Write to Influence
7 tools for building a successful content writing business
Building a content marketing business is not easy. And you don’t usually stumble into one either. Even if you do, it’s rare to find something that can be managed sustainably. Content marketing is not just about the quality of language, it is also about the influence you can exert through your content. This is not to say you should be an influencer in every sense of the word; it just means you should be able to influence people through your content.
This influence comes from experience. It is learned when you are working through the drudgery of low-paying content jobs or making the boring kind of content. Building influence happens through developing a specific voice and having an original perspective to share. Finding this perspective happens not by parroting Gary Vee or writing what others are writing in general. It happens by publishing hundreds of pieces.
Once you do, you’ll see what sticks with the readers and what doesn’t. Creating a high volume of content is how you understand what’s original, and what’s appreciated. This feedback loop adds value to your journey as a writer. Putting this process into practice takes some thinking. Doing it by yourself may be quite tricky because building that following and putting your content in front of thousands of readers takes a lot of time.
I worked as a ghostwriter for a columnist at a top publication. Together, he and I wrote piece after piece that passed under the eagle eyes of a bevy of editors. The one that stood out was nothing special. I thought it was just like all the others, maybe even a bit vanilla in comparison. But it clicked with the readers. This experience provided a big learning for me, and it added value to my own evolution as a writer.
In short, getting to a place where your writing can influence others takes time, and you need to write and publish a lot. And since you are writing a lot, why not get paid for it too? Here are 7 ways in which you can get paid to write. Ghostwrite for B2B entrepreneurs on LinkedIn
I have done a ton of this. Find entrepreneurs who are trying to build their influence on LinkedIn and see if you can ghostwrite for them. You will get the opportunity to interact with these business professionals and create great content partnering with them, and also have enough leeway to explore and experiment.
Finding such entrepreneurs can be easy too. They may be people you’re already following. Look at what they are posting regularly, and come up with your own ideas on how they can do this better. You can then reach out to them and offer your support. Most of the time, they would be more than happy to accept it.
In the initial phases, you can rely on them to give you ideas which you can then expand into full-fledged blogs. Later, as you understand how their thought processes […]
