10 Content Writing Tips for Your Personal Brand

Your content is like a microphone. Use it well and your audience will never forget you.

The time you spend reading this blog post is eating into time you could spend writing, so I’m going to keep this brief.
We all know that attention is limited. It’s 2019 after all. Any information that I want is at my fingertips in three seconds unless you’ve got a poor WiFi connection. The world is a user’s oyster, so give that user a pearl they’ll never forget.

Below are my 10 content writing tips to make your personal brand more exciting, informative, and (importantly) personable. These tactics can be applied to any social media channel, newsletter, or blog.

1. Know the high-level problem you want to solve.

Imagine your ideal customer in their head. What problem(s) do they have that you can help with? Do they want more free time? More confidence? More money? Figure out the big picture and make sure everything you write always stems your solution for this challenge.

2. Observe your energy levels.

When you’re in the groove, writing your personal content shouldn’t be hard. In fact, it should be enjoyable. For this reason, I recommend optimizing your day so that you write content when your energy is at its highest. Do you experience a mid-afternoon slump every day? Then don’t plan to write your content after your morning calls. Do you feel most in the zone when your kids are in bed and email is off? That’s when you should write.

3. Understand what your brand represents.

I created a free download to help you come up with words to describe your brand. While the words can (and should) be used publicly, I think you’ll find that those adjectives will bring you clarity about who your brand is and what you stand for. Are you a trusted academic who distills complicated subjects in an understandable way? Are you a punch of energy that serves inspiration for leaders? Understanding the persona of your brand through these words can help be a guiding star in the content creation process.

4. Figure out if you’re a speaker or a writer.

Not everyone enjoys writing, including yours truly. But give me a microphone and I can talk for days. I encourage you to realize that effective content writing doesn’t need to be birthed from a pen hitting a paper. (More on that in step 5.) But for now, if you’re more of a speaker than a writer, accept that and life will be easier.

5. If you’re a speaker, transcribe.

Transcription tools have become a secret weapon for a begrudging writer like myself. They allow me to communicate in my preferred style (speaking) without over-complicating the writing. If you’re a speaker, record yourself talking through your blog post, then upload to a site like Temi or Rev. Within 12 hours, you’ll receive a transcription of your recording that needs a quick clean-up, then voila! You’ve got a blog post.

6. Answer questions.

I encourage all of my clients to make a “questions” note or doc. These questions can be common questions you get from customers, questions from strangers at networking events, or questions you ask yourself. Whatever they are, get them in the doc. When it comes time to creating content, just pick any question and write your answer. It helps.

7. Use keywords to bring focus.

It’s important that your brand (and content) satisfies a need. Get clarity on that need by becoming aware of common searches in your line of work. Use a tool like Answer the Public to see what questions people are searching for or do a quick search in Pinterest.

8. Be concise.

People are busy. Respect that.

9. Use photos as a launching point.

Visuals make people pay attention. While I recognize that this blog post is about writing tips, to me, your writing needs to look good for people to want to read it. Get a photo shoot and make sure you use consistent visuals in every post (wherever it is) so people feel your brand’s essence while reading your words.

10. Be yourself.

Cliché? I don’t think so. Once you know and embrace who you are, the words will flow in a genuine way. Of course things like keywords, usefulness, and professionalism matter, but you are the secret ingredient that makes your information better than anyone else’s. Don’t forget that.

Which one of these tips is the most useful to you? Comment below.