3 Simple Steps to Writing Better Articles

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The other day I published a piece on writing original content and not copying others.

This is not that difficult once you develop your own voice and cadence to writing. There's plenty of tools to help you write better. I want to cover 3 steps that will help you. These are:

  • Create and use your Marketing Persona.
  • Write like you're writing to one person.
  • Wait at least 1 day before publishing.

With those 3 steps you can start writing better. It worked for me. Let's get started and go through these. :)

Create and use your Marketing Persona.

In simple terms, a marketing persona is a fictional person that you create. This is the person that embodies the typical person who reads your stuff.

You create this marketing persona based on what you know about your subscriber base. Think about these questions and how you would get this info:

  • Who reads your current emails or blog posts?
  • Are they male or female, old or young, a professional or newbie?
  • What are the typical problems that this person would face?

For me, this is easy, since I know some actual people subscribed to my email list. It's people I know.

My marketing persona, or the imaginary person I write for is:

  • someone who wants to earn an income online
  • someone who has started the process but runs into issues.
  • more females than males.
  • English-speaking
  • some college
  • writes OK, but maybe has some problems with putting everything together.

Once you create a marketing persona, save this someplace and refer to this summary just before you write. You'll see why in the next step.

Write like you are writing to ONE person.

This is the trick to making your writing personal and easy to read.

In my mind, I imagine I am sitting at a coffee shop, and explaining my concept\article to them over a cup of coffee.

Nothing fancy. Easy to understand terms and phrases.

I use my marketing persona and think of that person as being the one I am writing to.

Then, I open up my writing app that prevents me from doing anything but write.

I jot down a quick little outline of what I want to say.

I write like I am talking to that person over coffee for a maximum of around 25 minutes TOPS. If I need to write more than 25 minutes, then I just compose what I am going to write over a couple of days.

That way my mind is fresh and relaxed.

I write like I am talking to one person, and that my coffee is hot and like I like it. :)

Once your article is finished, do NOT send it right away. Instead....

Wait ONE day then publish. Let it marinate!

I have found that if I write and immediately publish my article to my subscribers, errors creep in.

I've noticed this ever since I was in college. Write your paper, then wait at least a day to proofread it.

By stepping away from your writing and letting it sit, your brain will still think about what you wrote.

You may even have some of those "Oh, I should have included XYZ topic!" moments the next day.

See?

By waiting, you give your brain a chance to 'chew' on what you wrote, even subconsciously, and your writing will be more fluid and personable.

After you've waited a day, it's time to really polish everything up. This includes doing things like:

  • Proofreading
  • Spell-checking.
  • Re-writing awkward parts

I can't tell you the number of times that when I come back to my writing, I will see something glaring that I need to fix.

This really works.

I would definitely recommend reading through your article again and see if you catch any grammar or spelling errors.

Most decent text editors include a spellcheck feature. Use it.

- Read the article out loud to yourself for sentence flow.

This is critical to flow...

Read your stuff out loud to yourself.

If it doesn't flow well out loud, it's not going to flow well when it's read either.

This is a really simple and easy trick. I read all my articles out loud before I publish them. I often go back through and move things around, cutting, copying, and pasting whole paragraphs to other places in my article where they 'fit' better.

Definitely do this. If you don't follow my other tips, at least read your stuff out loud to yourself.

It works.

Find appropriate graphics or photos to add.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then add one to your article.

There's a ton of sites out there that have royalty-free photos you can use that are searchable.

Don't just go to your favorite search engine and search for a specific photo and use it. Often the photos you find via Google, Yahoo, or Bing are copyright and you can't use them without explicit permission.

To avoid all of this, use a site like https://Unsplash.com/

I use Unsplash for the vast majority of my stuff. That's where I get the stuff for my articles that you see on my blog.

Some of their photos ask for artist attribution, and some don't.

Either way, adding graphics\photos to your article in strategic places breaks up the 'wall of text' look that so many people churn out.

That's it for today. Simple Stuff.

Just think of writing to one person, and see where it takes you. :)

Stay tuned for tomorrow's email where I cover another killer tactic to help you really leverage traffic exchanges to the fullest.

