| 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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