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Tomorrow, I’ll be 39.

As I look in the mirror and run my fingers through my hair, I can’t help but notice the single strands of bright white peeking through my naturally jet-black mane.

I admit it.

The first thing I want to do is grab my tweezers and pluck those pesky white hairs out. They’re messing with the flow of my perfect black hair. And they make me feel older than I want to feel.

But I resist, convincing myself that they add character, while I quietly wonder if I’ll one day end up with a Cruella de Vil-like head of black and white hair.

As it often goes, my mind wanders to the art of writing and how difficult it can be to create content that feels perfect. You have a message to share and you want to say it right, the first time. After all, this may be the only opportunity you have to capture your reader’s attention and move them into meaningful action.

So you fervently work to eliminate any mistakes, quirks and nuances in your writing, similar to me wanting to yank the threads of white growing between my thick black hair.

But writing is an imperfect art. Of course, there are grammar rules and such, but you can create your own imperfect rules too. Sometimes imperfection is exactly what’s needed to make your writing resonate and connect with your readers.

So whether you’re a professional writer or someone who writes because you have to, I encourage you to spend time getting to know the emerging Cruella de Vil in your writing. How does she add character to your writing, character that compels and interests your readers?

Give it some thought. Cruella may not be the nemesis you originally believed her to be. She may very well be your writing muse.

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I’ve worried you. I apologize.

Some of you think I’ve fallen gravely ill, died or worse, that Write to Incite is now defunct (it’s not). Emails and private messages from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have begun to trickle in asking, “Where are you?” and “Are you OK?”

You have reason to to be concerned. I am too, because for more than two months I haven’t posted a single blog post here or sent a fresh issue of my weekly eNewsletter.

There isn’t an earth-shattering reason for my absence, really. I was just in a bit of a writer’s funk. In fact, I’ve spent weeks lamenting, “I don’t have time to write (for myself or my business).” The litany of excuses is endless, of course.

I blame my workload. I blame all the running around I do for my kids. I blame lack of creative inspiration. I blame exhaustion. I blame not having anything important to write about or share. I blame everyone and everything, but the one thing that is responsible for me not writing:

ME.

I haven’t made writing the priority it should be. After all, I’m a writer and marketer shamelessly touting the importance of using content to drive business results and here I am NOT creating or sharing content!

Yesterday as I fired up my laptop and felt the guilt of not writing a blog post creep into my mind (again), I ran into a quote posted on SUCCESS Magazine’s Facebook page:

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” ~Deepak Chopra

Hmmmm… could it be that continuing to say, “I don’t have time,” is the prison that keeps me from writing? (That’s a rhetorical question, please don’t email me the obvious answer, “YES!!”)

Then today, I bump into Chris Brogan’s blog post where he asserts, “We have time to do what we want to do,” and that’s what finally pushed me to write this post. It’s not perfect and it certainly doesn’t follow the usual style of this blog, but it’s forward movement — the beginning of momentum — and sometimes that’s all you need to get over a writing slump (or any other slump).

What about you? Where are you stuck and what is the next best step you can take (even if it’s small and imperfect) to fight da funk?

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Outside of building one-to-one relationships with candidates through recruiters, employers can foster a sense of familiarity and likeability among candidates by sharing stories online. Job seekers who get a sense of value from your company’s employment-related content get to better know your brand and, in turn, develop a sense of affinity and trust for your organization. Trust = applications.

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Today, I’m tackling a question that I’m often asked, “How do you get new clients (or projects)?”

The answer is insanely simple, but it definitely involves work that many aren’t willing to do. Why? Because it’s hard (if you let it to be) and because it usually forces you to be more bold than you’re probably accustomed to being.

But if you’re up for the challenge or desperate enough for the new business, here’s how to get clients and projects you love:

1. Be clear about who you want to work with and what you want to do for them.
The statement, “I need new clients,” is too broad, not to mention totally uninspiring. But saying, “I’m looking for smart, passionate service professionals who need help writing compelling content for their drab websites,” has more oomph and sets up your radar to notice people who might have that need. But don’t stop there. Take it further by creating a “hit list” of specific people/companies you want to add to your client roster.

2. Figure out a way to make contact.
Armed with a clear focus and your “hit list,” leverage your network to make connections. If you don’t have a direct line of contact, do some research to get the inside skinny on your target client and look for mutual points of interest. Any information helps: personal interests, professional affiliations, preferred social networks, etc.