And remember: #DoNotBreakTheChain. :)

What I Recommend

I have used multiple systems and programs in an effort to make a decent income online. There's one that stands as the clear leader when it comes to providing a quality product for a cheap price, and that's Darren Olander's Prosperity Marketing System:

https://www.prosperitymarketingsystem.com/go/?s=142897

What I really like about the Prosperity Marketing System is this:

You get 100% commissions (minus around a 3% processing fee) for each sale.

The price for the Prosperity Marketing system is $12.00. That's very reasonable considering how much value it includes.

It works with your existing autoresponder. I love it because people who sign up for Prosperity Marketing System are signed up to my mailing list.

The tech support is phenomenal. I've had to open a support ticket, and Darren's assistance was stellar.

This program gets my full support and I highly recommend Prosperity Marketing System. See:*9**+

https://www.prosperitymarketingsystem.com/go/?s=142897

That's it. See you soon!

Peace and Love,

-Rob

https://www.RobWillmann.com/



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11 comments
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Great post, Rob! I was waiting for this one from the moment that you said that you are doing on it in one of yours videos... :)

I have to admit that the third step is something that I don't do... And I remember when I was in the "school day", and we had to write an essay... The class lasted 45 minutes, and I would think about the topic for around 35-40 minutes... lol... And when I finally have an idea and the concept, I would write the whole essay in 10 minutes... and never looked back, or check it... lol

Of course, as I'm doing posts in English, I do spell-checks as they would suck a lot without that...

But, I do agree that all 3 steps that you have written are important to follow, and would suggest them to everyone to follow...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this!



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Thanks. And I am glad to hear you do all 3 steps. I have done this for a long time, and it works. I have found so many errors and rewritten whole sections the next day after I 'sleep on it'.

When I was in high school, my creative writing teacher said this was a great technique.

-Rob

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Great stuff, Rob. While I cannot say that I use all of these steps for every post, I have (and do) use all of them.

I have heard several marketing people use the term ICA (Ideal Customer Avatar) as another name for Marketing Persona.

I don't always wait a day before posting (simply because I am trying to complete daily postings with fresh content, especially in the #IAmEngaged challenge). However, I always try to go back and reread my post two or three times before hitting the "Post" button. Most of time with my #IAmChalleged post, it takes me so long to complete it (between surfing and finding the posts for engagement), that by the time I finish creating the content, I do not remember exactly what I wrote at the beginning. When I go back to read it, it is like reading it the next day. :)

All it all, everything you wrote is spot on. Keep up the great work.

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If you wrote something for #IAmEngaged and waited a day for publishing it, then wrote another piece on the same day so you continued to post, you would be a day ahead and could then let your stuff marinate each day. The following day you would have something to proof and publish, and would be able to continue the thread.

-Rob

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Yeah...I had thought of that. I just hate being late to the party (all of my engagement posts would be a day old).

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It is very nice reading, Though I take time in writing but never thought of "marinating" the articles.

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Thanks. 'Marination' is a good way of thinking about it. Writing that sits before being published is like a piece of meat that sits overnight in a great sauce. It just tastes better. :)

-Rob

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Really liked this post, Rob! I know one reason I have been avoiding writing is the memory of having to write papers in college. I always waited till the last minute and had no real time to let them sit and go through them before they had to be turned in. I got decent grades but it was a struggle and a chore. So it is something I have avoided since graduating. You have really developed a process. Thanks for sharing it.

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Lisa,

Thanks for the kind words. I enjoy writing and have been doing it for years. I largely write LOTS of technical stuff at work, but recently I've been doing stuff here on the blockchain. It's working and I enjoy it.

As for college, yeah, I procrastinated until the night before many times. It never turned out as good as the few times I actually worked on my material over time and let it 'marinate'. My current process was developed over time.

-Rob

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Sure you write about your marketing persona and everyone loves it. I write about my customer avatar and don't hear a word from anyone. It just goes to show you that personas are much more popular than avatars. Who knew.

Great post. I could agree more about waiting a day before sending. I almost always find something to say better.

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Bob,

You are a trooper and I thoroughly enjoy your stuff.

It doesn';t matter whether you call it a customer avatar or marketing persona. It's the same idea. :)

Your writing is unique and I can tell you write your own stuff. Keep doing it.

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