Category: blog writing

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Can you create a new angle on an old marketing idea?

Image shows me sitting at my laptop, coming up with a new marketing angle on an old idea.

If you’ve been creating marketing content for a while, you might feel like you’ve said it all. (I know I sometimes do.) However, your existing content can be a great source of new ideas. Here are some ways to find a new marketing angle on an old idea.

Revisit an old post

What do you see when you look back at your old blog or social media posts? Do they make you cringe because you’ve changed or learned more about your audience since you created them? You might find posts discussing issues that are still relevant but where your advice has changed. You can base a whole new post on the same topic, sharing the knowledge you’ve gained since then, and it’ll still be relevant to your audience.

Update a resources post

Sharing the tools you use can help your audience in multiple ways. Say you run a craft business selling tools and materials; showing people what you use yourself can help beginners and improvers. A hairdresser can share products and tools to help customers maintain their locks between appointments. I talk about software such as Grammarly, which helps me with my grammar, so you can use it when you write your own posts.

Expand a subheading

If you’ve ever written a post with some quick and easy tips, review it to see if you can expand on one of the subheadings. For example, some of my posts on writing a blog mention creating a good headline to catch people’s attention as a subheading. I expanded it into a full post on ways to do that. (https://www.kirstyfrancewrites.co.uk/write-a-headline-tips/)

You may have kept things short and sweet for a tips post, but expanding a subheading lets you share more of your expertise. You can also link between the two posts to improve your SEO.

Have industry updates changed how you work?

Looking back at old content, you might find that your advice has changed because of external changes in your industry. ChatGPT has impacted marketing, so you could create a post discussing the issues or recommending ways to use the technology. (https://www.kirstyfrancewrites.co.uk/ai-help-content-writing/)

There may also have been changes in the law that impact your customers and that you can educate them about. Legal changes might also mean people need to review their will or investments. You can contact existing clients, but sharing updates in your marketing could attract new ones.

Create new case studies

Case studies are a great way to show potential customers how you work and showcase the results you’ve achieved for others. When you review existing case studies, you might find that your process has changed with time or that you haven’t talked about a service that has grown in popularity. Creating new case studies with more recent clients ensures your content stays up to date. If you have business clients who are happy to go public and share that they’ve worked with you, it can be a great marketing opportunity for you both.

If you have a page full of ideas but lack the time or energy to turn them into new marketing content, I can help. I’ll write blogs, posts, emails, and whatever else you need to engage your audience. I’ll even look at your existing content to create new marketing ideas. If you’d like to chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, use the form below to sign up for monthly content writing tips straight to your inbox.

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How to use your FAQs for new content ideas

Image shows question marks representing FAQs to help you create new content ideas.

If you’ve ever run out of ideas, think about the questions you’re asked most often and write a blog or social media post to answer them. Your FAQs can be a great source of ideas, as if people are asking you in person, they’re likely searching for answers online, too.

Here are a few ways to turn your FAQs into new content ideas.

Expand the answers to your existing FAQs

Do you already have an FAQ page on your website? If not, think about creating one. The rest of this post should help you come up with ideas if you’re drawing a blank. If you’ve already got a page with short answers, you can share them as social media posts or expand them into a longer blog post or article.

For example, there may be a story behind why you take a particular approach, or you could expand on a process to let people know what to expect.

Link to your FAQ page

Linking between pages on your website is excellent for SEO and gives your visitors a choice about how much they want to read. For some people, a short answer might be enough, and they don’t want to wade through several paragraphs to find out what they want to know. Others might be interested in a more in-depth answer, so you can link from your FAQ page to a blog post to give them more information.

Check your client meeting notes

I make notes of every client meeting so I can remember what questions they asked, what information I gave them and what I need to remember to send afterwards. Sometimes, a potential customer might not get in touch because they’re afraid of asking a silly question. Answering the queries you’ve already had helps them to relax because they know what to expect.

If you don’t speak with new clients one-on-one, review your emails or messages to see what comes up regularly.

