 Your Opportunity Is Now
Maintaining reader engagement is hard.
There are dozens of minuscule details that can
make or break your audience's distraction-prone, hair-trigger attention
span. Make it and you'll have gained a reader. Break it and you'll lose a
reader.
If you ended up making a bad impression due to a
down website, a stray typo in your article, or even a negative review,
then it's important to remember: it isn't the end of the world.
It's an opportunity.
You may lose a battle here and there, but your
commitment to get back up when you fall and improve your strategy will
help you achieve a successful outcome.
Take the opportunity now to get back on track.
7 Keys to Repair Your Connection With Your Readers
1. Is That the Time?! You Ran Out of Time, Again
You're busy. They (your audience) get it.
Frankly, your audience doesn't care whether you balanced a bowl of soup
on your head while riding a unicycle, made tea, and wrote your article
at the same time. They do care, however, that you took the time to
carefully craft that article for them because once they've read it, your
article will make an impact, big or small, on their personal or
professional life.
Your Key to Opportunity:
Decide on your goals and the outcome you want to achieve. Create to-do
lists and plan for the unexpected by reserving time to deal with it each
day. Whatever you do: Write that article.
2. Yawn ... Your Audience Isn't Paying Attention
Your articles are BORING. They regurgitate the
same tips everyone else is delivering and they're duller than [insert
the title of the most boring book you've ever read]. Your articles
should grab your readers' attention by the lapels, lively shake them
about with descriptive language, and move them with helpful advice they
can apply to their lives.
Your Key to Opportunity:
Read outside of your niche and consider how it may relate or impact
your topic. Learn something new to expand your skillset and experiences.
Dredge up those old memories and consider how your audience can learn
from your experiences. And don't leave your audience hanging after
delivering an insightful article: propose a call to action where a task
or lifestyle change is recommended, and offer incentive when completed
or embraced. Direct them towards something that may appeal to them that
is original and that they can follow up on it with you.
3. Whoops! You Let an Error Slip Through
Nobody is perfect. When you get called out on a
mistake and your credibility takes a hit, it can take a lot out of you.
In writing, this can include grammatical errors, spelling blunders, or
conflicting information.
Your Key to Opportunity:
Thoroughly check your articles (or anything written) before committing
them. Get a second set of eyes on it to catch those tiresome errors. If
an error is made public, cover your bases with grace and seal the wound.
Accept the error with great humility, apologize for it, thank whoever
brought it to your attention, correct it or amend it, and propose a
healthy resolution for the future.
4. Is This Thing Working? You Have Challenges Spreading the Word
Promoting isn't always easy. You perform
research so your promotion rolls over your audience like a wave of fresh
air, rather than an unwanted tidal blast. Who's your target audience?
Are you only in your comfort zone or do you want to step out and test
different waters? What worked in the past that is no longer an effective
campaign? SO many questions!
Your Key to Opportunity:
Find out who your audience is - even if it's your best guess - and then
publish an article targeting them. Measure your audience's response:
consider the message, the tone, the place you placed the article, and
much more. Get out there and test. Challenge yourself to leverage the
best promotion strategy for your platform.
5. Why Me?! Someone Is Being Difficult
Even in your proudest moment or achievement,
there's always a possibility of someone going after you. Some people
like to get under your skin and slow you down when you're almost at the
top. You can even be heckled in front of others.
Your Key to Opportunity:
The worst thing you can do is ignore them, or let them feel like their
thoughts don't matter to you. Turn the tables and employ humor. Laughter
can help soothe the attack and let the person know you're confident in
your stance and willing to negotiate to create a positive outcome for
everyone involved. Ask them to propose a resolution to give them a sense
of ownership. From there, you can negotiate a positive outcome.
6. Error 404 or Not Found ... Technology Goes Kaput
Technology can simply make the impossible
possible. However, it can also cause a lot of stress and leave you
hanging. We've all had that heart in throat moment when our computers
have crashed after an hour's worth of work and we pray that we saved
recently or that all isn't lost. What's worse, when our websites decide
to go on the fritz and prevents our visitors from interacting with our
website.
Your Key to Opportunity:
First, always compulsively save and remain calm. If it's lost, then
you'll just have to start over or change your strategy. No sense in
losing your head over it. Secondly, there are dozens of free services
you can sign up for to alert you when your website isn't running
smoothly. Many times, the first place people will go to find out if a
website is down is on social media, so be sure to send out a message on
those channels letting your audience know that your website is back and
running. Most people are compassionate and understand the issues when
you reach out to them.
7. You Think You're Better Than Me or Huh? Your Content Is Over Their Head
"[Jargon, jargon, and more jargon]. If you don't
do [jargon], then [more jargon]. That's why you should [some more
jargon]." What are you trying to say? No one wants to read an article or
content that they can't relate to or makes them feel like an idiot.
Your Key to Opportunity:
You're the expert, but your audience may not be. Avoid regurgitating
facts people can't relate. Find common ground with your audience and
connect on a broader approach by sharing relatable and relevant
experiences while breaking down confusing content into terms your
audience can understand.
Keeping your readers engaged while effectively
avoiding possible disaster can be hard work for the average writer.
Check in with your audience personally to see what they're currently
interested in and ask for feedback to get a bird's eye view of how
they're responding to your content. Take polls or surveys to keep on
your toes and show your readers that they matter. Not only will your
tips and advice brilliantly shine, but your commitment to excellence
will too.
How do you ensure you're connected to your
readers? Do you have any stories to share about having severed a
connection with your audience and how your repaired it? Click here to let us know - we'd love to hear from you! |
To Your Article Writing Success & Passion!
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