3. Get in touch.
If you’ve worked your network, done your research and exercised a bit of patience, a time will come when you’re able to make contact with your prospect. This might be through an introduction or a chance meeting at a conference. Either way, Houston, we have lift off! What a feeling. But don’t make it a wasted effort. Now isn’t the time to blubber on about how much you’ve been wanting to meet the person. Get to the point, don’t waste his time and focus 100% of his needs and interests (not your own).

4. Follow-up.
It’s rare (not impossible!)to close a deal in the initial conversation. Don’t you wish! But alas, it takes consistent, and often persistent, follow-up. Unless the situation warrants more contact, you should plan to reach out to prospects and clients at least four times a year. I like to mix it up with a combination of a phone call, an email, a mailed card, and if we’re not geographically challenged, an in person meet-up. Use a CRM application to help you organize and track your reach-outs. Be consistent and be patient.

5. Ask for the business.
There’s nothing worse than making it this far and then failing to just ask for the business. Trust me, I’ve done it plenty of times. There are two perspectives that have helped me be more bold in asking for what I want. Remembering:

• I don’t have the business (yet), so asking can only improve my results. Not asking will just leave me in the same place: without the business.
• “No,” isn’t a finite response. Often, it means “not now” or I haven’t done a good job expressing the value of doing business with me. Either way, the door is still open.

How about you? What do you do to get new clients and projects?

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Z-z-z-z-z-z-z… Does your writing cause readers to fall asleep?

Great content is both useful and entertaining, even in business. So nix the dry, sleepy corporate speak and follow these quick tips to add much need oomph! to your writing:

1. Have a conversation. Write in active voice, use short paragraphs and include personal pronouns like “you” to involve your reader. Your English teach may have told you to always write in third person, but that applies to your 8th grade term papers, not writing for business. Personalize your writing and have a conversation with your reader.

2. Be direct and specific. Put down the thesaurus. Drop the fancy lingo. Brevity is your friend. Also avoid generalities like, “many,” “more,” and “some.”  Stick to specific and facts. When you weave those facts into memorable narratives, they stick with your reader.

3. Tell a story. Facts don’t have to be boring. Create characters and invoke the senses (e.g. sight, sound, touch, taste, and scent) to bring your data and ideas to life. People love to read stories. They especially like to feel like they’re a part of one. Create stories in your reader’s mind and invite them to participate in it.

4. Show, don’t tell. Traditional business writing focuses on who and what. It’s preachy and often demanding. Meanwhile, readers are wondering, “So what?” and looking for a reason to care. Use metaphors, personification and examples to help them personally connect with your message.

5. Incite transformation. Words are incredibly powerful. Use them to move readers away from their pain and toward pleasure. Give them a new tool, help them get unstuck or give them something of value. Make your words matter.

Remember, great writing speaks to the sweet spot where your expertise and your reader’s needs overlap. Then it’s a matter of energizing drab, institutionalized business writing with personal narratives that touch people’s feelings and make them care.

How have you used these tactics to bring life into your business writing? What additional ideas would you suggest?

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You’re familiar with the fable,

Jack is told by his mother to sell their cow for money, but his plans are diverted when he’s offered magic beans and promised they’ll grow overnight into a beanstalk that reaches the sky. Sensing a bargain (and less work on his part), Jack accepts the bargain.

Wouldn’t it be nice if content marketing were a magic bean, that when planted would grow profits for your business overnight?

But, it’s not quite that simple. There are no short cuts or quick fixes in content marketing. It takes time, care and patience to develop influence and engagement with your audience. Anyone telling you otherwise is living in a fable like good ‘ol Jack.

Even still, there are lessons you can glean from seeds that tie in perfectly to your content marketing strategy.

1. Find fertile ground

Throwing seeds onto dry, brittle sand-like gravel probably won’t result in a beautiful flower garden. You have to find soil that is supple and healthy. You don’t want weeds or disease spores mingling with your seeds!

The same is true with your content marketing strategy. Your fertile ground is the sweet spot where your expertise converges with people you are most likely to serve well. That means being crystal clear about how you help people and who you help as well.

2. Sow many seeds

A general rule of thumb when planting seeds is to use several at once since not all seeds will germinate or survive. Similarly, you must offer several touch points to your content, in frequency, in diversity and in reach.