What do you hear at networking events?

You may have noticed that I network a lot. I always keep my ears open to understand what people struggle with because I can include details that show I understand my customers’ lives and provide tailored information about how I can help them.

Whether you attend in-person events or network online via Zoom or social media groups, see what questions and comments come up to see if they inspire a new topic idea.

Create a knowledge base

Sharing your knowledge is incredibly powerful as it shows your customers the benefits of your service and that you know what you’re talking about. It can also save you time. If a new client comes to you knowing that they need a particular product or service, it means you don’t have to answer lots of questions to help them make the right choice.

You could write about different products or explain how something works. For example, I write for an insurance broker and we create lots of different knowledge posts about how life cover or health insurance works. Their clients get to know the basics and then come to them for detailed advice.

If you’ve got a page full of ideas but lack the time or energy to turn them into new marketing content, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, use the form below to sign up for monthly content writing tips straight to your inbox.

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Why is a human content writer better than an AI?

Why is a human content writer better than an AI?
Image by Julie Grant Photography

AI can be a helpful tool when you write content marketing, but a human writer will give you better results in some situations. An AI can help you plan or develop ideas (and yes, I asked ChatGPT for some suggestions for this post). When is a human content writer better than an AI? Read on to find out.

Humans are more creative

An AI only gets information from online sources, which can make its content a bit generic. If you use AI for ideas, you can put your spin on them to make them unique.

An AI won’t change its tone of voice in the way that a human content writer can. It’ll typically use the same writing style, although you can ask it to mimic someone. (My son once asked ChatGPT to rewrite something he’d written in the style of a Donald Trump speech. The results were hilarious and accurate.)

Humans have emotional intelligence

Powerful writing engages your reader’s emotions and makes them feel understood. You understand the feelings that motivate your customers to work with you. Your marketing can show that you know how they feel now and how those feelings will change when you’ve worked together. It could be something as simple as offering home delivery or having a big car park so they don’t have to deal with the stress of finding a parking space. An AI wouldn’t understand that, but a human content writer does.

A human content writer can understand your audience

An AI can help identify potential concerns among your audience. However, it can’t write content that helps you form a personal connection. Your audience might want a serious take on a subject or prefer something more light-hearted.

An AI won’t get to know you and understand the language you use to talk about a subject, but a human content writer will. If you serve a niche audience which uses specific terms or references, you can find a writer who understands your niche in a way an AI won’t.

Talking about sensitive subjects

Some topics are hard to talk about. Your work might involve conversations about illness, death, or other painful personal experiences. You might offer a service that helps people prepare for the worst, such as will writing or life insurance. Marketing means discussing topics your audience might rather ignore, and your language must reflect that.

You might need to share stories about others and decide how much information you can reveal without compromising their privacy. An AI can’t choose for you or even act as a sounding board in the way a human writer can.

We can speak from personal experience

Your story can be compelling when it comes to attracting new clients. You might have started your business because you wanted to help others in the same situation. I often work with other mums because we all balance business and family life, and I understand how that works. That wouldn’t happen if I didn’t talk about my children in my marketing. Speaking from personal experience creates a human connection. An AI is more objective, so it can’t offer that.

If you want to work with an actual human to create engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, use the form below to sign up for monthly content writing tips straight to your inbox.

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How can AI help your content writing?

I know you probably expect a writer like me to react to any mention of AI the way that Dracula might respond to someone brandishing a cross in his face. Basically, hissing and hiding my face. However, it’s becoming more of a feature in the content writing landscape, and I can’t ignore it. I’ve even found myself using it a bit. So, how can AI help your content writing? Read on to find out.

How can AI help your content writing? I might be hiding from the answers!

It’s excellent for topic suggestions

When you’ve been in business for a while, it can feel like your marketing has covered everything you could possibly talk about. You’ll have new followers who won’t have read it all before, but you still want to create something fresh.

You can ask ChatGPT for original ways to talk about your product or service, which will give you a list. They might not all be usable, but some will, and it could inspire you to come up with more.

