So many people ask me how to start writing for their business, and ho to find their writing voice so I decided to write my own guide to sounding authentic in your business writing.
These are all based on my own experience – this is how I do it! Hopefully it will work for you, too.
“I always struggle to come up with relevant topics, or finding my writing style- as in I’m a funny and relaxed character but I always sound boring and matter of fact in writing, how can I combat that?”
Coming up with relevant topics is a tricky one. There are a few cheats if you’re really stuck, one of my favourite little tricks is to try and do a bit of digging into what people are asking about your topic. So if you’re a massage therapist, try typing the words ‘massage therapy’ into: http://keywordtool.io and then clicking ‘Questions’
It’s not foolproof but it might just inspire a few ideas. I tried it myself and top questions include ‘can massage therapy help with sciatica?’ and ‘can massage therapy help with frozen shoulder?’
Incorporating those questions into a blog post should be easy enough, and the beauty of this type of research is that you’ll know that people are already looking for the answers to those questions!
Twitter is a great place for inspiration too. See what people are talking about in your subject area. You can see what experts are posting, what people are asking about and if there’s any news from relevant Twitter accounts. Use these as a bit of inspiration – add your own twist and experience.
Finding your Writing Voice
OK, so if you’re a funny and relaxed person in real life, there’s no need to be any different in your writing. The best way to practice this if you really don’t seem to be able to master it, is once you’ve got your blog topic or whatever you’re writing fixed in your head, dictate it rather than write it. Most phones have an app for doing this, you don’t need any special equipment. If not there are loads of apps on Google Play and the Apple Store.
Practice talking as if you’re speaking to someone in the salon, telling them about a treatment. Or explaining something to your mum. When you play it back, does it sound natural? Are you using the language you normally use? If so, write your post from that.
Do this a few times and you’ll start to find your natural ‘writing voice’ and the best thing is that it won’t sound affected or put on.
Your writing voice is YOU. Trying to be someone else won’t work, potential clients will see straight through it as will your blog readers. Being yourself is the best way of getting your blog read; people identify with that.