• Frequency: How often are you producing content? If you’re blogging or have an email newsletter, commit to a publishing schedule that keeps your content fresh and top of mind.
• Diversity: Content is more than words on a website. Content also includes your social media updates, videos, slide presentations, and more. Create content using a mix of media to ensure you’re reaching people in the medium they prefer.
• Reach: Dandelion seeds are carried away by the wind, germinating fertile ground miles from its parent. In the content marketing world that’s called “amplification.” As you develop value-added content, it’s shared across a communities and networks — online and offline. Seek ways to extend the reach of your content by making it sharable.

3. Tend to seeds daily.

In the beginning stages of seed planting, most of the work is happening below ground. Content marketing is the same. It may take days, weeks, or months to see results.

While you wait, you’ll be tempted to take a short cut, or maybe even give up altogether. But press on! Stick with your content schedule: post a blog, update social networks, record a how-to video, share a relevant news link, etc.

Of course, there are some additional things you can do add a boost to your seedlings:

1. Focus on another area of your marketing. Content marketing isn’t a replacement for all other marketing activities; it’s one part of your overall strategy. How much time are you spending directly reaching out to your target audience? This can be done through telephone follow-ups, networking events or speaking engagements.
2. Get ahead of your content. Spend downtime developing new content for future use. Later, when you’re busy serving clients, you’ll appreciate your “fall back” of prepared content.
3. Interview your best clients. Your best clients are hopefully your ideal clients. You want more of them! Spend time learning more about them. What are their current needs, issues or concerns? What do they anticipate or want from the future? Knowing this information provides great content ideas, but also helps you better understand your audience.

4. Recognize when it’s time to harvest (or prune)

If you pick fruit too early, it’s sour. If you wait too long, it’s mushy. You have to find the right moment to harvest your plants. In some cases, you need to trim back your plants to allow healthy growth to emerge.

In content marketing, this means providing value first, and then finding the right time to offer your services. It might mean scaling back on some of your tactics. You don’t want to sell all the time. People will be turned off. Yet, if you never include a call to action in your content, you risk becoming known as the “freebie expert,” always giving away value for nothing.

Keep in mind, your harvest time will depend on your marketing funnel, the system you’ve created that moves prospects from knowing about you to liking, trusting, trying and eventually buying from you.

5. It’s a new season

Like a plant, your content marketing strategy is seasonal. There are periods of sowing, then tending, and finally reaping. With each season you learn new techniques and approaches that help you in the following season. Although you have the basics down, there are unique nuances and variables that affect your business. Observe what goes well and learn from those areas where you could improve. This is how you improve your fertile ground. Then get to planting!

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Once you decide to start a

Thirty minutes later, you’ve got a blog!

And for awhile it’s like the first few months of wedded bliss. You’re madly in love with your blog. You give it special attention — day and night — gazing at it, caressing it, and beholding it. You’re in love.

But then, similar to any marriage, the relationship undergoes a shift. Seemingly overnight, the bliss is gone. Your blog doesn’t give you the same joy it did before. It suddenly feels like a lot of work. You’re uninspired. A few days to pass between posts, then a few weeks, and finally a few months, until suddenly, it’s a year later and you haven’t written a single post.

Yet a link to your abandoned blog still hangs on your website’s home page. You make excuses, “I’m busy,” but  a hint of guilt still pesters you for neglecting a part of your life that your once cherished.

If you’ve fallen out of love with your blog, there are some strategic steps you can take to revive the bliss. Once restored, move on to these tactical moves to ensure your consistency and motivation.

Make a commitment you can live with

“How often should I post to my blog?” is a common question. The answer is driven by a few factors: your audience, your schedule and your commitment.

Your ideal client profile will usually reveal the best frequency for your posts, so start there. Always consider your blog content and frequency from the perspective of your target audience. Do they have time to read daily blog updates, or will a few times a week suffice?

Also think about your availability to write quality posts. Remember, choosing to write fewer, higher quality posts is better than churning out daily bits of low-value content. Take into account the seasonal fluctuations in your business as well. If summers are usually slower, you can use those months to pre-write several posts that you’ll schedule for publication later.

Now, commit to how many days a week you plan to post: once, twice, three or more times? Do what feels right for your audience and your schedule (not what everyone else is doing).