It can come up with new and unexpected angles

Sometimes, writing new content involves presenting the same information in new ways or from a different angle. You can create beginner guides and tips for people with more experience or choose a particular interest group. If you serve more than one type of person, their needs will vary, and you can write for both groups.

AI can help you find new angles, so ask something like “Who would be interested in x and why?” and see what it suggests.

You can use it to mash two ideas together

You might have a great idea for an analogy but struggle to make it work in practice. Writing a blog post could be a bit like cooking a meal. You need the right ingredients, cooking techniques and a big serving dish… wait, where was I going with this?

I could ask ChatGPT to explain how writing a blog post is like cooking a Sunday roast to get the juices flowing.

It can help you get your brain unstuck

Sometimes, you need to translate jargon so your audience can understand it. You try to write an explanation, and your brain goes blank.

When that happens, head to your favourite AI and ask, “How can I explain x in layman’s terms?” The answer might not be a perfect explanation, but it can give you some phrases to use as a starting point.

How can’t AI help your content writing?

AI can be helpful in the right circumstances, but it’s a bit rubbish at human emotion. You know, the stuff that helps you connect with your audience and shows them who you are. As a small business, your personality and values help you stand out from other businesses offering the same type of product or service. That’s why you still need to write your own words or work with someone like me, who’ll get to know you and put your personality into your content.

If you want to work with an actual human to create engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here. Or, use the form below to sign up for monthly content writing tips straight to your inbox.

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Want to create engaging content? Look at your numbers

Engaging content is about more than words - you need to look at your numbers too.

You might not think words and numbers have much in common, apart from co-existing on a school curriculum. However, your analytics can tell you a lot about what content is striking a chord with your audience and helping you achieve your business goals. Here’s my guide to help you look at your numbers and write engaging content.

Plan your business goals

I’m not going to tell you how to set business goals. For one thing, it’s not my department. For another, your version of success might look very different from mine. However, when you’ve decided what targets you want to hit next year, think about what your marketing needs to do to achieve that. Do you need to reach more people, improve your social media engagement or increase your email subscribers? Knowing where you want people to go helps you focus on the right platforms.

Look at your numbers

You can use your marketing analytics to work out what’s working in terms of the marketing platforms you use and the type of content you create. Reviewing your numbers helps you see what’s working so you can do more of it or tweak things to test a different approach. When you talk about your business, some posts get a better response than others, often due to the language you use.

Remember that what your audience responds to can change over time; regular reviews help you stay up to date.

Think about keywords

I’m hearing more marketing professionals say that SEO is getting less effective. While that’s probably true, there’s still a place for it. Google is the first place many of us ask questions, and if you offer a service in your local area, there are still plenty of people searching ‘service + town’.

So, look at your website analytics. What keywords attracted the most visitors? Where did they go next? Did they leave or visit another page? Look at keywords, but think about the customer journey, too. When people land on your website, what do you want them to do next?

Are your sales pages working?

As the name suggests, sales pages focus on selling one product. Everything on there should be targeted towards persuading someone to decide to buy. If you’re getting lots of visitors but not many sales, look at your language. Does it help your customers understand how buying from you will help them? Does it focus on their needs or your product? If you have some sales pages that work while others don’t, compare the words. Spotting the differences can help you update existing pages to improve their performance.

Social media engagement

If reaching your goals means getting more eyes on your content, look at your social media reach and engagement. Reach is good as it means the algorithm shows your stuff to more people. When your followers engage with a post, it’ll also start showing your posts to more of their friends.

Check your analytics to see which posts got lots of reactions and comments. It shows that the post struck a chord and that you used engaging language. You can create more posts with similar subjects and analyse your tone of voice. Are you using a different style on different posts, and how does that affect the response?

If you want to write engaging content that lets your customers get to know you, I can help.  I’ll write blogs, posts, emails and whatever else you need to engage your audience and encourage them to get in touch. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

Or, for regular writing tips straight to your inbox, sign up using the form below. I’m a vegetarian so I hate spam and I’ll never share your details with anyone else.

