Monday, February 7, 2011

Business Writing: Know Your Audience

know your audienceBefore you sit down to write anything, there are three important questions you first need to ask yourself. Don’t even think about writing a word, until you know the answer to each of these questions.

Question #1: Who are you writing to/for?

The answer to this question should shape every piece of written content you produce and use to promote your business. If you don’t know the answer, how can you successfully reach the people to whom you want to sell your product or service?

Question #2: How well do you know your customers?

Do you truly know the needs, desires, and expectations of your customers? Or do you blindly throw your business into the world and hope and pray the right people find you and invest in your business? A serious mistake many make is writing content they think will attract potential customers, when they don’t have a clue as to who their target market is. Do not make this mistake. Get to know your prospective clients/customers from the get-go.

Question #3: Are you writing material based on your customers’ needs?

Never approach the task of writing articles for your website to promote your business with the notion that if you simply write keyword-rich articles, it will bump your site in search engine ranks. Yes, keywords are an important part of creating SEO-friendly websites and blogs, but it is not the most important aspect. Your website needs to be your voice. Use the language and ideas that will interest the people you want to reach.

final tip:

Start spending more time getting to know your customers. Find out who they are, what they want, and why they want it. Then use this information to write articles and blog posts tailored to meet those needs.

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