Capture every possible story idea

The best post ideas can strike you at inconvenient times, like when you’re standing in the checkout line with a handful of groceries. It’s tragic to lose a great idea! To prevent this, have a system for capturing ideas, whether it’s in your smartphone, a digital recorder or traditional pen and paper.

I’ve recently been more diligent about recording my ideas in Evernote. It’s loaded on my iPhone and Macbook, so I can capture ideas as they come to me. I transfer handwritten notes into Evernote by either manually transcribing them into the application or uploading an image of my scribble via scanner. I use Evernote to store relevant statistics, quotes and other news clippings into Evernote for future reference.

The idea is to always have a database of possible blog posts (and supporting data) so you’re never left wondering, “What should I write about today?”

Get organized with an editorial calendar

You know how often you want to publish a new post to your blog and you have a handful of great post ideas. Now it’s time to create a publishing plan. Before you get started, consider these questions:

• What types of post will you write: how-to, case study, quick tips, lengthy thought leadership?
• Can your content be organized into weekly or monthly themes (e.g. Tuesday Tips or Spring Cleaning month)?
• How will your content address the various stages a reader might be in the buying process?
• What general categories or topics will your posts fall into?
• Which day(s) of the week will you publish?

Once you have a clear idea of when, what and how often you plan to post, transfer that information to an editorial calendar. You can create one in a spreadsheet or, if you’re using WordPress, there is a plug-in available that lets you view and schedule upcoming posts in a easy calendar format.

Always leave room for new inspiration and change. This 3-step process helps set a strategic baseline for your blog as you organize ideas into an actionable plan, but be flexible and willing to change the plan if you need to.

Question: What tactical steps help you maintain your commitment to your blog?

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The “anyone with a heartbeat” content marketing approach doesn’t work either. It’s tough influencing the masses with cookie-cutter content. No one likes to be a statistic or number, a nameless face lost in the crowd. We want to be recognized for our individuality.

We want to know that others understand us, intimately. We want someone to listen to our worries, concerns and fears. Most important, we want someone to make our problems go away.

Content marketing can do all of that, but it takes a narrowly defined focus on your ideal client. You have to get personal and humanize your efforts.

Whether you’re marketing your services direct to a consumer or to a business entity, there’s a human at the other end of the sales transaction. That’s why creating a persona of your ideal client is an essential part of your content marketing strategy.

Before you get started, remember that it’s not about you. You are NOT your ideal client. As the expert, you have insight that your clients won’t have and that dramatically shifts your perspective, making you very different from your clients. So take the spotlight off of you, and turn it toward your ideal client as you follow these steps to creating your ideal client persona:

Step 1: Gather basic data

Begin by outlining basic information about your ideal client. This will typically come from four types of data:

• Demographic data, such as age, gender, and income
• Psychographic data, such as attitudes, values, and interests
• Geographic data, such as state, county, and city
• Behavioral data, such as brand preference, style, and habits

Make your data lists thorough and exhaustive. You want to capture as much detail about your ideal client as possible.

Step 2: Personify the data

Now it’s time to bring that generic data to life with a persona. What is her name and where does she live? Is she married? Have children? What is her current occupation? Who was she in the past? Who is she today? And who does she hope to be in the future? Again, be detailed. Feel free to add physical characteristics (or a photo like the one in this post) as well. Make it up! Here’s an example of how that might look:

Name: Sophia Goodwin, 52
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Status: Married for 18 years to Mark Goodwin
Children: Angela, 12 and Jacob, 15
Occupation: VP of Marketing for General Mills
Income: $137,000 per year + incentive bonuses

• Grew up in Los Angeles, CA and went to college at USC (majored in Journalism)
• Met her husband at UCLA vs. USC football game (husband is Bruin)
• Thought she would be a TV news anchor
• Interned for Nestle’s marketing department her senior year and changed career course
• Earned MBA while working full-time
• Moved to MN 11 years ago to advance career at General Mills
• Type-A personality and goals-driven; likes to win
• May not look it, but is an avid runner and extremely health-conscious; eats natural and organic foods
• Plans to retire in 8-10 years, but doesn’t envision retirement to mean the end of her working career
• Contemplating her “second act” after corporate life
• Of course, she wants it to be big…

Step 3: Create a narrative

Now for the fun part! It’s time to tell her story. Write a narrative, from the point of view of your ideal client. That means using “I,” “me,” and “my,” statements like this:

“My name is Sophia Goodwin. I’m 52, married to my best friend and have two terrific kids. I met Mark, my husband, at a UCLA v. USC football game during my senior year at USC (go Trojans!). He was in the middle of completing his law degree. Today he runs a private law practice not far from my office at General Mills.

