WSS #0089: My Marketing Content Isn't Resonating. My God, What Shall I Do?

Show Notes

How do you write good? That’s the question we ask our guest today! Laryssa is a trained writer who not only writes business and marketing copy but self-published a fiction book and also teaches creative writing to undergrads at Rutgers University. So when it comes to talking about writing good… er, real good… er, the goodest… Laryssa knows her stuff. She has some great stories to share about how to fund and promote a self-published book plus lots of insight into what it takes to create good business content, even if you’re not a writer.

In This Episode We Talk About

• The lamentable state of customer service and why you should never ask for a large, buttered popcorn
• How Laryssa funded her first book through a Kickstarter campaign, plus the amazingly dedicated promotional campaign she ran to get the word out
• How “academia” frowns on self-publishing and why we think that happens
• What makes good writing good and bad writing bad when it comes to your business and blog
• Why sometimes even the best writers can’t see what’s not working about their content
• The importance of getting an outside perspective on your writing
• Whether any of us can truly self-edit and what you need to do if you try
• What you need to think about if you’re planning to hire an editor or writer (it may not be what you think)
• The difference between bad writing and bad writing (no, that’s not a mistake) and why even “bad” writers can be good
• How to get past the pencil in front of you and convey what you want to say to your customers and prospects
• Plus we talk about how to set your expectations when it comes to budgeting for and hiring a copywriter, why “a blog post” is a waste of time and money and we name guacamole the official food of podcasting

Links & Resources

• Visit Laryssa’s website to find out more about her creative writing and editing services
• Visit The Prescribed Burn website and find out more about Laryssa’s book (or better yet, buy it!)
• Follow Laryssa on Twitter @ryssiebee
• Read Buttered Popcorn Syndrome: Why Two Directives Are One Too Many
• Read Laryssa’s interview with us from 2012 when she was first starting her Kickstarter campaign: Kickstarting A Dream: How One Aspiring Writer Is Using The Web And Social Marketing To Make Hers A Reality
• Read 5 Steps For Creating Great Blog Post Content Every Time where Ralph and a commenter disagree on whether or not writers can self-edit

Your Marketing Action Item

From Laryssa: Take time every few months to do housekeeping on your social networks, especially Twitter and Instagram. Get rid of people you don’t enjoy engaging with or whose content doesn’t interest you and pare your account down to what you really want to see. Then you’ll enjoy being online and be able to connect with people who matter to you.

 

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