I Blew It!

Okay, I admit it. I blew a writing deadline. The great tamer of writing monsters, the great writing strategist, the great writing partner to coaches didn’t get her piece written when she said she would. Aaarrrggghhh! I hate when I do that. Because I really, really don’t like it when people don’t practice what they preach. And one of the things I preach about ad nauseum is how you never ever have to blow another writing deadline. And then I go and do just that. Aaarrrggghhh! You know why I blew it? Because I didn’t follow my writing strategy. My lovely writing strategy that has me creating an inventory of blog posts and newsletter articles so I never, ever have to blow a writing deadline. My lovely writing strategy that has me blocking out time every week to write – a time when I know I will be at my most creative, most writerly best so you will receive only the very best I have to offer. Instead, here I sit. It’s about two hours past my bedtime, and two annoyed cats are pawing at the keyboard, reminding me it’s past their bedtime too. I’m remembering all the personal emails I wrote, the computer games I played, and the TV programs I watched earlier this evening when I “should”( how I hate that word!) have been writing. Aaarrrggghhh! So here’s the deal, folks. I’m not perfect. (No doubt you had already figured that out.) I may have crafted a terrific writing strategy for my business, but that doesn’t mean I always implement it. Does that mean I give up on my writing strategy? Heck no. Because 9 times out of 10 (well, 8 times out of 10), I will implement it. And my business will be the better for it. So will yours. You really will be better off with a writing strategy for your business. It won’t stop you – just like it didn’t stop me – from blowing the odd deadline or writing a less than terrific post or missing an opportunity to promote your upcoming teleclass. But it will keep those gaffes to a minimum. I’m going to be writing a lot more about your writing strategy for your coaching business – what it is, why it’s worth doing, how to create it, how – ahem – to implement it. Why? Because creating and using a writing strategy is the single most important thing you can do to harness the rather amazing power of the written word to build your coaching business. Let’s face it. What’s the point of having a great business building tool like writing at your disposal if you don’t know how to pick it up and use it, right? That’s what your writing strategy does – it lays out a plan for exactly how you’re going to use writing to meet your business goals. It also outlines in black and white everything you need to know to make sure every single minute you spend writing for your business pays you back a hundred times over. Your writing strategy is the secret to writing smarter, not harder. But before we set off on our safari into Writing Strategy Land and I divulge all the secrets, there are two things you need to do before you go on safari – two things you need to pack in your duffel bag and bring along. 1. Figure out what your top three business goals are for this year. Is it building your list? Landing more clients? Becoming known as the expert in your niche? Building awareness of your business? Fully booking group coaching programs? (By the way, not to worry if you come up with more than three business goals. We’ll get all your goals addressed, but we’re going to start with only 3 so you and I don’t get overwhelmed.) Take out a piece of paper. Write your business goals down in order of importance. Remember! Only 3 goals, just for now. 2. Think about your target market. Who is your ideal client? When you are writing for your business, this is almost always the person you are writing to and for. Before you ever set pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), you need to know exactly who you’re going to be talking to. You want to know everything you can about your ideal client – sex, age, occupation, income, location, marital status. What does she read? Hobbies? Interests? Clubs, associations, groups, forums she belongs to online? Offline? What makes her tick? What are her pains, challenges, fears, dreams, values, goals? Take out another piece of paper. Give your ideal client a name and write it down, together with everything you know about her. All done? Congratulations! You’ve just written the Objectives and Target Market sections of your Writing Strategy. Go back and label your pages accordingly.