4 Writing Ideas for Non-Writers
Copyright 2010 Deah Curry PhD, updated January 2015
Writing can be a powerful client attraction strategy, and yet few solopreneurs in the healing arts do it on a regular basis. With the meteoric rise of content marketing in the last year, writing has become super important for all solopreneurs.
But lots of things stop us, including:
fear of being judged
believing we have nothing of interest to say
thinking it takes too much time
not knowing what to do with what we write
feeling blocked for ideas
I want to suggest to you that these are self-sabotaging excuses. Now, writing may not be your thing. Maybe you’re not a reader (but, ahem, then what are you doing here? Your personality and talents might be better suited for a different kind of marketing strategy.
I’m not saying you have to write. But Google does prioritize websites with blogs and lots of other content. And lots of potential clients like to read. So if you don’t write a few things at least, you aren’t giving yourself every opportunity to connect with clients.
Here are 4 ideas for easy written give-away items that even non-writers can produce relatively quickly.
1. Write a FAQ sheet about the problem, pain, suffering, or yearning your ideal clients wrestle with the most. Ask yourself the 5-10 toughest questions about this problem, then give the shortest answers you can.
Post that as a free article on your website, then Tweet about it. Tweet every question, once a day / week / month for a while and send your Tweeps to your website for the answers. Or post in the same way on Fcebook and LinkedIn -- or all three!
2. Have someone else interview you for 3-5 ways people with your target market’s type of problem could start to change, eliminate, improve, or overcome that problem.
Transcribe that interview and provide it on request (via email sign up form) from your website. When networking, socializing, or eavesdropping and this topic comes up, hand out your card and mention that you just happen to have some suggestions on that topic available on your website.
3. Brainstorm a top 10 list pertaining to your niche population. Maybe tie the list into some recurring event, like holiday party stress for the socially anxious, dealing with in-laws at Thanksgiving, or silly reasons New Year’s resolutions are never kept.
If inclined, flesh out the list with a sentence or paragraph more explanation. Post as a tip sheet on your website, and promote it on Facebook. Offer it by request on discussion boards.
4. Revise an old college paper that provide a case study that now relates to your target market. Remove the academic jargon, cut back the citations if you over did those originally, and lower the reading level (average reading comprehension for the US is now at about 6th grade).
Post on your website as a special report, available by request via an email sign up box. Don’t forget to alert your Tweeps or Facebook fans about it, and plug it on your card and in any letters of introduction you send to possible referral partners.
So bottom line -- If you knew that your ideal clients were waiting for you to communicate with them with short, helpful, written information, which one of these writing ideas would you try first? Now that you know Google wants to see writing of relevance and substance proliferate on the internet, you might consider writing as a way to feed the vital force of your business.