Does Your Content Deserve a “Kingly Crown”?

As a blogger, you want your posts to be read, right?

Blogging is nothing fancy, it’s not flashy, and definitely isn’t complicated. What it boils down to is great writing, formatting the writing well, and placing it in a pretty (if you have a nice looking design) shell for the web to read…

Well maybe… Your posts MIGHT get read if you do things correctly.

This leads me to a great point: content IS NOT king. Content is more like “person” – a very general subject to speculate.

GREAT content – the kind that leads the pack among lesser valuable content – is king!

If you aren’t 100% sure that your writing is being read from start to bottom or being read at all for that matter, you need to find out why and to do something about it.

Furthermore, if your content IS being read and nothing else happens, you need to ask yourself if you believe your “content is king”. Does your content deserve a crown?

The Formula: Casual + Creative + Compelling = Cash!

In order to write great content, it has to do one thing – be compelling! Compelling content is equivalent to cash!

This is the kind of content that reaches out and slaps people in the face, which gets their attention. Then as soon as their eyes hit the first line they hear the song of sirens (you know, mermaids) and are drawn in.

The writing will ring the deepest emotions they have and play scenery like an old homemade movie in their mind as they experience the moments.

Great writing forms an opinion that is agreed upon by readers and as soon as they commit, the writer pulls the trigger: “Follow through with THIS specific action, just as you’ve already agreed. That makes sense, right?”

So, how does compelling content equate to cash?

With any online business, content is currency and is ultimately what money is exchanged for or because of. This is true with any type of online business.
Think of these two scenarios:

You sell or promote an informational product. Content IS your product in this case. Money is traded for your compelling and informative content, because of your compelling copy (which is still content!).
You sell toilet bowls. You KNOW your toilet bowls are the best, and your content is compelling towards that idea. People agree you pull the trigger, and a toilet bowl has been sold. Money is traded because of your compelling and informative content.

Hey, You Failed to Explain What “Casual” Has To Do With This!

Casual puts the “compel” in your content. Writing casually does a multitude of good for you.

Your writing is more understandable. Your writing is easier to read. Your writing is easier to connect with. Your writing is more persuasive. Um, shall I continue? guest not

I think you get the point. The best way to sum it up is to write like you’re talking to other people.

Before some of my posts (not all, I won’t lie to you about this…) I consider the topic I wish to discuss and think about the real problems that others might face which I can address.

Then, I write down these problems as if someone is standing over my shoulder telling me their inner conflictions on the subject. After that, I jot down some immediate solutions (the ideas come fast).

With these notes prepared, I get ready to write. In order to write effectively, I pretend I’m talking to a group of people all eager to learn how to use these solutions for getting rid of their potential problems. If I’m going to talk to these people, I know what I say will be casually expressed.

Why not do the same in writing?

What Can I Do to Improve My Writing?

The short answer – write more often & write it better. The long answer = keep reading ;)

Writing more often is definitely going to increase your abilities. More so than not writing very much. But, you won’t get any better if you don’t learn the elements of GOOD writing.

Writing badly every day won’t get you better at writing quality content. You might however be able to write badly faster.

Having the mindset of improving, researching conversational influence, writing in order to pull emotional response, and building up a specific action is how you make huge improvements with your writing.

Luckily for you, I feel like explaining the long answer today.

Content with subtle commands – Covert Hypnosis

Hypnosis is simply a daydreaming state of mind. What exactly happens when you are daydreaming?

Imagination is at play – your mind wanders into an inner reality. Try this:

Picture yourself…

Walking onto a stage in front of thousands of eager listeners. You are wearing business casual attire and have three massive spotlights illuminating your silhouette and the space around you.

As you walk out to give your presentation you hear the crowd applaud and cheer for you as they see you for the leader you are. The auditorium has a professional aura about it. You wave to the audience as you smile. You realize this is going to be a good time and are glad you’ve made it so far in life. Isn’t this feeling of triumph worth it? The cameras flicker like millions of fireflies, all fighting for the perfect snapshot, for that single perfect moment…

Boss walks in and yells at you for not working.

This is a moment of hypnosis. Hypnosis is no different than simply shutting down your conscious mind.

Replicating a scenario in your mind calls for you to bypass your critical thinking. Ideas that might have consciously been disputed will now work to introduce a lucid state of daydreaming awareness.

Being able to do this in conversation is a powerful tool to have, though pulling it off effectively takes a lot of time and practice for gaining a deeper understanding of it.

I can give you a few basic steps on how it works:

Using words like “Imagine this” or “Picture yourself” will cue in the state of mind desired. Immediately the person reading will know this is a hypothetical scenario and will not argue with reason against what will come next.
Stories explained using sensory helps bring in the reader. By opening up the “story mode” using a cue, bringing up descriptions that involve senses will immediately cause the imagination to simulate these senses: sight, smell, hearing, feeling, and tasting. The above example has many sensory elements involved, see if you can find them.
When detailing a story, don’t get too caught up in it. For compelling content, use the imagination to deeply root your more important opinions so that getting a commitment is more likely to happen. It’s also important to understand the ideal person that makes up your general audience. You wouldn’t use the same type of story for everyone!
You can embed subtle commands within your writing. When you write your stories, make direct statements towards an idea and ask a question that supports your opinion. Ensure that it’s understandable and with a sensible answer. The key isn’t to actually have the question answered; the reader will automatically feel the answer just by seeing the question.
Use pattern interrupts to break the trance. In the above example, the boss walking in was my way of snapping you back to reality.
I understand these are basic explanations, but what do you expect? I could fit enough information on a covert conversation to fill a book, though I am no expert at it yet so let’s save that for another day!

Write Through Your Readers, Not to Your Readers.

This is similar to punching someone. I don’t punch people, but from the Rocky movies, I’ve learned enough to know how it’s done. The idea is to punch through your opponent rather than to simply punch at them.

Keep this idea in mind with your writing. See your content through their eyes and don’t just expect to place words in front of them and have a winner on hand. Using your audience as objectives for your writing will help you tap their emotions more efficiently.

Writing through your readers will give them what they want to read, and will elevate your mundane content to kingly status.

Build your writing around a specific action.

Writing just for the sake of it is ok. Writing in order to get a specific action out of someone is ok too.

What’s NOT ok is having a goal for your writing but writing like you are just doing it for the sake of it.

In order to write compelling content, you’ve got to have a compelling reason for what you are writing. Nothing gives your writing a more compelling reason than having a specific action for someone to take.

There is a multitude of actions you can build your content around. You could be writing a sales letter for which the copy (content) is designed to attract sales.

You could be writing a blog post for getting other people like yourself to subscribe to an RSS feed. Or, you could simply be writing to get comments and social shares on your great ideas.

Whatever the reason, having one is important. This defines a path for your writing, gives you a purpose for solving other’s problems, to begin with, and shows a level of dedication for maintaining discipline by writing with structure.

Is Your Content Ready For a Crown?

Are you ready to take your content up a level? I thought so, but if not, thanks for reading this far just for the hell of it! That just tells me I’m pretty decent at this “compelling” thing.

This brings me to my point: I’m planning some stellar content (a lot of it is already written in drafts) that’s geared to help you build strong foundations for blogging success. I plan to leave no stone unturned. Writing compelling content is only the beginning, and this post has only scratched the surface (in nearly 2000 words!).

You’ll find I’m very systematic with my updates, never deviate from detailing great advice, and I’m truly a genuine, down to earth person wanting to connect with you.

In the meantime, let’s discuss! What separates exceptional content from the rest? Any ideas?

Let’s begin the discussion by commenting below…