10 Reasons Why Now is the Time to Write
There is so much going on at the moment that it’s hard to take it all in – checking your health, wondering whether you need to self-isolate, staying sane, thinking about what to do when the children are not at school, juggling everything - the list goes on and then on top of that we have running your business and keeping it afloat.
It might not seem like the obvious thing to do but here are ten reasons why you need to write, right now …
1. Reduced face-to-face contact as well as people being really poorly means less connection with our client base at a time when connection is so important. We are spending increasingly more time at home, cut off from the outside world but as humans, we need social interaction. You can reach out to all your clients via newsletters and encourage engagement that way.
2. Newsletters are a great way to keep your customers informed about what you’re doing during these times. You can empathise with them – we’re all in the same boat – and explain that it’s business as usual or the adaptations that you’re making. Make sure your newsletters are sent at a similar time each week or bi-monthly to foster loyalty (people will start to look out for them) but don’t inundate your subscribers otherwise they may start unsubscribing.
3. If you want a more personal touch, why not have some cards printed with your branding, put pen to paper and send something through the post? This could really brighten someone’s day and shows that you care about them and their custom.
People are likely to be spending more time online and so your website needs to be ready to be found and ready to welcome customers, both old and new. Well-crafted, well-researched copy really matters and will help the search engines find your website above all others. It’ll also keep people reading and interested in what you have to say!
5. Another way that helps your website to be found is fresh content alongside your fab web copy – blogs, images, testimonials, case studies. This tells the search engine that the website is still viable and in use and so worthy of being a response to a user query.
6. Regular blogs are fantastic, multi-purpose and what I write the most!
· They help with search engine optimisation (SEO) for lots of reasons (e.g. fresh content, should contain key words).
· They can tell people what you’re doing which is a great way to connect with people who are not on your email distribution list.
· You can promote a particular product which will boost sales.
· You can show what you know about your sector which helps to build your platform and credibility in the industry.
7. Writing now whilst you’re maybe quieter than usual is a great way to prepare yourself and your business for when life returns to ‘normal’. Having a bank of blogs already written (they may need a bit of tweaking to make them relevant to publication times) means that your website is working for you and you have some social media posts ready to go, freeing up time to work on promoting your service or product.
8. Do you have something to shout about at the moment? Maybe you have a product or service that will help people suffering with illness or alone at the moment, or something that will assist those working from home. If you think it’s newsworthy, a press release will help to give your business some stature and allow you to distribute the information to the mass media in one fell swoop. The media is focussed on COVID-19 at the moment and they’re all looking for different angles in order to win our attention. I would also recommend sending the media any ‘good news’ stories …
9. Have you been asked to write an editorial and been putting it off because you didn’t have time? Now is your chance! They’re great for building relationships with local publications either online or in print and for promoting what you do. Diversify your communication methods now and reap the benefits later…
And lastly, writing is therapeutic, pure and simple. Writing manually or typing gives us all a chance to reflect. The act of typing and deleting or writing and crossing out allows us to order our thoughts and work out what we’re trying to say to ourselves and our world of clients.
It goes without saying that I love writing. If you don’t love writing but would like to try out some of these ideas, then don’t feel as though you have to go it alone. As a freelance writer, I ghost write for a lot of my clients (where I write as them) or I can proofread your writing, or I can just brainstorm some ideas with you. I work remotely with all of my clients so meeting over the phone or video conferencing for the first time is completely normal for me.
Get in touch with me – I’d love to help you with your marketing and keep the business world turning during these uncertain times.
Stay well.
All images courtesy of Unsplash