Helping Clients Overcome "Their" Writer's Block!
If you write for a living, that is, if you write articles for
clients you often have heard about writer's block. Personally, I
think the topic is overdone and simply something that comes
about when the author is too tired, distracted, or simply not
interested in the topic at hand [oh, yes...this does happen!] On
the other hand, do your clients sometimes suffer from writer's
block? Okay, before you throw your hands up wondering how could
this be, just think about it: do your clients always know
what they want you to write? Am I making myself clear? If so,
read on...if not, please read this paragraph again!
As writers, we can assume that when a potential client
approaches us to write for them, that they always know which
topics they want you to cover. Without sounding cheeky, only if
this was always so! To put it mildly, you may have a client who
wants you to write "X" amount of articles, which he or she will
place on their own web site in hopes of building up SEO [search
engine optimization, that is], and your part of the equation is
to write interesting and compelling copy that will drive traffic
to their site.
Well, this only works out if your client knows exactly which
topics/subjects are to be covered, keywords used, and the length
of each article. No, your client isn't going to write the
article, but they will certainly lay its foundation. No web
content article can possibly get going without your knowing
certain essentials including the topic and which keywords are to
be utilized. Make certain that these building blocks are
included with your proposal, otherwise you risk going down one
path while your client wanted you to go down another.
Unless you have plenty of time to constantly rewrite every
article I recommend that you uncover precisely what the client
wants from you.
When I sense that a client isn't sure which direction they want
me to proceed, I then start asking several questions, including:
Do you have a topic you want covered? If so, what is it and do
you want me to come up with the article title or is this
something that you would like to do? Knowing this information
will help you create the introductory paragraph and your topic
sentence.
Next questions: which keywords do you want me to use? I try to
limit my clients to a small group of 2-4 words per article.
Additional keywords mean additional articles...why confuse your
readers? Why kill SEO? As I write this article for you do you
have 3-4 points you want me to make? All of this information
will comprise the article's body.
Finally, what sort of "call to action" are you desiring? Do you
want readers to buy a product? Read something else? Call their
representative? I leave the anchor links up to the client, but I
try to bring the article exactly to the point where the client
wants it to be.
If you have gotten satisfactory answers to each of your
questions, you have helped your client get over their own
case of writer's block. Yes, to a certain point every client has
already visualized what they want written [they bring you on
because they don't know how to craft the right words or are
simply too busy to write for themselves]. If they haven't, you
must help them answer the previous questions in order for you to
write effectively.
If you don't take the time to make certain that your client is
sure of what he or she wants, you will have wasted time and
delayed the opportunity to go to the next project.
I don't know about you, but time is of the essence and we
writers cannot afford to waste any of it. Nail down exactly what
your client wants before tackling any project to save yourself
time and to preserve your sanity!