Business owners should write their own content!

Surprised? So was I!

A haggard business owner promptly responded with these tired words when I introduced myself as a content writer during a recent IT product conclave. I inquired further, intrigued. He explained that he had worked with a few content writers in the past and found that despite their language expertise, they were not able to get what he was looking for - especially the technical details and the values required for technology marketing. Hence his solution was to write content all by himself. Needless to say, I was shocked. But it also opened up many other questions.

1.  Is it a scalable option for business owners to create their own content?

2. Why would business owners consider this option?

3. What are the risks involved when business owners decide to take content in their own hands?

4. So, what's the solution?

Here are some researched answers that could be of help:   

       

As a business owner, you have to be at many places at the same time, multitask, and focus on a million activities from hiring to technology to finance. Your skill sets would be best used to set up the technology-enabled business at the entrepreneurial stage and to scale up when you meet success. In addition, donning the hat of a content writer is definitely not a practical approach or a long-term solution.

But business owners who are pushed to consider this option do quote unsuccessful content experiences. The reasons could vary from rushed decisions while choosing a content writer, incomplete briefing, sketchy content plans, and zero content goals to an inconsistent content approach and poor means of measuring content effectiveness.

The risks involved are plenty.

a. Any new venture starts at the peak - your energy levels; enthusiasm and inspiring ideas are at their best. But when there are a million other details to take care of, your content focus looses steam and your content engagement suffers.

b.  As a business owner, you are the authority on the subject. But with this expertise comes the dilemma of what to convey to your audience and how many experts get caught with detailed technical explanations that their audience cannot and need not relate to. Complicated content will not connect with your audience.

c. Content writers modulate content presentation - from textual paragraphs to visual imagery and videos. This content expertise has to be taken advantage of.

d. Content writing for ecommerce or content writing for web includes the ability to fine-tune - edit and proofread content for language, spelling, and grammar. While many examples exist where business owners write great content, this activity is best trusted with a skilled content writer, else you will have a poor patchwork of hazily collated content.

The following article takes the example of website content writing to explain the drawback of business owners writing their content: https://growthhackers.com/posts/business-owners-never-ever-write-copy  

So, what's the solution? Well, you are the expert on what you have to provide to your audience, who your audience is, and how you would want your audience to respond to your content. The content writer is the expert on how your story can be crafted. A healthy interaction will leverage the expertise of both the content writer and the business owner to create great content.

a. Ensure that you spend a lot of time at the ideation stage, working with your content writer to clarify the purpose of the content approach, what your story is, how it will be told, to whom, and when.

b. Ensure that your content writer submits a content plan and calendar.

c. Assess samples before you get started on the assignment - to ensure that the content tone and approach reflect your style.

d. Assess content engagement at every stage and, yes, be ready to change your plans.

e. Finally, trust your content writer's expertise to establish connect with your target audience through well-crafted content.

Content writing for customer engagement is a focused activity, requiring unwavering attention and time. A skilled content writer for an ecommerce business or for a digitally enabled sales is a listener, analyst, planner and visionary who can partner with you, craft your values and build trust with your target audience. The purpose of content is to tell your story skillfully to your audience - you have the story, your skilled content writer has the skill. All you need is an effective collaboration of the two.             

For more detail visit @ http://www.addkraft.com/

https://in.linkedin.com/in/addkraft

http://www.contentwritingforecommerce.com/

Positive Reinforcement: Content Mantra for e-Commerce Companies

"Do well in your exams and we'll get you your favorite bicycle"

"What a wonderful child you are! You cleaned your room all by yourself!"

"Better share your toy with your sister, else we'll give away all your toys"

Yes, we've spent a good part of our childhood being witnesses to many million examples of positive and negative reinforcements. But wait! Look around and you'll see subtle and direct examples of this concept all around you, in infinite forms, even today:

End-of-the-year appraisals and performance incentive

Wear a helmet and avoid being pulled up by the traffic police

Shop at your neighborhood supermarket regularly and get discount coupons

In fact, some reinforcements have such powerful impact on our thought process, preferences, and subconscious mind that they even shape our personalities and influence most of our important life decisions. Given the immense significance of positive and negative reinforcements in all aspects of our lives, how can the e-commerce world be far away? Go to any site and you'll see indirect hints to loud proclamations sending us messages:

                Sign in today and get a discount!

                Book today to win early bird prizes!

The argument on the more effective form of reinforcement - positive or negative - is a never-ending saga, but e-commerce content definitely seems to be leaning towards positive reinforcement. These sites use content to focus on three main aspects of human nature: the need to have a sense of belonging, the need to pamper one's self-esteem, and the need to be recognized. We love to be motivated and to be "stroked". In turn, we often return the favor by making the motivator our favorite person, someone we would want to hang out with and look up to while making decisions. This is the primary advantage of using content with positive reinforcements - your sites will definitely get repeat visitors who will soon turn into dedicated followers.

Let's look at a few examples:

1. Most Indian e-commerce sites are already sharpening their thinking pens, now that the festive season is around the corner. The sites are overflowing with positive reinforcement content - mega sales, out of the world discount, unique designs, and festival countdown to the discount date (the site actually has a stop watch ticking away!) - there is a lot of goodies to look forward to!

2. A footwear site encourages customers to share pictures of their experience wearing their products - out on trekking, at the restaurant, at their office desk, etc. The response is phenomenal since these pictures appear on the home page of the site.

3. A food retail website encourages us to choose our preferred food "box" - combo sets of fruits, vegetables, meat, etc. The site helps us in planning our weekly food plan and promises the luxury of receiving our planned boxes at our doorstep. It ends with the message that it is "the easiest way to eat brilliantly!"

4. A site selling coffee calls itself a "for-giving company" and encourages visitors to be part of a unique social cause -  every time we enjoy delicious coffee we also contribute to a noble cause.

5. A site-selling cookie just says "Yummy" - what better encouragement than this! But it does get better...they also make us the offer of a gift box with the words, "It all sounds sweeter when you say it with our freshly baked cookies"

These are all genuine promises of remarkable experiences we will be taken through when we use their services or products. All these subtle to loud-and-clear messages are examples of great content that aim for our heart and are bang on target. Content writing for ecommerce is about on creating great content with positive reinforcement messages; you will definitely reach your audience much faster and with a much clearer message than with any other form of content.

For more detail visit @ http://www.contentwritingforecommerce.com/

http://www.addkraft.com/

contact@addkraft.com