Publishing ideas is not new. What is new is the idea that we all own our individual publishing company. Each time you blog, post, or write your own website copy, it puts content out there for millions to potentially see.
The great thing is how easy it has become. It used to take the help of NBC, the New York Times, or the Chicago Tribune to spread your ideas virally. Now it takes the computer and the ability to press a few buttons.
Because it’s so easy, lots of people have done it. There are more social platforms than you can keep track of. Everyone is a writer. Everyone has a blog. You don’t need television to pick up your video. Put it on YouTube or Vimeo.
While this is great for spreading ideas, lets look at it from a reader, or consumer’s perspective.
Information Overload
The phrase “Chicago Restaurants” produces 196 million results (that’s right, million). The phrase “Chicago Health Clubs” nets 56 million. It doesn’t mean there’s that number of restaurants and health clubs. A good chunk of those results may be directories or something otherwise irrelevant.
The point is, that’s there’s more information out there, than a reader or consumer will ever be able to deal with. If you’re not giving them the right information, in the perfect format, someone else will.
You want readers to hear what you have to say, right? You want them to pay attention to you, in a world where everyone’s been given a megaphone?
It’s Not The Volume, It’s The Message
That’s right. Instead of blindly asking strangers to like your Facebook page, or playing games to up your Twitter following with an un-targeted following, why not make sure your content is top notch?
- Clarity Counts – State your point in a way that will grab their attention, and don’t let go. Your readers will not respond if they cannot figure out just what it is that you’re trying to say. Don’t couch your language. Don’t use words that your readers will need to look up. Step one is to understand what your audience is looking for. Step two is to provide it.
- Think Visually – This can be difficult for writers to grasp, but the idea is that no one wants a long block of text with no breaks. Bold your important ideas. Use more than one headline on a page, if necessary. Use lists. Photos also make things a lot easier to absorb. As a publisher, you’re now in charge of all aspects of presentation.
- Make A Promise And Keep It – Again, we’re trying to distinguish your business from the competition. The best way to do that is to use the headline or the opening paragraph to tell your readers what they can expect. A personal trainer might write a blog headline that says “Five Exercises To Strengthen Your Core.” First, that article better include five tips, not four or six (I’ve actually seen this done). Second, those exercises better actually strengthen your core, since that’s the promise you made to the reader.
- Describe The Problem And Fix It – While late night infomercials may feature some comically bad acting, they’re typically pretty good at this part. Tell your readers how your product or service makes life easier. If one of those Chicago restaurants serves nothing but organic ingredients, they’d better tell their customers why, and what the benefits are.
- Shock Our Emotions – Maybe that restaurant knows something that we don’t know. Maybe their ingredient selection was designed to combat diabetes or childhood obesity. Well, one quick Google search tells me that in 2008, more than a third of children and adolescents were obese. As a parent to-be, that stat has my attention! Now, I know that your restaurant is part of the solution to this outrageous problem.
Your copy should complement your design, and tell your readers what is different about you. Remember, there’s a lot of competition out there, and you want them to choose you.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing writer and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.
