Photo courtesy of Simon Forsyth on Flickr
Writers and marketers wear many hats.
Teacher, persuader, motivator, advisor, and entertainer. Which hat are you wearing today?
Deciding that can help you craft your article or blog post so people will want to read it.
Jonathan Morrow of Copyblogger speaks to your plight in Sex,Lies and The Art of Commanding Attention. He recommends using powerful words in your headlines to wake up readers and tempt them to dive into your article.
He emphasizes that certain words – sex, lies, death, money, dangerous – elicit emotional responses and command attention. But that attention is worthless unless your topic words are also in the headline.
Give your readers meat, with some fat for flavor. Continue marbling your substantive content with tasty fat – entertaining bits – to keep them reading right through to the end.
In a subsequent blog post with an equally catchy headline, Mr. Morrow recommends sleeping with your reader…metaphorically speaking. You need to be as in tune with your readers’ deepest hopes and fears as with your lover’s.
You may think that’s not possible if you’re writing for, say, General Motors. But it is – car buyers are worried about paying car loans, concerned about how much they’ll spend on gas, worried about their children’s safety. They also care about their image, about how their car adds to (or detracts from) that image. Plus, there’s the sheer pleasure of owning and driving a shiny new car.
Someone writing for General Motors needs to think about all of that – and, says Morrow, once you figure out your readers’ emotions, write about nothing else.
So, choose your hat – a daring, gorgeous, smart, funny, silly or stylish one one with sequins and frills – get into bed with your readers, and get writing!