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Why are good headlines important?

A newspaper with good headlines

You might associate the word ‘headline’ with a newspaper or online article, but you use them everywhere in your marketing. They’re the title of your blog posts, the subject line in your emails and even your social media posts have a line at the top that’s the first thing your readers will see. Good headlines can determine whether your marketing hits the spot with your audience. Read on to find out why…

Headlines catch people’s attention

OK, this is the most obvious reason for creating good headlines. They’re designed to intrigue potential readers so that they want to know more. That could be because you’re offering the solution to a problem or because you’ve teased some juicy secret they must know about. It makes them look twice and tempts them to read the rest.

I have one important caveat – a good headline isn’t misleading. This brings me to…

Good headlines let your readers know what to expect

Clickbait may work for some businesses, but small businesses like ours need to build trust. A clear headline that lets your reader know what they’ll get from your content helps you do that. It also allows your audience to decide whether it’s worth their time. That way, when they click through, they know that you’re providing tips or advice they can use.

Even if people don’t read the whole post, it gives them a clear impression of what you do and what your business offers.

They can express a particular mindset

Have you ever stood and looked at a newspaper and magazine display in a shop? Each publication could be talking about the same subject or news story, but they all do it differently. The headlines they use help you understand their political viewpoint or the issues they care about.

Your headlines can do the same; they can help you attract customers with a similar worldview to you or tell them something about your personality, so they’ll know whether you’re their kind of person.

Headlines are great for SEO

Headlines work to boost your search engine rankings in two different ways. Firstly, the fact that you have a headline tells Google that your content is well-organised and likely to be helpful.

Secondly, you can include keywords in your headlines. Then, when search engines look at your site, they can immediately tell what your subject is. That means when someone asks a question with your keywords, they know your content is relevant to that search.

Good headlines = more clicks

When you create marketing, you want people to read it, and a good headline encourages them to do that. That doesn’t just apply to content you created to educate your audience. It can help you to get new sign-ups to your email list and more sales. A headline can make it clear that you’re selling something and give your audience insight into the benefits of your product or service so they click through to find out more and ultimately buy from you.

Do you want to grab your audiences’ attention and create content that speaks your customers’ language? I can help with that. If you’d like a chat to find out how it works, you can book a call here.

You can also sign up to receive monthly emails packed with useful content writing and marketing tips using the form below.

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Case study: writing a blog for Goldfinch Marketing’s client

Image shows a pile of magazines and a laptop with the kind of project that Goldfinch Marketing got to work on when I started writing a blog for their client.

One of my favourite things about my work is the chance to learn about the different ways that creative people work. I loved art at school, but I know that there are artists and designers out there that are far better at creating visuals than I am. Hand me a pen and a notebook, and I’m happy. I don’t panic in the face of a drawing pad and pencil, but I might not show the results to anyone. It makes me happy when I see work from people who can make stuff look beautiful.

This means that I was thrilled when I met Christina from Goldfinch Marketing. She creates gorgeous designs, and she’s also brilliant at techy stuff. It all comes together in beautiful websites that Google will love as much as your customers do. She’s also very good at writing; in fact, she’s so talented I would hate her if she wasn’t also lovely.

This may have you wondering why she’d need me, a writer when she’s already good at writing. Read on…

The pandemic

I met Christina during lockdown when everyone was virtual networking; some of us were home-schooling too. She’s based in Dorset, so the chances of us running into each other in person were virtually non-existent. Like many of us, Christina had taken some time during lockdown to evaluate her business and work out what she wanted to spend her time doing.

She’d started Goldfinch Marketing to help her clients with all their marketing needs, whether that was a new website, graphic design or content writing. Her review told her that she loved web design and graphics work but didn’t want to do content writing anymore. That’s where I came in.

The project

Christina had gradually reduced the amount of content writing she took on, but she still wrote blogs for one client. She told me they were lovely people she enjoyed working for and didn’t want to let them down. At the same time, she wanted to free up some time for other projects, so she wanted to see if I could take over writing a blog for them.

