How Do I Make Good Content?
The Key To Good Written Content is Habit.
Many of the small business owners I have consulted do not know the first thing about maintaining written content on their websites.
It can be a challenge to get creative with relevant content week after week, or even with monthly-posted content.
Furthermore, the challenge to measure or understand the returns for time and effort invested on content leaves most SBOs I know throwing their hands up and putting their hours of hard work in the trash bin.
Because as it turns out, not ALL content is created equal. It turns out, content that engages readers and solves problems yields much better returns. And so, it seems, good writing is worth the investments of time and money.
Though the task of writing often is usually uncharted territory for many entrepreneurs, most good writers will tell you that simply reading a writing daily will improve your skills.
And while daily reading can be a little challenging but easy to do, daily writing often seems daunting and does not come quite as easily.
They can’t all be inspired pieces, can they?
“You can’t force your writing, it won’t be as good if you’re not inspired.” This was my friend’s response to mentioning a need to establish a daily writing habit.
The concern is a legitimate one, is it not? If the goal is to write often, how much are we sacrificing inspired writing to accomplish a satisfied word count? Especially as it applies to daily short-format writing like blogs or articles.
It is true there is plenty of irrelevant content available on the internet. It
gives the impression that writing often will yield bad content.
Add in the reality of ad-spamming and we really start scratching the surface of low-quality, high-traffic content. For my clients this also has made the practice of writing daily seem like a waste of time.
However, daily writing improves your content output. It also improves your communication skills and opens more opportunities for connection.
What can writing daily do for me?
Writing daily doesn’t have to have unfortunate results. Professional and prolific writers will be the first to tell you, a daily writing goal is an absolute must for better writing. It is not all publish-worthy, but it is all practice.
You certainly didn’t get better by waiting around for inspiration to strike every time. Go look for inspiration and when writing, apply the fundamentals you learn along the way from all the terrible writing you were brave enough to muddle through.
Even if terrible writing only teaches us to trim back the fluff, or simply that not all concepts are ready to be realized, then the less-inspired pieces can still serve their purpose. The more inspired pieces are be appreciated so much more.
The task then, isn’t just to write daily; but placing importance in finding purpose for each piece. We can be inspired BY daily writing, even if it is not itself, inspired writing.
There is a balance to writing and inspiration.
So what is the expectation of inspiration then? How often can we hope to produce content that strikes the heart of humankind and rings through with the kind of unavoidable truth that catches fire and makes people take notice?
What is the expectation of our writing then? How often are we to shuffle through our vocabularies until we find the right combinations of words to make the uninspiring more palatable? And do we really expect readers to join the ride long enough to stick around for lightening to strike?
So then, is the goal to:
A. Look for inspiration so to write daily?
B. Write daily so to be inspired?
C. Wait around daily for either acceptable words or inspiration to strike us full-force in the face?
Many of our days are spent in option C. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It seems to me, inspiration is about what is breathed into us as much as it is breathed from us.
Perhaps options A. and B. on rotation could be a solution?
Consider input and output.
The very word INSPIRE is Latin for “breath into” and does require input. Once input is taken for processing through the ol’ thinking-mill, there is a likelihood you can yield a fair output.
Not so much from no input.
For most creativity and problem-solving, we must have something to draw from; nature, pain, curiosity, delight, ignorance, relationship. All of these and more are experienced personally and interpreted individually but connects us universally.
With the age of easy access to one another, finding input should be quite easy.
Finding input that inspires us to create output worth consuming is tricky, but sorting through the muck to find the treasure is worth the time. So be sure to cultivate a steady and reliable source of inspiring input.
This is key to your output game.
Daily habits guarantee the inspired days will yield your best content.
Your challenge this week, should you choose to accept it:
Establish your daily input and output:
Pay attention to where you go for inspiration. Do not be afraid to make something that is just for you to cut your teeth with.
Do not be afraid to make mistakes along the way. Do not be afraid to take it up again when you do make mistakes.
And when those more inspired days come along, you’ll be equipped with experience and the fundamental strengths to execute your expression with confidence and skill.
Then let’s talk about what it has done for your business in the comments.
