Writing Articles To Find Clients? 10 Things You Must NEVER Forget

If you’re new to content marketing and you intend to write articles to find clients, one thing you must know is that it all starts with a great article. On the web, articles serve as your fishing line to draw new readers to your website and engage with your business. 

There are two considerations to a well-crafted piece: grabbing the interest of your reader and then keeping them on the page long enough to the end where your CTA (call-to-action) lives.

In today’s climate, great articles shouldn’t directly sell or pitch your products. Rather they should inspire your readers and get them fired up emotionally. Emotions are your friend and the more you can affect how your reader feels about your topic, the more likely they are to stick with the article all the way to the end. That's the golden ticket to find clients online.

Why does this matter?

Two reasons. One, you need to make your point and often it takes more than just a few paragraphs to do so. Two, great articles that are authoritative are laid out like great content produced by a journalist. This means the call-to-action is at the end in your very short bio.

If you want to be taken seriously as a writer and authority in your topic, you have to ACT like the authority and not cheapen the reader’s experience by pitching or selling them something mid-way through your point. A journalist’s objective is always to tell a great story, when it comes to writing, your objective should be the same.

Why does this work?

It’s simple, when you do this well, your reader is exponentially more likely to read to the end. They feel the value in your words and respected by you for not cheapening the experience by asking them to “do something” mid-thought. When you inspire readers in this way, it engenders respect. That simple quality is monumentally important as you try to find clients and sell something to people you've never met online.

By honoring some of life’s simple realities (we’re all very busy, we’re inundated with content and fatigued by having to read through so much garbage to find something good) you gain fans.  Those fans are the very people who not only need your services BUT after reading your article are the most likely candidates to click on your offer and go to your website.

Aside from the way you use to deliver your message, a few other basic writing skills dramatically affect a person’s interest in reading an article to the end. Strong writing, compelling language, succinct points, a well-developed point of view and a logical argument from beginning to end all matter.  What works against you is redundancy, jargon, disorganization, talking over your reader’s heads or dumbing your ideas down can all cause your reader to click off.

Here’s my formula for writing a great blog/article to help you find clients online:

1. Research your topic. You need to know what’s on the web about your topic and how contemporary writers are talking about your subject. In this case Google is your friend. Open a search browser and look for the keywords and phrases that match the topic you want to cover. Try different phrases to see what else is out there.
2. Remember that timing matters. If your topic has been recently covered, consider what you can add to the topic that expands it or is shows off your unique point of view. If it has been covered in the past 90 days on a site you want to publish on, save the topic for another day.
3. Write a straightforward, easy to understand headline. Avoid being cute, coy or overly wordy in your headlines. Also, don’t over embellish or oversell what’s in the article. Your headline is your announcement. It tells the reader’s what to expect and while a little drama can help make your point, over embellishing or lying in a title will hurt you in the long run. As they say, it doesn’t pay to put lipstick on a pig. Do it right and be honest about what’s inside once the reader clicks your headline.
4. Cover the basics. You need an introduction, body/middle and a conclusion. Don’t end your article by dropping the mic and walking off stage. Conclude your point in a few sentences so readers understand the conclusion to your piece.
5. End it well, that's your final opportunity to find clients. The last thing the reader should see is a 2-3 sentence call-to-action that has a link or two to direct the reader to your website or your social media page. Don’t overly complicate the CTA with paragraphs of data or why you’re qualified to help them. If the reader is impressed with your article because you have delighted them with your ideas, they will click over.
6. Avoid jargon.  It’s too hard for lay people to understand and the feeling they are left with is not positive.
7. In a similar way, don’t dumb down your message. Talk to people directly and avoid pontificating, lecturing or talking down.
8. Remember that your readers are not your peers but are potential clients. Talk to your readers in the same way that you would if they were in your office or on the phone for an intake session or free consultation. When you want to find clients online, the ability to be conversational is critical.
9. Link to your sources. If you cite data or statistics in your article, be sure to link out to credible sources for that information online. It’s important that you back up your opinions, journalists always tell us where they get their data from and you should to. And extra tip: to ensure that you don’t lose the reader, also make sure your links open in a new window so you don’t lose the traffic on your website.
10. Finally, everyone wants to know how long an article should be. That’s simple, as long as it takes to fully make your point. And clearly, the point is what you have announced in your headline. There’s a lot of great research out there about content length and I’m a big believer in the “manifesto” article (2500 or so words). There’s great SEO value there. But for your everyday blogs, ideal length for me is 650-1100 words. But again, modulate the length based on the topic. In a great piece, if you complete all of the items here, the length is irrelevant. Just avoid super short pieces. I tell clients no fewer than 400 words.

I’ll leave you with this, if you want to become a great writer, the only way is by writing. Just as you’ll never learn to play the piano by reading a book or learn to cook by watching TV, you won’t learn to write unless you try. Make a list of articles you think your readers need and start there. Then practice, practice, practice.

Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) discussed in her book Big Magic that she wrote every day in her 20s. That’s one entire decade of writing. Every. Single. Day. And look where she is today.  You’re not required to take writing on like Ms. Gilbert did, but imagine what might happen if you did! 

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This article was reprinted with permission from the author.