Quick Case Study: Kelly Swanson
The 19th edition in a series of posts that highlight one Expert Author who has achieved success by doing just one thing exceptionally well.
Kelly Swanson strives to have an impact on readers’ emotions by telling a story, rather than just sharing her knowledge. This sets her apart.
She avoids comparing herself to other authors because she’s established her own writing style and hopes to maintain her uniqueness. She says, “I see [article writing] as an opportunity to tell a story, make them laugh, touch their heart and inspire them. If they learn something, great. I’m more concerned with how I make them feel, than with what I make them think.”
This is her strategy and it works in her primary niche – Arts and Entertainment: Humor. She has her own barometer of success with each piece that helps her evaluate her decisions. She says, “I think the true ‘secret’ [to article writing and marketing success] is that you know (or at least keep your finger on the pulse of) what you want these articles to do for you.”
Telling Stories is Fun
Writing, itself, isn’t Kelly’s greatest passion. Instead, it’s telling funny stories. When she writes in the humor niche, it becomes fun instead of a dreaded chore.
She says, “I realized somewhere along the way that my gift is humor, character creation and the details I use to paint the picture – that there is a beauty in just writing about everyday life as I see it. I realized that I could take a topic as mundane as jury duty, and turn it into a story. I realized that the crazy characters in my ‘family’ are wonderful because they remind people of the crazy characters in their families.”
Evolution of a Writer
Although Kelly considers herself comfortable in her niche, she admits that article writing and marketing is an environment that’s constantly evolving. She sets goals, stays organized and keeps on the look-out for new motivational triggers. She doesn’t set her strategy in stone, though, because she knows conditions change all the time.
According to Kelly, when she tells her friends to start writing for EzineArticles, she gives these 10 pointers:
- Write About What You Know – If you don’t have the expertise, people will be able to tell. Your content won’t be very helpful to them and they’ll get their answers somewhere else.
- Keep it Clean, Simple and Easy to Read – Don’t clutter your articles with unnecessary information. A 400-word article with 150 words of “fluff” is really only 250 words of value. Cut that fluff!
- Just Talk to Them – As you, not as Shakespeare. We all have a voice inside of us. Use yours. You don’t have to try to imitate some other prolific writer to try to make a name for yourself.
- Know Who You’re Talking To – Have an idea of your audience in your mind, if you can. You would probably have a different conversation with a room of CEOs than you would a room of high school students.
- Know What’s in Your Heart – Stay focused on what’s important. Try to tell them what you need to in one, two or three basic points.
- Titles are Everything – They get the attention of readers. Submitting lousy titles will put you on the fast-track to getting lousy results.
- Openings are Crucial – Introductions pull the reader in and convince them they need to read the rest of the article.
- Information Tells Your Message, Stories Show Your Message – Just about any piece of information should be accompanied by a story. People feel more comfortable when they know you have real experiences in whatever activity you’re writing about.
- Closings are Important, Too – The conclusion is your chance to wrap everything up. You need to say what you just finished explaining in a lot less words, so the most important pieces of information come out of it.
- Dare to be Different – If there are three thousand articles on your topic, what will compel them to read yours? Share yours? Print yours? Sign up for more of yours? Your differences are what will set you apart.
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 to share what you’d tell your friends if they just started writing for EzineArticles.
Thank you for this information, hope to start writing some new articles in the New year and will use your points.
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