Lets be honest…I’m sure you’ve thought that a few times before…
right?
You’ve completed all the writing for your business, blog, marketing etc, but no one’s really saying much, some say it’s good others don’t really have a say.
Traffic just seems to come and go like people at the local bus stop and the comments section almost seems to be like the beach on a Christmas morning.
And this just keeps you thinking….
Is everyone around just being nice as to not hurt my feelings, do I just need to be patient?
Do readers actually like my stuff….?
First Prize Goes To The First To Find Out..
To help comfort you somewhat, this question isn’t easy to answer and there’s no real way to find out for sure.
Let’s say you’re starting out as a beginner, you have managed to herd up 200 regular readers of which 30% are family and friends and only 15% of them will actually know what you’re writing about in depth and always give you a good report anyway for moral support…
Your open to all being subjective with different definitions to your subject and quality of work..and unfortunately you don’t get the option to post your work out to the world for a public consensus as that would be too good to be true….
So where can I find the answers!!
Listen to everyone and everything….every opinion either good or bad will teach you something, even if you’re starting out or a veteran in your business, just keep listening to as few or as many opinions as you are able.
Correct, not everyone is right, but there aren’t any rules to this, but there are warnings.
If what your writing really isn’t settling with others, you will start to see signs of this, and if it’s that bad, you’ll start to see more and more.
Below I’ve collected the top 12 signs that when I started became common to me and were signs that I needed to change my approach:
1. You think your content is “good enough”
If you were asked to give you’re writing a score out of 10, chances are many people would score themselves 6 or 7.
Which tells me: Your not that impressed with your writing yourself……so why should others.
When people read your articles or blogs their either put to sleep or blown away, meaning if you’re not blowing them away, you’re not going to have many readers…so if you don’t believe you’re a 8-10 it’s time to step it up!
Put simply: If you’re getting a 6-7 you might as well be scoring a 1…
2.Dear Diary
Not too long ago, most people used their blog as a sort of online journal, where people took a few minutes every day to write down their thoughts. But blogs have evolved beyond that. Now they’re more like online magazines, with highly polished content.
If your posts look more like “Dear Diary” than a magazine you would see at the newsstand, you’ve probably got a problem.
3. Not Many (if any) Are Taking the Time to Comment
Comments are one of the best ways to measure reader engagement. If you have a few hundred subscribers, and yet none of them are commenting, then it might be because they find your content unworthy of their attention.
Translation: it sucks.
4. Your visitors don’t hang around for too long
It’s an easy process to install Google Analytics, and with that you will be able to monitor how long people stop and have a read of your website.
For the majority of traffic sources that you can direct to your site, 2 minutes is on the extreme low side for them to stay, anything less than 1 min you’re actually turning people away.
(Or advertising to the wrong crowd)
5. Readers aren’t talking to you
If your providing good, knowable, original content that’s helping people out, people will go out of their way to thank you personally. This isn’t just by a quick ‘thank you’ I mean a 2 page thank you letter where they explain you helped change their life!
Of course when you start out in your chosen filed, you won’t get much, but some will trickle through, but if you don’t then you need to step it up and improve your content as it can be better.
6. Some readers don’t dislike you yet??
To counteract point 5, if your providing good content, you will always fall into the path of some vocal groups, where no matter what you say, they will always have the opposite feelings and don’t mind sharing them with you and as many people as they can find.
Nothing you can say will appease them, so don’t even try, believe me, it can get messy and that can come across as unprofessional to others and can be damaging.
But this is all the right signs your heading in the right direction.
7. You focus on the right words to often (SEO)
From time to time you come across beginners where all they talk about is SEO, and it scares me. Purely concentrating on SEO will destroy your writing ability when all you think about is deliberately stuffing in keywords in the attempt to be number one in the search engines.
If you believe this is you, you need to sit back, chill out pour yourself a cold (non alcoholic) beverage, then get creative. If SEO is your goal, then go back in afterwards and you can make some delicate changes in the search engines favor.
8. You save your best ideas until last?
Get your good stuff and throw it to the crowd NOW, if your holding back on your best ideas, because in 3 months time your releasing a new product and they complement each other DON”T, get it out now and get people talking, the more people that see your worthy work now, could benefit you when the time comes
……….still waiting, WHY! Go do it now…..
9. Get to know your benefits
In a measurable result, how are you hoping to improve your reader’s lives?
I don’t mean “Having a higher self steam or fulfillment in life” you need to be able to say “They will double their stocks and shares” or “Learn to play the piano.”
If you find it hard to think like this or measure your results, it’s time to sit back down and find out how….
10. You don’t research your skills
Articles, blogging, brochures, sales copy, if you don’t study copywriting, it’s like building your IKEA bedroom set without the instructions…. You will get it done, but how will it look when you’re finished, and there will always be some parts left out..
If you haven’t studied, read a book, practiced copywriting, then you should. Like right now.
11. Do you really know your readers….
To be a great writer includes intimacy with your readers, and getting to know them will allow you to touch them when you write.
You need to find out what makes them tick, what makes them scared, think, excited and what keeps them up at night. Then write about it. This will make the communication levels so much more personal and deeper they will just need to keep reading your work.
12. Experience is minimal
Let’s be honest, if you’ve only been at this for less than 6 months, there’s not much you can do, either your content is just going to suck or you’ll have no followers that you’ll never know how your really performing.
All you can do is be positive, ignore any negativity and just keep writing, it will just come with time and don’t let anyone tell you any different!
The bottom line
I would be a beautiful thing if I could say producing compelling content is easy or is a ‘push button’ system that you can learn in an evening.
But I can’t and won’t…
To come up with new, original and great content does take work, yes…some people have the knack, but they are few and far between, also, at the same time it isn’t rocket science, it just takes time and dedication.
The fact you’re reading this and concerned what people think of your writing is a good thing, because it means you care and you’re hopefully not just going to throw any old piece of work up on the web.
If you’re willing to get your head down, then there will always be a place for you on the web. You’ll always be in demand and you’ll always be able to stand out.
It’s hard work, yes, but it’s worth it.
Cutting to the point, there are plenty of reasons why people buy stuff… but for now, I want to hit on 5 of the most ‘cutting edge’ reasons that will be most beneficial for you to understand and focus on.
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