Last week in my Content Calendar Build Workshops, we talked a lot about “writing on purpose.” Meaning:
making sure the time it takes to create a blog post or newsletter update is absolutely well spent (because who has extra hours to be frittered away on idle chatter?)
making sure that when we do engage with our audiences, we are building a conversation, not just filling blog space or creating the electronic version of junk mail landing in their inbox.
Strategically building your content around core messages means a lot less idle chatter and a lot more focused conversation with your clients and prospects.
Chatter happens when we sit down to write without a clear concept of what needs to be said or why we are saying it.
And that’s very easy to do. Deadlines loom (even self-imposed ones ) so the focus shifts from “positioning” to “finishing.” Or the idea of “strategic messaging” seems too coldly calculated for your heart-centered, decidedly non-corporate business. Or you just aren’t sure what it means for you to be “on-message” with your content.
Give Your Content a Mini-Audit
There is a quick thing you could do today to get a sense of how focused or scattered your messages are.
Take a look at the last 3-5 things you sent to you audiences. This can be blog posts, warm letters, newsletters, even web content if it’s recent. Read them one-by-one. What is the main message of each piece? Do the main messages overlap at all or are they completely different thoughts? Are there words or phrases that are repeated from piece to piece? Does the language and tone sound like it was written by the same person or is there a wide variation?
If your messaging is all over the place, it might be hard for your audiences to form a clear picture of what you can do for them.
So next time you create content, start by asking yourself why you’re writing, what your main point is and how that point related to the core of your message to your people. Jot it down or write it in the header of your draft. Then read the first draft (yes, first draft, as in “There will be others” but that’s another blog post.) Check it against the why, the what and the relation to your core message.
That will take you out of the chatter zone and into appropriately positioning your business through you message.
If you’re worried about having too much chatter in your messaging, let’s set up a discovery call to learn more about each other’s businesses and working together to uncover and use your core messages.
By the way, my group Content Calendar Build Workshops, where we build a 3-month calendar of purposely chosen topics — are offered every quarter. Next up: January 2019. I also have limited time slots available for 1-1 sessions in October through December. Reach out if you’re interested.