How to Find Your Voice Online
Sit down, pour yourself some rye whisky, and let's get to talkin'
xxx okay, so on the real xxx
I’m nottalking about speaking up about the bad coffee in the break room. It’s not about standing up for your beliefs or marching in a riot. (k, Portland, you can stop all that now, tnx!) That’s not the type of “voice” I’m talking about. That voice is important of course, but I’m hinting at the way in which you communicate with others and making it as effective as possible.
Who are you speaking to?
What topic matters enough to you that you would bother to communicate this thing with the public.
I want you to think about three things. This could be especially beneficial to bloggers (writers in general), small business owners, sales peeps, or communicators.
#1 Value – Is it worth their time?
#2 Passion – is it worth YOUR time?
#3 Target Audience – is it communicated to the right people?
#4 Depth & Breadth – Is it good enough for them to care?
Let’s dig a little deeper.
When you’re crafting content, think; What benefit will your reader/prospect walk away with? Is it just your opinion or do you back up your thoughts with facts, examples, pros/cons, and then of course, present it with class, intrigue, and originality?
Here are a few examples:
Let’s say you’re given a t-shirt to blog about. Well, you could just zoom in on you wearing that t-shirt or you could accessorize, show the audience what it would look good with, where you could wear it, different things you love about the brand, and even link a few other “like” products if they can’t afford that one! Going above and beyond is a NECESSITYin finding and displaying your voice.
If you want your voice to be heard, you have to make sure your content is VALUABLEto the reader.
Also, think about the things that stop YOU in your tracks. Would your title, content, photos, etc. stop YOUand make YOUread it? If not, think about going a different direction.
Yesterday, I stopped and read Olivia Rink’s blogon how to get inspired to create content. It was a good article and the title made me want to leave that story and SWIPE UP.
A good exercise would be to take screenshots of the blog titles or blogs that you are intrigued by. Whether or not you like the blog, you liked how it got you to read it!
If you start to YAWN while you’re writing or selling… then you probably should be selling that thing. Does it feel like a chore to you? If so, it’s will be a bore to them too. People can see right through fake feelings and thoughts.
I found my voice when I started blogging about things BESIDESmakeup, fashion, and beauty. Giving more “life” value, skills, business development, marketing, and social resources was WAYmore up my ally. Not necessarily when it came to my expertise, but when it came to my passion. I might have more expertise in editing photos and videos than I do in monetizing a blog… but I’m more “passionate” about teaching people other things besides editing. If I tried to write about something that I wasn’t interested in exploring myself, I would get SO bored. I think your own content should help the viewer AND YOU. You should always be learning as well. The key is to be PASSIONATEabout what you’re doing. If you want a simple exercise, look at the things that you’ve saved on your Instagram, write down your top 5 favorite interests, and maybe screenshot your 5 favorite blogs of the last month.
Make sure you not only know who you’re talking to but that those people are the ones seeing it. That’s who you’re reaching out to, engaging with, and lifting up. Don’t worry about pleasing everyone; use your voice to speak loudly to 10% than softly to 100%.
Whether it’s SEO or Promotion or Paid Search tactics, you’ve got to get your name out there to the RIGHT people. Think about who you are making your content for.
Your vibe attracts your TRIBE.
Some useful best practices would be:
+ Use titles that are searchable. Instead of “Best Vacay Spots” use “Best Vacation Spots” People are most likely not searching “VACAY”
+ Use several tags in your actual blog. The more the search engines can identify that you’re talking about a certain subject, the more it will promote it
+ Speak to YOUR audience. Who do you want to sell to? Have a community with? Drive content towards them and they are the ones that will stay and engage
+ Have places within your blog to directly contact youfor more info or help, you never know when someone will
When you half-ass something, you’re not only doing a disservice to your audience, you’re doing a disservice to yourself. I once heard Tim Farris say that putting out a good book is a huge liability. It needs to be an EXCEPTIONAL BOOK. If you’re writing or selling, give 110%, with little errors and mistakes. It’s distracting and loses the trust with the audience.
This point really drives it home. This encompasses ALL aspects of finding your own voice and using it. If you add passionate content to your docket and direct it at the right people, you should be able to add real DEEP value to your audience.
Some questions to consider:
+What am I dangerously and wildly passionate about?
+What makes me feel joy and how to I weave that into my work?
+What are the pain points in my week and how do I improve them so that I might be more productive?
+Who can I turn to for advice and counsel?
+What resources do I have to improve my work / flow?
Hopefully this gave you a better understanding of how to use your voice and find ways to implement it in the best way possible. No matter where you come from or what your story is, you have a beautiful, strong voice and all you need to do is channel it into the right place for success!
xoxo
Want to try this amazing rye whisky? Click hereto get yours! It's amazing! GREAT in a whisky ginger or old fashioned!
PHOTOS BY MY LOVELY FRIEND AMY SAXTON!
