Writing is important for any business. In the world of online branding and presentation, strong copy is the backbone of your company blog, website, and social media posts. But while some people are born with a knack for writing, others struggle with it.
Becoming a better writer takes time and patience, but there are some strategies you can use to get started.
Key Takeaways
- Know Your Audience: Knowing your audience allows you to offer the timely insights and advice they are seeking.
- Write with Empathy: Empathy is the ability to put yourself in the shoes of another, when you write with empathy, you passion shows.
- Practice: Writing is a skill, the more you practice with intention, the better your writing will be.
- Publish Consistently: Consistently – and in public – holds you accountable and builds an audience as you grow.
- Perfection is the Enemy of Progress: Eventually, we have to press “Publish”
Founders, leaders, and entrepreneurs, here are five strategies on how to become a better writer:
1. Know Your Audience
When you write, you need to be mindful of your readers. You want your content to be engaging and attractive to your ideal audience. However, it also needs to be honest and transparent about what you do. When you write for your customer, you want to capture their attention with your words. But, more importantly, you should strive to provide them with value.
When you know your audience, you will understand what is most important to them. You will also know what they find most interesting about the industry, the questions they may have, and the topics they are engaged in. When you know their interests, you can tailor your writing to their needs, expectations, and culture.
Not only should the interests of your readers be top of mind, but also their frustrations. When frustrated buyers or prospects are hunting for a solution, you can position yourself as an expert by addressing their problems.
Hint: this is a great way to get started in content marketing and writing for your business – look at the frustrations of your competitor’s customers and publish content to solve their questions or complaints.
2. Write Empathetically
You may not be a writer by trade, but you are likely an expert in your industry. That expertise is invaluable when writing, but it’s not enough. You need to tap into your empathy to maximize your message.
What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another’s place to understand their feelings. It comes from a place of caring for those around you.
To write empathetically means tapping into your passion for your audience. You need to know what will resonate with them. Speak to them on their level and in their language. If you want to reach a customer base that is looking for a solution to a problem, then that’s what you should write about.
Empathy is the key to creating the right message that will resonate with your audience. You want to write in such a way that it will feel like you are speaking to them in person and telling them the answers to their problems. That’s when you will be able to maximize your message and get the most traction with your content.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
No one is born a good writer. And if you’re an entrepreneur, leader, or founder, you probably spend much of your time working in your business – not reading and writing. You may do a lot of writing, but not intentional writing with the purpose of improving or clarifying your message.
But the importance of writing comes into play when you want to promote your company or blog content. And when you’re too busy, you don’t have much time to spare for writing. So how do you become a better writer?
Practice.
The more you write, the better you’ll get at it. You can start with writing your thoughts in a journal or sending yourself text messages to practice your writing skills. You can also try writing short stories for fun. The more you write, the better your writing skills will get!
4. Publish Consistently
Writing is a craft. It takes time to practice. The more you write, the better you’ll get. If you’re not writing on a consistent basis, you’ll never get better. For example, if you’re only writing once every few months, it will be difficult to become a better writer.
Instead, try making it a habit to write at least once a day. This will make you more consistent and improve your writing skills. Even if it’s bad at first, publishing something is better than publishing nothing at all.
Publishing consistently is one of the most important things you can do for your business. It will help you become a better writer and grow your business in the process.
I challenge you to write and publish publicly. Create a blog, write Twitter threads, or post on LinkedIn. By writing publicly and consistently, you will improve your writing and build an audience of like-minded people and prospective customers.
5. Perfection is the Enemy of Progress
All writers struggle to perfect their message. No matter how much experience or how many words have been penned, “perfect” is an impossible standard. Don’t allow the pursuit of perfection to hold you back. It is better to write an “okay” piece and publish it than to never publish. When we allow perfection to get in our way, we allow it to turn into procrastination. Procrastination turns into never publishing. If we never publish, we never progress.
Tools for Better Writing
Whether you’re an English major or not, there are some tools that can help you become a better writer.
Grammarly
Grammarly will monitor your writing in real-time for grammatical errors and offer suggestions on how to fix them. Not only does it check for grammar, but also recommends how to improve your writing. It is available as a browser plugin or an app for your phone.
Writesonic
Writesonic is an AI-powered writing tool that creates long-form content, landing pages, and social media ad copy from just a few keywords. I use it when I am stuck on a topic and need some inspiration.
OneLook Thesaurus
OneLook has a reverse thesaurus – if you have ever been stuck on finding the exact word you have in mind, but can remember the idea, you’ll love the reverse lookup. Just enter a word, phrase, or description and it will suggest related words.
Wrapping Up
Writing is a great skill that should be honed and constantly improved. Like any other skill, becoming a better writer takes time and patience, but there are strategies you can use to get started.
The first is to consciously study the craft. Read as much as you can – it doesn’t even have to be about writing! Any reading helps (Except reading on social media and news media, try to find something better). Try to imitate writers whose style you enjoy and look up words you don’t recognize.
The second is to commit and write every day. Writing every day will improve your writing and help you become a clearer communicator.
The third is to find your voice and be yourself. The best writers are those who find their voice and use it to their advantage. The more you write, the more your style will develop and the more you’ll start to see what works and what doesn’t work for you.
If you’d like help clarifying your message, I am happy to help. Reach out today and we can schedule a consultation.
Are you ready to take action?
Your next client is seeking answers, are you ready to be the expert they’re looking for?