Quick Case Study: Phillip Davis
The 21st edition in a series of posts that highlight one Expert Author who has achieved success by doing one thing exceptionally well.
For Phillip Davis, that one thing is connecting topics in his niche to current news. He develops the connections because they make the content more relevant to readers.
According to Phillip, “I look for what’s current in the news and how that might apply to my industry. A great source is just to glance at CNN.com and see what’s bubbling up. Then, [I ask myself] how that news or trend might affect your profession. Whether it’s Tiger Woods or global warming, there’s usually a lesson that can be gleaned and applied to nearly any topic.”
Connecting With Current Events
Current events help Phillip connect his own ideas about his niche with other things happening around him. The greatest benefit of this approach is that it’s nearly impossible for Phillip to run out of inspiration from current events because of the vast number of resources available on the Internet.
To check on the relevancy of his articles, Phillip constantly revisits the WIIFM concept (“What’s In It For Me”). In other words, all of the articles he submits need to have a unique perspective and give something to the readers. When he’s able to tie his articles to current events, that unique perspective makes them more relevant.
Also, getting his published articles in the hands of his audience isn’t the end of the road for Phillip. He also monitors the influence he has by getting articles republished by others. He says, “Write what’s best for your audience first, and the right results will follow. High search engine ranking is one benefit, but don’t lose sight of actually being published, referenced and quoted by major media outlets.”
Phillip took some time out of his schedule to share his own ideas and insights:
- Write for Your Readers – Your writing needs to grab the attention of your audience. If you’re going for a casual audience, articles must get (and keep) their attention. SEO efforts can only go so far. If you focus too much on SEO, you’ll put yourself in danger of submitting meaningless keyword stuffed articles that’ll hurt your reputation.
- Understand Your Own Approach to Writing – Some people only write in spurts when they’re highly motivated. Others can pump out content regularly. Whether you’re at either end of this spectrum or somewhere in between, know your most favorable writing conditions and take advantage of them.
- Be Confident – Have confidence in yourself as a writer and an expert who has the power to enlighten others. Without confidence, you won’t be able to help anyone and your voice will be drowned out by your competition.
- Keep a Notepad – Have a notepad handy whenever possible. You never know where your next article idea may come from. It could come from an evening news report, from something you see at a retail store or out of the blue as you’re lying in bed.
- Discover Your Perfect Potential Customer – Try to uncover who you’re trying to reach with each new set of articles. Then, write articles that appeal to your perfect potential customer. You may only get one chance to convince them that you “know your stuff,” so don’t let them slip away from you.
- Think Outside the Box – Directly, EzineArticles provides traffic for its writers. Indirectly, it could bring speaking engagements and other offline perks of being positioned as an industry expert. The only hurdle in making that happen is to embrace it as one of your selling points.
Keep in mind that using current events to spark article ideas is only one part of Phillip’s writing strategy. An article written with time-sensitive content has a much shorter life than one written with evergreen content. We recommend that you make evergreen content an integral part of your writing strategy.
Use these tips today to write your next set of high-quality, original articles for more traffic back to your website or blog. Also, leave a comment for Phillip about how you focus on readers. He’d love to hear from you!
Writing on current news is something that i like to read everytime becuase it helps you to keep updated what’s going to happen around you and the perfect way to unleash traffic from search engine and a quick way to generate money also
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