Expert Author Case Study: Andy Britnell
Today’s Expert Author Case Study examines how British Expert Author Andy Britnell combines the power of creative story-telling and no-nonsense data analysis to create a winning article writing and marketing strategy.
Andy has worked as a professional musician, a cheesemonger (someone who sells cheese) and in hotels, including Claridges and the Savoy in London. He spent 15 years latterly designing and delivering international management, sales and graduate development programs.
He now lives in Somerset, UK, where he runs a training and coaching practice specializing in sales, customer service and personal development training for the private and public sectors. He is an accredited coach and trainer of the Insights Discovery System which is a model based on the pioneering personality profiling work of Carl Jung.
We recently asked Andy to tell about his path to success. What we discovered is that, once again, no two Expert Authors are alike. Andy brings his specific skills and experiences to the table and combines them to create a strategy that is not only highly effective (he averages 1,600+ views/article), but also uniquely his own.
- Andy, what sets you apart from other Expert Authors?
I have an ability to make complex or intangible material accessible by using a pertinent story to illustrate the idea and using language patterns to keep the reader’s interest.
- What’s your secret to article writing and marketing success?
Using two brains and two personalities. My partner, Judy, is my editor and helps to correct grammar and provide objectivity. I am more creative and subjective. The secret is in the mix.
- How do you stay motivated to write articles?
I keep an eye on the statistics to see what is working. If people are reading and using my material, that inspires me to write more.
- How do you decide what to write about?
Very often I’m motivated by something that happens to me – for example: poor customer service, an annoying situation where positive thinking has helped solve the issue, a story I have picked up or a significant event at a workshop I have delivered.
- How do you balance writing for quality and quantity?
I don’t – for me quality is really important. Less is more, both in keeping articles snappy and to the point (no waffling) and in being tough with my material by throwing out my darlings!
- How has using EzineArticles affected your traffic?
EzineArticles gives me sustained quality traffic rather than peaks and troughs – it represents about 18% of my total traffic and visitors stay longer and view more pages. That’s because it is targeted traffic made up of people who are interested in what I am talking about.
- How does article marketing fit into your overall marketing plan?
Well, if the purpose of your marketing plan is to deliver targeted traffic to your site then it would represent 18% of my marketing time spent on writing articles every week. On average that is a 50-hour week, so that represents 9 hours of time.
I once heard someone say that you should spend 70% of your time marketing yourself which would mean spending about 6 hours a week writing articles. I don’t spend anywhere near that time, so one thing this exercise has taught me is that giving more time to article writing would help me to realize my website objectives more quickly.
- What EzineArticles tools do you find the most beneficial?
The reporting tools are great, but the one thing that I look out for is the monthly email with the top performing articles and the keywords used to find them. That helps me to hone my SEO for titles, keywords and descriptions. I also find following EzineArticles Twitter stream useful since it provides useful snappy reminders to keep me on track.
- If you had to start over again, what would you change?
I’d make more time to do more, sooner.
- What advice would you give newbie article marketers?
Turn article writing into a good habit that you love to do. Get help from someone who has a different personality than you to give you constructive feedback. Use multi-sensory language so people can see, hear, feel, taste and smell what you are writing about. Use stories to bring your subject alive. When you start to do this it will help you to capture the interest of more people with your writing.
- Anything else you’d like to share?
Tiger Woods’ average round is only about 3.5% better then the golfer ranked at number 100. He earns millions more by being only a few percent better. [Which means] you only need to improve by a few percent in order to get much better results.
That last quote is so good that we’ve decided to turn it into an EzineArticles tweet – thanks, Andy, for that tidbit of wisdom! :-)
It’s clear that Andy has a lot more to offer the EzineArticles community than simply snappy quotes, however. He also has a lot of sage advice to share.
Here’s a recap:
- Use a story to illustrate the idea.
- Use language patterns to keep the reader’s interest.
- Have a working partnership with somebody of a different personality type than you.
- Keep an eye on the statistics to see what is working.
- Use your own experiences as a source of article ideas.
- Keep articles snappy and to the point (no waffling).
- Be tough with your material by throwing out your darlings.
- Use your article performance reports to hone SEO for titles, keywords and descriptions.
- Follow the EzineArticles Twitter stream – it provides useful reminders to keep you on track.
- Make more time to do more, sooner.
- Turn article writing into a good habit that you love to do.
- Use multi-sensory language so people can see, hear, feel, taste and smell what you are writing about.
Now figure out what’s unique about you. Then really capitalize on your uniqueness by integrating your skills and experiences with the knowledge you’ve gained from Expert Authors like Andy Britnell. What you’ll create is a style and strategy that is not only highly effective, but also uniquely your own. Sound familiar?
Please leave a comment to let Andy know what you think of his approach and to ask any questions. I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.
Hi Amareal
Thanks for your kind feedback. All these great comments have got me thinking. Time to write some articles about how to write a good article. Watch out for more from me on this subject
Best wishes
Andy
May 29, 2010 at 11:41 AM[Reply]