It’s true. Clarity is an important aspect of writing that sometimes gets lost as we write. Today’s blog post is a tip for stressed business owners in need of a little writing assistance. This exercise will help you to be clear and also to find the words that might be eluding you.
I like to call this the Who, What, and Why of writing. Before you start your newsletter, social media post or article ask yourself the following questions:
1. Who is this message/email/post for?
This should be just ONE person. If you don’t have a customer profile to work from, try and picture a person you know that would buy or work from you and write to them.
If you know who you are writing to you can start to imagine how that conversation would go in your mind. What words would you use? How would you describe your product to this person?
A piece of writing should always be to just one person or it becomes confusing and we always want what we write to be clear, concise and easy to follow. Right?
2. What is it that you would like to tell them?
Try and fit your answer into two sentences here. Is it a sale, a new product or a tip? This is usually the easy bit but again try and stick to just one thing here. If you have more than one thing does it justify a second article, email or post?
3. Why should they care about your message?
Of the three questions, this is the most important. You need to look at what you’re writing from your reader’s point of view.
Will it save them time or money? Will their life be changed in any way after hearing your message/buying your product? What will they never know if they miss out on your message?
Once you know how it will affect your reader finding the creative approach to what you’re writing becomes easier. This makes it much easier to hook them in hard and fast and have them moving through your copy like a hot knife through butter.
Yes, I’m not sure why I wrote that but it’s what came to mind, but I digress.
Words with clarity.
Once you know the answers to the above questions, writing with clarity and intention is much easier. The words you couldn’t find before start to flow onto the page if you know what your message is and who will be reading it. It also helps you to write content that has a stronger connection to the reader.
Most of all, it keeps you on the side of brevity and find those words that will linger.
And we could be a little more succint couldn’t we?
Until next week,