Of course I could. Writing their blog was right up my street; they’re a business offering a professional service, so they needed to share their expertise but didn’t want to be stuffy. I read the posts that Christina had already written to follow the same style and suggested some new topics. I also wrote social media edits for each blog post so that the individual paragraphs would work as standalone posts. The client was still happy, and Christina had time for other things.

If you need a new website, I recommend checking out Christina’s work here. Alternatively, if you want to outsource your content writing, either for yourself or one of your clients, let’s have a chat. You can book a call with me here.

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Are you making one of these blogging mistakes?

Man writing on a pad and making blogging mistakes.
Photo by Cup of Couple: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crumpled-papers-near-a-person-writing-on-a-notepad-6632868/

A blog is brilliant for letting your audience get to know you and how your business helps them, but it only works if people keep reading and take action when they’re finished. Read on for the top 5 blogging mistakes that will have your readers wandering off to your competitors.

Clickbait

I loathe clickbait with a passion, mainly because I’m not immune to it. There’s always a wonderfully intriguing headline (that’s the point). You click through to find pages of nonsense that don’t deliver what you expect. It only works if your business model is based on high-volume content that generates ad revenue when people click through. If you want to build trust with your audience, it’s horrendous.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Do. Not. Do. This. To. Your. Customers.

Walls of text

Most people don’t read a blog post all the way through. They’ll skim it to get the gist or to find the piece of information they searched for. It’ll put them off if they land on your post and find a big block of text with no subheadings to guide them through. It’s a good idea to plan, so you know what you want to say in the post. Then you can have a subheading for each point and separate paragraphs if there are a couple of different elements to each subheading.

Breaking your post up makes it more visually appealing too.

No through line

Sometimes going off on a tiny tangent can give your content more personality, especially if your topic reminds you of something from your life outside business. However, you’ll lose readers if you wander too far from the point. This can hold true even if your off-topic bit is interesting; it wasn’t what they expected.

That’s why it’s vital to ensure that each section refers back to the central theme, so everything is relevant and you have a clear through line running through your post. Planning will help you do this.

Talking down to your reader

No one likes being patronised. Even if you’re an expert in something and your reader isn’t, they don’t want to be spoken to like they’re five years old. It can be difficult to judge what level of knowledge your audience has, but it’s something you can develop over time as people respond to your content or ask questions in person.

You might also work with professionals who understand business but don’t know the technical terms you use. Professional but jargon-free content is your best bet, or you could offer a quick definition if it’s a term you’ll use throughout your post.

No call to action

You’ve written a helpful blog for your audience that’s answered one of their questions or taught them about an important topic. Now what? How can you keep them on the path to becoming a customer rather than drifting away?

The best way to get someone to do something is to ask them; your marketing is no exception. If you want them to offer an opinion, ask for it. If you want them to book a call or sign up for your mailing list, give them a link or a form to fill in. Your call to action (CTA) aligns with your business goals, so think about what you’re trying to achieve and how your content can help you do that.

If you want to create blogs that will turn your readers into customers, I can help. Book a call, and let’s have a chat.

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5 ways you can blog without needing a website

Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/author-blog-create-creative-267569/

You’ve decided to write a blog that’ll stand up on its own or form part of your marketing strategy, but you don’t have a website yet. Maybe you don’t need one at all. You want to start writing and engaging with your audience, but how do you start? Here are 5 ways you can blog without needing a website.

Use a free blogging platform

A free blogging platform lets you start writing your blog without needing a website that you have to pay for. WordPress has free and self-hosted versions so you can choose the option that’s right for you.

It’s worth considering whether you might want to expand your blog into a full website eventually. If you do, it might be worth paying for hosting. That option lets you choose your own URL rather than a link that has the provider’s name in it, so you can build your brand identity from the start.

