How you can write flawlessly for your startup blog even if you are not a writer
My journey writing for my startup blog started at a time when I had never written for any blog. Initially, I lacked the confidence to write a good piece for my startup, but I slowly learned how to write like the professionals.
For my first startup, I was in charge of digital marketing, but was dependent on my co-founder to write even the small essays that were published on our startup blog. I thought good writing came only from experts in the English language.
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I would pretend I didn’t have time to write because I was busy with marketing activities. But, in reality, I was afraid of writing.
Then, we had to shut down our startup. I was unemployed. My startup may have gone, but I enjoyed marketing work and wanted to continue. The only thing missing in my work was content writing.
By the time I was working on my second startup, I took up the challenge of writing articles for my blog myself because there was no one else to write. It was not easy, but my efforts paid off.
I invested a lot of time in learning marketing and content writing, and you too can learn the essentials of writing a startup blog.
Select The Right Topic
Start with solving your customer’s pain points. Think of three or four major issues your customer is facing, not necessarily related to your product, but definitely related to your domain.
For example, at my current startup, we are helping mothers of infants take informed decisions about child health. We found out that the major issues moms faced were with regard to baby food, common diseases like cold and cough, and child growth.
Our product is about asking doctors and child health experts questions, but our most successful article is about cold and cough home remedies for infants and babies.
Check your customer emails and get an idea of what kind of questions they are asking. If you interact with your customers, then you have a better idea of their obstacles, fears, and doubts.
Storyboarding
This is one of the most important things I learned while writing content. If you’ve noticed, most of my articles start with me explaining what I have written about and end with a conclusion.
Your article style and format might be different depending on your target audience. But you may miss the important points if you write without storyboarding.
Storyboarding of my current article looks like –
- Introduction
o Start with how I learned about the topic
o Convince audience that anyone can write for their startup
- Value for reader
o Select the right topic
o Storyboarding
o Dump your thoughts
o Editing
o Feedback and editing
- Summary
o Tell the reader that you delivered what you promised in the introduction
You’ve already won half the battle if you have a good storyboard. You will be able to maintain the flow and the reader will get maximum understanding from your article.
Dump Your Thoughts
Now switch off the analytical mind and just start writing whatever thoughts come to mind about each point listed in storyboarding. Don’t edit until you finish the article. No matter how weird it may sound, just keep writing the way you explain something to your customer or a friend.
You have to try different techniques in individual articles.
Sometimes, I start my article exactly as I would an email.
“Hello Arun,
Thank for writing me for advice on writing an article but I really don’t know how to explain.
I started my writing work in my second startup….”
Don't just rely on an external content writer for your blog unless you have a lot of money to hire a writer full-time for your startup blog.
In the early days, you can write the best content for your blog. You know your customer better than anyone else.
I suggest you complete the writing work in one sitting. You can start editing once you pen down all your thoughts.
Editing
You don’t have to be an expert editor to improve your first draft. Just check the grammar of your sentences and the flow of your thoughts.
Don’t write more than 3-4 lines per paragraph.
The first line of each paragraph should be interesting and actionable. Remove all the boring and filler lines.
Think of a few keywords that your customer uses in conversation. Try to write in a language that the customer speaks in daily life. Remove all the industry jargon that your customer may not be aware of.
Use as simple language as you can. Don’t try to prove that you are expert in English. No one cares about your language skills, all they care about is the solution to their problems.
Do not try to sell your product or service. Your customers want to be a better version of themselves. So write something to improve their skills, help them become successful in whatever they are doing.
If you know your user, you can write good content for them. If you are still not able to write well, talk to your customers more often. Record your conversation and write them down on paper. You will have insightful information from your recordings.
Feedback and Editing
Don’t publish yet!
The publish button looks so tempting once the article is complete. But you should send your article for review to your writer friends and a few customers. Your customer can tell you what is missing. Your writer friends can tell you how to improve the structure and language.
Rinse and repeat
Keep editing until you have a perfect article.
Conclusion
Think big, but start small.
It’s better to start with crappy content than not write at all. Trust me; no content writer can write better content than you when it comes to your customer.
You must write your own content and then get it improved by experienced content writers. Not the other way round, when you ask content writers to write for you and give your review comments for improvement.
Write at least 10 articles for your customer and you will see a lot of improvement in your writing.
