Finding Your Voice
Is Your Content Distinctive?
A few years ago a friend asked me if I would promote his product, I agreed and as a thank you he wrote me a really good email which I checked then sent out.
Within 10 minutes, I had 3 replies asking me if my email account had been hacked.
There was nothing wrong with his email it just wasn’t in my style.
Good content marketers have a very recognisable style; if you removed all identifying marks from all the emails I receive every day ,I am sure I could tell you who wrote 80% of them after the first paragraph.
That is purely down to the style.
You need to develop a writing style.
Go to your local bookshop and pick up 2 books by different authors and compare their styles.
You’ll be amazed at how distinctive each author can be.
Lee Child or CJ Sansom are great examples of authors with distinctive styles. Look at them, read a few books and without looking at the covers you’ll soon be able to recognise who wrote the book you are reading
Short, Snappy chapters, cliffhanger chapter endings = Lee Child
Short sentences, longer paragraphs, 1st person = CJ Sansom
Whether you are writing articles or emails, either is a great style to copy.
However, You won’t develop a style overnight; it takes time.
I can look back at the content I wrote last year and notice how my style has changed in that short time.
Start by writing simple stories to yourself about things that have happened to you, your first interview, the first dollar you earned online, stories and personal anecdotes help build your style.
Then take the best and weave them into your content and watch what happens.
Try It!
I am Mark Thompson, and I am a storyteller inside a content marketer body!
