This is part 2 of the series “Why Using Tactics As A Freelance Writer Is Important” and in Part 1 we looked at identifying your target audience which is an essential element and ingredient of any successful publication, whether it be an article, blog post or a longer piece like an eBook for instance.
In this part I am going into a bit more detail about the three most important objectives of those types of publications.
The Need Or Want
When you have done your research for your article or blog post, you most likely found your topic by looking at what people currently need or want with relation to your chosen topic. You may have decided to write about your chosen topic because you might have a personal interest in it, perhaps having the same need or want which then became your topic of choice.
At this point in time you know the need is out there for your topic. Your first objective in writing your blog post or article should be to emphasize the specific need or want to your reader, ensuring your target person is able to relate to and resonate with whatever it is that you’re writing about. You want to create a personal connection with your reader with this objective, making them feel that they are not alone and that there are indeed others whom are experiencing the same issue or require the same solution.
They. Need. You. To. Understand.
The Ideal Solution
With this second objective of your masterpiece, it is time to create the desire or longing for a solution to whatever the need it is that you are writing about by highlighting what the ideal solution would be to said need or desire.
For example if your reader is looking to lose weight around the belly within the shortest possible time doing the least amount of physical exercise, and behind the scenes you have either developed or found a solution that will achieve your reader just that, then this is where you want to make your reader aware of this ideal or perfect solution you have, whatever it might be; a product you found that really works or a quick piece of practical advice you have tried and it worked.
There. Is. A. Solution. And. You. Can. Give. It. To. Them.
Call To Action
In internet marketing a Call To Action or CTA usually refers to the step where you have to open your wallet and take out your credit card as you are about to buy your perfect solution. However, a “call to action” in terms of article writing simply refers to the step you want your readers to take next in order for them to get the results that your ideal solution above promises. In other words, the third objective of a blog post or article should simply tell the reader what to do, where to do it and what commitment is required in order to do it, regardless if it’s physical or financial.
Ensure this step is clear and as simple as possible for anyone to follow.
Your Ideas
Since I am convinced that there are some creative geniuses among you guys out there, I know you have other elements and objectives that you’ve found to be working best for your audience and your writing voice. The rest of us would absolutely love to hear your creative ideas and suggestions you might have in this regard, so please don’t be shy and share them with us in the comments below.
I have not written Part 3 of this series yet and although it is due to be published within two weeks from now, an amazing idea just came to mind. Would you like to be part of it?
Is there anything specific that you would like me to discuss in Part 3 of “Why Using Tactics As A Freelance Writer Is Important”? Feel free to share your ideas with me in the comments below and depending on how easily we can manage it, I might even mention your name by using your question in the next part of this series.
Until we meet again, successful and creative writing to you!
About Ruan Oosthuizen
Twitter: freedom9to5
says:
When people are searching through the search engines, they are looking for answers.That is why giving them what they want will help get the customer.
This is part 2 of the series "Why Using Tactics As A Freelance Writer Is Important" automotive testing tools
and in Part 1 we looked at identifying your target audience which
Nice blog with good info. I really like coming back here often. And wish you would create more such interesting blogs.
I like this post. information that you have provided in your post. It is really helpful.
It is one of the best post I have ever read about.
Tips dan Trick recently posted..Tips Mempercantik Kulit Dengan Alpukat
what better way to understand your readers than to ask and tell people what to do (Call2Action) right?
bert recently posted..Vooraankondiging MKB Marketing Masterclass
Twitter: FreeBlogginLife
says:
The choice will always be the readers’ whether he/she will take action, but steering our readers towards open, honest and transparent CTA’s is our job, correct!
Ruan | FreelanceWritingTactics.com recently posted..Case Study | The Birth Of A Freelance Blogger – Chapter 1 Part 1: “Fertilization”
Each of these points is worth considering. Great share, Ruan. Keep up the good work.
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Thanks, I most certainly will try my best, Kelly!
All the best to you!
Twitter: pls_tell_me_how
says:
The article is very much interesting and instructive. I think the freelancer writers will benefit much from this valuable write-up. It will enrich their knowledge in writing freelance articles.
GH Kemal recently posted..Royal Bengal Tiger – Glory Of Bangladesh
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
I’m thrilled you liked it!
I think it’s extremely important to make clear that you really understand the problem of your target audience and try to create emotions in the reader. Therefore you need to describe a typical problem in the beginning and how it make you feel. Then you can offer a solution.
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
I think you are spot on, Michael!
Ruan Oosthuizen recently posted..Content Traffic Generation: 5 Guaranteed Strategies Freelance Writers Should Follow
Great points, Ruan. Motivation is indeed important for writing. Thanks for this informative share.
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Glad to see you got some value from it, Abhishek!
Ruan Oosthuizen recently posted..Content Traffic Generation: 5 Guaranteed Strategies Freelance Writers Should Follow
Every point is one I hadn’t really considered, which is great! Like using a voice recorder to reduce writing time. I was thinking about that earlier but for a completely different reason, so that someone else could save time, and I just type it up for them. The timezones thing is genius, and the 15 minute milestone is fantastic. I think I’ve tried that before, but no so regimented. It worked before, so I can’t see why it won’t work with a 15 minute goal in mind.
Santosh recently posted..Most Loved Destinations Around The World During Christmas
It’s not that easy to succeed in CTA when writing. That’s why, in my opinion anyway, you need special CTA buttons inserted in the article, to catch their attention.
Cristian Stan recently posted..Steam Mop Reviews
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Agreed to a certain degree Christian. I do want to emphasize that buttons specifically are not the only way to illustrate a clear CTA.