Write for someone else’s site

Medium hosts thousands of articles on an impressive range of subjects. You can create content and tag the topic to build a following in the same way as you would on social media. There’s a version that pays or you can add links to Ko-fi or Buy Me a Coffee to let readers send you a donation.

To build your business network, you can also guest blog for other businesses with a similar audience to yours. I’ve hosted blogs from everyone from social media experts to nutritionists as they can help my readers with topics outside my expertise.

LinkedIn articles

I hesitated to include this one as you’ll generally get better reach with LinkedIn posts than you will with articles. However, if you’re trying to build a following articles are still worth your time as it gives you more space to share your expertise than you’d get in a normal post. You can also share articles in your main feed and repurpose them to create a LinkedIn newsletter.

I’m hearing from more and more people who are focusing on LinkedIn for their marketing, so if you want a business audience it could be a great platform.

Microblog on social media

If you’re writing a blog to share your views or offer hints and tips you can do that on social media. The only real difference between a standard blog post and a microblog is that the second one is shorter. That means that a limited character count isn’t a problem.

A microblog doesn’t give you the chance to go in-depth on a subject, but it can help you to learn your writing craft and start building a following.

Create a YouTube vlog

I know I’m all about the writing but creating a video blog on YouTube lets you try out content and build a following the same as any other social media platform. You can also transcribe your videos to turn them into blogs and make them accessible to people who prefer other types of content.

Of course, you can always do it the other way around. If you’ve written a blog on another platform and want to help it reach a wider audience, you can create a video summing up the highlights and include a link to the original post for anyone who wants more detail.

Wherever you choose to blog, the quality of your content matters if you want to build a following and promote your business. If you want some help writing in a way that speaks your customers’ language, let’s have a chat.

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Do you need a website to write a blog?

The short answer to this is that no, you don’t. The question is, will a standalone blog help you to achieve your goals if it isn’t part of a larger website? Here’s my rundown on the reasons why you don’t need a website to write a blog and why you might want a website after all.

What’s the difference between a blog and a website?

When you visit my website you’ll find lots of different pages about my business, products and services. My blog is just part of a larger whole. The reason I do it this way is that my blog is part of my marketing strategy, not a business in itself.

If you run a business, your website is your virtual shop window. The blog is part of the content that helps your customers to find you.

What do you want to achieve?

If you want your blog to be a business, you might not need a website. However, if you want a site that lets you offer products, build your email list and offer affiliate links you almost certainly will. Some brands will only offer affiliate links if you have a website rather than a standalone blog or social media presence.

It’s also a good idea to think about your brand and the kind of image you want to create.

You can use a free blogging platform

Some platforms let you choose whether to create a self-hosted website or a free blog. WordPress is just one example; you can create a website and pay for hosting. Alternatively, you can have the free version to create a blog.

If you choose the free version you’ll have WordPress in your website URL, which might not look all that professional if you’re trying to build a brand that goes beyond blogging.

Third-party selling sites

If you create products your main source of income might be a third-party platform like Etsy or Not on the High Street whose brands let small businesses reach a wider audience. Building your own website could let you make sales at a lower cost, but you’d have to do the work to promote it and attract visitors.

If you’d prefer to start by creating a blog, you can use it to send visitors to your shop even if it’s on a third-party platform.

You can use another blogging site

There are blogging sites that operate in a similar way to social media platforms. You can create a profile and attract followers who are interested in the topic you cover or who’ve searched for specific hashtags. For content that’s heavy on visuals, Tumblr could be a good option. Alternatively, if you create in-depth written content Medium is a great platform and there’s an option to monetize your content too.

Microblogging

Microblogging is short-form content (like a longish social media caption) that helps you to share your expertise and tell your story. It’s a great way to start if you’re trying to find your voice. The only disadvantage is that you don’t get to share as much detail as you would in a standard blog post.

I tend to create this kind of content by writing a longer blog post and then breaking it down into individual sections.

Wherever you choose to blog, the quality of your writing matters if you want to build a following and promote your business. If you want some help writing in a way that speaks your customers’ language, let’s have a chat.