You’re Not Just a Business Person. You’re an Author Too (3 Ways To Get Better At Writing)

This is something you have to be fully aware of.

Decades ago, writing well was never a skill that was essential for business people, entrepreneurs, professionals or managers. That’s why the focus of school and college programs was always (and sadly still for the most part) on the technical skills needed to succeed in a particular industry and how to write academic papers. For example, business students learn about marketing, accounting, operations and human resources while learning how to write compelling content is reserved for journalism and broadcasting schools.

The reality is that the days when it wasn’t important for a business owner or manager to know how to write well are long gone.

We live in an age when all of us need to know how to express ourselves in writing (That even goes for YouTubers or Podcasters that still need to be able to write to market their content and engage in conversations with their audience).

We all need to have a voice. We need a platform to get our voice heard and to let people know why our product or service is the answer to their needs.

Here’s why learning to write is important:

1- SEO and Google Authorship

The way we find content online is becoming more and more “human”. Search engines are finding ways to make the user experience as natural as possible.

The natural way to approach content will be to look for information from the most credible sources. Google is doing just that. They’re using Google Authorship to reward content by authors that are more credible, followed and shared (Mainly through Google+, if you’re still doubting it’s importance for marketing)

If you want to remain competitive on your Google ranking, you’ve gotta start on building your author influence and be authentic. The popular SEO techniques are being obsolete as time goes by. The future is for authenticity.

2- Trust and Personal Brands

Your personal brand is becoming as important as your business’s brand.

CEO’s are no longer people that clients never hear from or communicate with. People need to trust you as a person. They need to hear you thoughts and know what you stand for. They expect to be able to email or tweet you and communicate with you.

What you post on your blog, social networks and how you articulate yourself is a big part of determining how you come across to people and helps them decide if they trust you enough to do business with you.

But I’m not a writer. I can’t write. What do I do?

That’s what I first though when I started discovering this world of digital marketing.

The truth is that you don’t have to be perfect. In fact, most blogs are far from perfect. From my personal experience, it’s a learning curve. I’m getting better with time. I just write as I talk!

Here’s what you can do to get better at writing:

1- Read A LOT

I’m not here to sell you on the importance of reading a lot for your personal and business development. You already know that (Hopefully!).

Reading a lot will put in your subconscious mind a lot of material, vocabulary and ways of seeing things that will come out when you’re writing and will help your writing get better.

2- Study the works of your favourite writers

Is there a writer or a business blog that you always follow and love? Why not study how they write closely?

This won’t make you write like Seth Godin in a week, but it would definitely make you a better writer on the long run.

3- Write and keep writing

This is the single practice that will give the most value by far. Keep writing and write as much as you can. You’ll be surprised at how better you get everyday.

You don’t have to post everything you write. Write for yourself or start a journal. It will help you write more and make it more fun.

*Image courtesy of   jjpacres (Creative Commons)

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