1. Keep it personal

Write as if you are writing to one person. Even if you’re creating copy for a large audience. Keep your focus on that one person and your writing will come across as more natural.

2. Check for the “I” word

Does your piece read like this: “I do such and such,” and “I offer this service.”  Turn this around so that the person you are writing for becomes the focus instead of you:

• Are you looking for x?
• Do you struggle with y?

This way your reader will feel that you are genuinely interested in them, and be keen to read on and find out more.

A simple rule to follow is four “you’s” for every “I”.

3. Use Persuasive ‘Power’ words! 

There are some words which just have impact. Simple but powerful they really work. These ‘Power’ words include:

• Free
• Easy
• Thanks

These are words which encourage readers to engage with you.  We all love things to be ‘free,’ and ‘easy!”  Or they are words which encourage your readers to like you – a word of thanks always goes down well. See the full list here.

Getting the words right is of course just part of the persuasion process.  You also need to make sure that:

• Your readers trust you
• They’re clear on how you help your clients
• They know exactly what to do as a result of being persuaded

What Is Atomizing?

“Atomizing” is the latest marketing idea to hit in the States.  The term “Atomizing” was coined by online marketing expert Todd Defren.  It means thinking about online content differently. Using your existing, high quality content in as many different ways, and reaching as many different audiences, as possible.  Forget the constant struggle to come up with new blog posts!  Focus on the really good stuff you’ve already got.  And promote and share it for all it’s worth!

How To Atomize

“Atomizing” takes things a few steps further!  It means breaking the content down into pieces and putting it back together in a meaningful way each time you post it. 

So it’s not about cutting and pasting the exact same words in lots of different places. It’s about using your content intelligently. Tailoring each piece of content to the platform, and to the audience who you think will see it there so that you get maximum value from it.

Some Atomizing Ideas

Jay Baer, another online marketing guru, has come up with 47 Tactics to Atomize Your Content Marketing!  A print article can be a series of tweets. A LinkedIn post can be a podcast.  

Check out my earlier post for 5 ways to use one piece of content to Get Full Value from it.  Newsletter article, social media posts, networking ’60 seconds’, LinkedIn post, video. 

Has this got you thinking about some different ways you could revive and reuse some of your existing content?