Throughout childhood and most of college, I wanted to be a TV news anchor. But I was late applying for journalism internships and ended up taking a marketing internship at Nestle in Glendale, CA instead. I’ve been in marketing ever since and am now an VP of Marketing for the natural foods division of General Mills. I truly love what I do, but I don’t want to die doing it.

I plan to retire from corporate life before I turn 65 to start a business. I know I don’t look the part, but I’ve competed in several endurance running events and am a bit of a fanatic about healthy living. My post-retirement business will be a personal training/lifestyle company that helps sedentary people over 50 get active and get fit. It will be the career I pursue out of pure passion and enjoyment. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to prosper from my work. This will be a real business (not a retirement hobby) that I would love to pass on to my kids one day…”

You get the idea. Get inside her head. Develop her story as she would tell it. Bring her to life.

Now, focus on your Sophia

Don’t worry. You won’t starve trying to serve the needs and interests of one client or prospect. Others will come along too. They’ll see pieces of themselves in Sophia and naturally gravitate toward you. Before long, you’ll discover there are more Sophias in the world than you imagined.

How has creating an ideal client persona helped you better market your business?
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It’s commonly known that when people know, like and trust you, they are more likely to do business with you. Content marketing helps in that process. As people experience and gain value from your content, you become known, are more liked and develop trust with them.

But it takes more than producing great content to close a sale. You’ve also got to be a strategic thinker. A tactical professional thinks, “I need to make a sale today,” while a strategic professional thinks, “I want to make a client for life.”

Of course, the ultimate professional thinks both tactically and strategically, creating great content while meeting strategic objectives that forwards the bottom line and builds long-term success. Here are three ways to blend tactics and strategy into your content marketing efforts:

Build friendships

If people do business with people they know, like and trust, then chances are they’re doing business with friends. So the more you can create a sense of friendship and community around your content, the more likely you are to close sales as a result of it.

This starts with identifying your ideal client and uncovering their ultimate need. What is the problem, issue or concern that your expertise and knowledge can resolve? Offer content that helps your client succeed and you’ll gain their trust and respect for life.

Beyond being a resource for answers, friendship is also about listening, finding common ground, and empathizing. Be sure to spend time asking questions and then just listen. Through your client’s stories and experiences you’ll gain valuable insight into their needs, but also be known as at the professional who truly cares and understands them.

Deliver impeccable value

When you’re thinking strategically, it’s much easier to create content that offers value. Instead of offering content that showcases what you can do for your prospects, you give them information that makes them smarter and more successful.

This may feel counterintuitive. Doesn’t making them smarter reduce their need for your services? Not necessarily.

Most any professional service is a learned skill. Figuring out the “how to” is easy. The hard part is execution and that’s where you come in, helping people implement what your content has taught them. Educating your prospects positions you as the trusted expert and advisor most likely to bring what they now know to life.

Of course, along the way you must also create motivation to do business with you and overcome any lingering objections. This is best done with content that exposes problems that your prospects feel are unacceptable.

For example, an executive coach might write a blog post titled, “5 Ways to Create a Climate for Change,” that describes the high cost of organizations that resist change and explains how a leader can encourage positive change in his organization.

Follow up

Research proves that the more you follow up, the more likely you are to close a sale. Your odds increase to nearly 80% by your fifth contact with a prospect. Yet most professionals stop after one contact.

That means you’re writing one blog post and expecting to close a sale. Or you’re being inconsistent about delivering valuable content to your audience, only doing it when you need a sale (tactical). Or worse, you’re relying on a single distribution method for your content (e.g. your blog) and ignoring the other ways to reach your ideal clients.

The sales adage, “Your fortune is in your follow up,” is true. Your content marketing strategy must use different and consistent tactics to stay in touch with your audience. For example, post to your blog and then share a link on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Also, go through your CRM database and reach out directly with a contact who might find value from your latest article or blog post.

Mix it up. Be different. But, whatever you do — follow up!

These are just a few ways to be more strategic with content marketing. What are some additional ways you’ve tried?

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