Not sure what to write about?

• Find out what your competitors are writing about

• Look at trends

• Tell a business story

• Get creative

• Ask for ideas

• Is there something you want to know about? Write about it, educate yourself and your reader

• Ask for a brief if you are writing for someone else

• Search a topic online and see what is already out there - could you add more about that topic?

• Keep your ear to the ground. What are people talking about?

Do you need help with your business writing? I can help. Contact me today.

07800887857 or rachel.roussell@gmail.com