For some people, writing is hard. Really hard.
It takes time, energy and you have to be able to craft words together to motivate people to take action.
And often times, the results aren’t always immediate. It’ll take 3-6 months before you see any leads come out of all of that mental labor.
Still, is it worth it? Absolutely!
Here are 5 common writing excuses most people make and how to overcome them…
Excuse #1: I don’t know what to write about.
If you sell real estate, I’d start by asking yourself the following: What do you know about buying a home?
Make a list of everything you know about the buying or selling process. Key terms, what the actual process is like, financing steps, et cetera.
Everything on that list is going to be a good topic for a new blog post.
If you sell luxury leather bags, it’d be interesting to read about how you make them. Or have clients who love your bags send in photos and tell their stories of how they use your bags in their everyday lives.
There’s no better word of mouth than to tell a story, but make your customers a part of that storytelling process.
Fact is, you know what to write about. Often times, you’re just having a hard time getting started. That might be because you’re nervous about putting yourself out there for fear of sounding dumb. Or you’re just simply having a hard time articulating your thoughts on paper.
But the sooner you start, the easier it gets. Truly.
Not only that, you’ll find that you’re suddenly able to articular yourself better when you’re speaking with a prospect about buying a home.
Excuse #2: I don’t have time.
You just need to learn to prioritize better.
If you’re a serious about your online marketing efforts, you need to make the time to commit to doing the things that are going to improve your marketing. Like writing copy every day. That means, putting it on the calendar and doing the work.
When I asked real estate blogger Irina Netchaev how she got so much traffic to her site and closed so many escrows, she said:
It finally dawned on me that I had to look at developing content as prospecting time. I made a decision to allocate an hour a day for research and writing. My goal was to have 3 to 5 posts a week, especially when my blog was still a baby.
You can’t expect a good outcome if you don’t put in the work.
Excuse #3: I’m not a very good writer.
First off, remember that you’re an expert in your field. Saying you’re not a good writer is admitting that you’re not very good at your job. But we know that’s not true. You are great at your job. You know your market better than anyone. Be confident, and show us!
All you need to do is focus on getting what you know down in writing. Think about it, if you’re a real estate agent, you’re already answering client questions all day long in-person, via email, and over the phone. Now, instead of answering those questions privately via email, you’re going to answer them publicly via your blog.
You can do it. You’re writing is good enough.
You’re not writing a research report or a thesis. You’re simply answering a few customers questions in an open forum. That’s all. Now get to it!
Excuse #4: It has to be perfect or I can’t publish it.
Your writing will never be perfect, but it will get better over time.
The problem with chasing perfection in every post is that you’ll never get around to publishing nearly as much content. The inner-critic will consistently convince you that “this” or “that” piece of content isn’t good enough to be published.
If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. – Stephen King, On Writing
Excuse #5: I’ve said all there is to say on this subject.
I’ll admit, every now and then there does come a point when you’ve written so much on your subject that you feel like you’ve said all there is to say. Still, that doesn’t mean you should stop writing. Instead, try the following:
- Rewrite your old blog posts. Is there anything you’ve written in the past that could use some updating? Maybe help describe the process better and add a stronger Call To Action.
- Repurpose your old blog posts. Could you take an old blog post and create a fun slide-deck out of it?
- Create a downloadable ebook out of your best content. Take all of those posts that you’ve written as buyer and seller resources and turn them into a downloadable ebook. You can either give it away as an instand download, or require people to opt-in.
Either one of those options is a better alternative than publishing nothing at all and letting your blog go stale.
Writing builds your reputation, connects you with customers, and helps build your digital footprint. The more you write helpful and educational content for your audience, the more they’ll engage with your content and the more likely they are to want to buy from you when the time is right.
So no more excuses. Just write.
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