The section I added “Your Ideas” at the bottom of this post is a clear example. Not only the actual physical method you use (attention-grabbing headline, graphics, CTA buttons) but the way in which you present that is more important to me .
Have a look at the specific wording I used in that section and tell me if that made you feel valued and that I actually really do care about your opinions and ideas and absolutely LOVE it when you share them with me in the comments (which you did)?
Thanks for contributing to this post Christian, I appreciate your time!
True, Ruan; but count the number of your comments on this page and then compare to the number of visits this article received. Do you still think words go better without buttons?
Cristian Stan recently posted..Best Masticating Juicer
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Christian, I think it all depends on what your CTA is? I mean to encourage readers to leave their thoughts in the comments – are you suggesting one does that with a CTA button? Have you done that before or have an example I could have a look at?
I mean proposing they check out a deal of a product you’re promoting is a completely different story and without a doubt I agree CTA buttons are effective; I use them myself.
Regarding the number of comments – I think it’s quite debatable as there are a number of factors playing a role in the number of comments you receive. I think the topic of choice plays a bigger part of them all.
Look at the following post I did in March:
http://weblogbetter.com/2012/03/07/10-valuable-steps-to-traffic-generation-one/
Now look and at the number of comments – 94
Then look at the CTA… Absolutely NOTHING to get excited about.
Then another interesting observation is, look at all the posts around that time on the blog. See the average number of comments posts received? Compare them to the amount of comments posts receive on this particular blog at present? Make your own conclusion…
Ruan Oosthuizen recently posted..Content Traffic Generation: 5 Guaranteed Strategies Freelance Writers Should Follow
Twitter: rancorinfotech
says:
Nice points, It’s important to research what users are looking for so that you can easily target them.
Aasma recently posted..Manufacturing Management Software
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Spot on, Aasma!
It is not easy to write someting if we lack motivation. I eager now to start as a freelance writer.
Bagaimana recently posted..Bagaimana Cara Terbaik Mendapatkan Backlink Dari Blog Komen?
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Hi Bagaimana!
It’s not as easy as many think but it’s entirely worth the effort and HUGELY rewarding! Again, as I’ve invited others here in the comments, you are more than welcome to go and subscribe to my current site to keep in touch for when I do launch my new site, which is going to be centered around my journey from start to finish with all successes and failures becoming a successful freelance writer.
Go here: http://freelancewritingtactics.com and just watch the video is you’d like but the important thing is that you subscribe – we won’t lose contact and you’ll be one of the first to follow me on my journey!
See you there!
Twitter: philipalex08
says:
Hi Ruan,
You said it right about the Call to Action. If you don’t ask people to do something, for example in blog posts ask them to share or comment they are more likely to do that.
Or in videos you should never end your video with something like “Thanks for watching.Goodbye”.
Ask the viewer to subscribe or if you’re promoting something say something like “See you on my blog”.
These are some things that I learned and they are proven to work.
I just want to say that I really enjoyed reading this post and I’m looking for more posts from you, enjoy your week.
~Philip
Philip A. recently posted..How to drive traffic to your blog without Google?
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Don’t you also just love it to receive a comment like the one you’ve just given me which makes one feel that every little thing and all the hard work that goes into it – it’s more than worth the time and effort!
Philip, I wish I could give you an address at this very moment but the truth is the site I would like you to check out is not up and live yet! How frustrating! As I’ve explained to Alex below, you are also more than welcome to go and check out my site http://freelancewritingtactics.com and subscribe there in order to follow me on my case study I’m super excited about!
FreelanceWritingTactics.com does not have an awful lot of content on yet and to be honest I am not sure if it will survive seeing that a new project excites me a lot more and at the moment enjoys most of my time, but at least we won’t lose contact and I really would like to work on a good friendship/blogging relationship with you! ;)
All the best to you!
Twitter: ivorytalk
says:
although, I am not yet a free lance writer but This information is not useless to me because I actually grabbed more than enough from it
Tojola Bolaji recently posted..7 Practical Tips to Enjoying your writing for bloggers and writers
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Glad you got some value from it Tojola!
Twitter: CSAlexMorris
says:
“For example if your reader is looking to lose weight around the belly within the shortest possible time doing the least amount of physical exercise,” I think the Christian Bale diet is best there. For the 2004 film The Machinist he decided to lose a vast amount of weight to play an insomniac. His solution? Not to eat for a fortnight. He looked thoroughly emaciated for the whole ordeal! As for freelance writing; it’s a tricky business these days. I think only established writers can really do it, otherwise you’re just hovering in the background writing $20 1,000 word articles about the ten best lavatory seats. As an example.
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
Alex, I strongly disagree with you. I am busy with a personal case study proving this to be completely untrue. I have seen the contrary in other writers whom have inspired me and now I’m busy proving it to myself.
My new site is not up and running yet but if you’d like to know exactly when the new site gets launched and would like to follow me along on my journey of how I personally became a successful freelance writer, a fully documented case study from start to ‘finish’ including everything in-between, failure and successes, then feel free to go subscribe to my newsletter at http://freelancewritingtactics.com
Note that FreelanceWritingTactics.com won’t be used for this purpose but just to ensure we don’t lose contact if you’re interested in seeing how it can be done – a kind suggestion to subscribe there in the meantime :)
Keep your head high my friend; there’s a winner in every single one of us!
Twitter: indiagetahead
says:
Very useful information….although its a long way for me to travel before become a freelance writer.
Santanu recently posted..How Google interprets links to URLs ending with a campaign tag?
Twitter: FreelanceTactic
says:
If you have a strong enough desire to become a freelance writer, Santanu then you’ll get there in due time – just keep on keeping on!
All the best!