Pat Flynn
If you’re writing to a blank computer screen, who are you writing to?
…Yourself.
This is fine if you start each piece with “Dear Diary,” but in the world of Internet marketing and blogging, writing to yourself can be the biggest mistake that you can make—especially if you’re spending lots of time creating information products that you eventually want to sell.
Before each blog post that I write, I think about who will be my reader. Not readers. . . reader. Singular. I often choose a previous commenter, and pretend to write specifically for them.
When I created my study guide ebook, I imagined one person the entire time that I wanted to help pass the test. I even gave this person a profile, with a name, age, location, likes and dislikes. It may sound kind of weird, but it works. I receive at least 2 or 3 emails from my customers each week saying that my guide was super easy to read and understand, and they often say it’s like I was right there with them as they were studying.
Why This Works?
Writing for Joesph, a 34-year old engineer from San Francisco, who only has a couple of hours of free time each day to study, is a lot easier than writing to Mr. Blank Computer Screen. After reading that profile, didn’t you just imagine what Joseph might look like in your head?
By imagining a specific person as “your reader”, your writing becomes clearer, the progression of what you write makes total sense, and you have a lot more feeling behind your words, which can absolutely translates to your audience.
So, Who is YOUR Reader?
If you have a blog or an online business, do yourself a favor and make up a person with a profile who is your ideal reader. This will not only help you understand who your ideal audience is, which will improve your writing, but it will also remind you of exactly why you’re doing what you’re doing.
Now it’s your turn. What is your ideal audience member’s:
- Name:
- Age:
- Occupation:
- Location:
- Pains:
- Why He/She is Interested In What You Have To Say:
I’ll start by using my LEED exam website and study guide as an example:
- Name:Joseph
- Age: 34
- Occupation: Engineer
- Location: San Francisco, CA.
- Pains: Works hard at his job, but wants to climb the corporate ladder. He wants to pass the LEED exam as a way to improve his resume, but he doesn’t have much free time. He’s also struggling while looking for good, organized information about the exam.
- Why He/She is Interested In What I Have to Say: I have an easy-to-use, organized resource that he can use to find all of the information he needs to pass the exam. I passed myself, so he knows I personally have experience with it.
You try =)
