You Can Rise Above the Noise
It's a hard truth: brands are ceasing to matter
because they aren't as important as the truth. Good and bad, readers,
clients, and consumers really want that truth broken to them by someone
they can connect with: A fellow human.
Just Your Average Brand
Brands are everywhere. They're not only on store
shelves; they're on the billboards of our commute, on our phones, on
our coffee mugs, on our shoes, on our social media page, and much more.
After a while, all of these brands begin to blur into the same promises
and same old delivery. Which makes you stop to wonder: Do we actually
see these brands and do we truly hear them? Yes and no. The majority of
the visual and auditory noise of brand output is average because brands
often fail to deliver two things: something different and a
human-to-human connection.
Rise Above the Noise
Start by putting people first (including
yourself) and giving people the truth in a remarkable way. Think of it
like this: Brand loyalty is easily being exchanged with people-to-people
loyalty. Our friends and family (with whom we're predisposed to be
loyal) recommend or dissuade us from trying a new product or service. We
look to social sites (like YouTube, Pinterest, and Reddit) for more
reviews and DIY directions. When we want the word on the street about a
particular topic or a discussion we're interested in, we look to the
personal and professional blogs and articles written by the most
successful people in that particular niche. Today, we are won over by
people and are loyal to people, not necessarily brands.
Loyalty is also driven by how much you're
willing and able to innovate by striking new ground, to connect with
your audience, consistently meet their needs, and tell others why your
message matters. This is a challenge because the minute your audience
can get the same thing from another author or source (more cheaply and
easily), they'll leave. So you have to stay ahead of your niche, but
it's well worth it.
For example: Typical articles written by Author A
will be easily be replaced by another typical article written by Author
B - both of which can be easily forgotten by your audience. In walks
Author C, who writes an innovative, truthful article that connects with
readers. This pushes Author A and B into irrelevant oblivion.
Eventually, Author A and B will regurgitate what Author C had said, but
it's no problem because Author C is already creating the next big thing.
How to Connect and Innovate
- Average Be Gone
First, stop contributing to the average noise and create things that
are remarkable. You may find writing content about topics that others in
your niche are covering to be comfortable and safe, but there's just
one problem: if it's safe, then it's probably average too. From a
business and marketing standpoint, average is catastrophic. Average
simply won't cut it because (to reiterate here) there's so much of it
saturating every niche and you need to rise above the noise.
Drop the mindset that you need to drop your prices, offer all of your
ebooks for free, or even meet the baseline needs channeled by everyone
else in your niche. Repeat: No more average content. Be remarkable. It
is not your job to merely serve information. If it was, you'd be a
faceless encyclopedia. Your job is to connect with your audience and
that connection will foster loyalty. Write something worth talking about
and make it remarkable.
- Take Initiative
Next, have a vision and take initiative. Don't wait for someone else
to tell you what to do and what to write. Start by cultivating your "how
did they do that" mindset and then create a vision of innovation. Stop
accepting what currently is and start questioning. What is it? How was
it done? Does it have to be this way? How can it be improved? Better
yet, how can I (that's you) position a ground breaking change that will
lead to better results? Cultivating this mindset will give your efforts sustainability beyond the first, second, or third triumph.
Scared? Unless of course someone's life and well-being is literally
in your hands, be okay with failure. Are you going to fail? Maybe, but
more importantly, you've opened yourself up to succeed. Simply remember:
Failure isn't final and it's an opportunity. If you write an article
that doesn't resonate with readers today, write another (better) one
tomorrow. Shut down your fear to think long enough for a solution. Once
you've got it, feel free to bug out if you still feel the need. Most
times, the feeling of fear will pass if you continue moving forward, but
the key is to take the initiative. It will never be given, you have to
take it yourself.
- Be a Person
Change your thinking to connect with people. You are not a brand. You
are a person. You have likes. You have dislikes. You are mind-numbingly
bored by things. You're passionate about things. So is your audience.
Use these things to be the powerhouse that fires up your articles.
In addition, article writing and creating good content is not
technical writing, nor is it conveying news passively. To really connect
with readers, write something worth talking about, that has a valuable
core message, and resonates with readers. To do this, be absolutely
truthful through incorporating emotion (fear, joy, anger, love, etc.) as
well as telling a story through your content like a personal anecdote.
Finally, be confident. Confidence in your message and clearly stating
your UVP (Unique Value Proposition) will compel your audience to act
and give them a hand in discussing it with others.
Ready? Let go of the concept that readers hold to brands. They hold to your
remarkable ideas and extraordinary stories. Once you've taken the
initiative to lead and are confident in the originality of your own
message, all you'll have to do is spread the word.
Questions? Comments? Click here to let us know - we'd love to hear from you! |
To Your Article Writing Success & Passion!
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