Writing Well On The Web: A Ticket To Ride for LIPs
Photo by Arjenfoto
Editor’s note: This is a guest post from Joanna Young. Find out more about Joanna at the bottom of this post.
Can writing give us a ticket to ride? I think so.
I’m not location independent (yet). But I’m confident the investment I’m making in creating and maintaining a strong written web presence will stand me in good stead when the time comes to change where I live – or shift to living location free.
We’re not talking Pulitzer prize winning writing here. Yes, freelance writing is an attractive career option for LIPs, either as your lead focus or part of your wider portfolio. But that’s not what I mean by “writing well on the web”…
The writing I’m talking about is something that we can all do – and should all be doing as part of a strategy for LIP living.
Because the words you write online will help you, over time, to:
- Establish your name
- Develop your brand
- Promote your portfolio
- Be found, easily
- Build a network of clients, readers, friends and business contacts who’ll follow wherever you go
In my book the easiest and most effective way to do this is through a blog. Setting up and establishing a blog could turn out to be a great investment when the time comes to leave the old world behind, to go location independent, and to purchase that ticket to ride.
But writing the posts for a blog is only one dimension of the writing we do on the web. If you think about it we’re writing, leaving words, all over the place – words that are a permanent trace of our presence, a reflection of who we are and what we’re about, a trail of breadcrumbs that’ll help people to follow – wherever we might be.
When you think of writing like that a whole new landscape opens up – writing copy for the ‘back’ pages of your blog or website, writing comments on a blog (your own or someone else’s), posting updates on Facebook, taking part in forums, 140 character ‘tweets’ on Twitter – it’s all you, your words and your ability to use those words to make connections, to engage with people, to let people know – gently – who you are.
I like to think of you trailblazing LIPs as the wanderers who forge the path ahead – a path that many us want to follow… even if we never manage to make the move ourselves.
This might be a good way to think about your writing on the web – as a path or a route map that conects you to your readers, friends, clients, colleagues. Your task as a writer is to make it easier for your readers to follow.
That means you want to think about ways to:
- Engage your readers: writing in a conversational style; paying attention to your readers; pacing their experience - where they’re at, what their lives are like; focusing on the value you can add
- Signpost your writing: getting clear on your purpose and point; organising and structuring your writing; using simple tricks like headings and bullet points to break up your words; writing in plain, simple language that’s easy to follow.
- Write to be recognised: writing in your own words; cutting the clutter and letting the most important points shine through; knowing your writing purpose; building up your confidence to express your point of view.
The good news is that blogging is the perfect medium to develop, stretch and improve those three key skills – and to find the writing voice that we’ll recognise, wherever on earth you go.
Is writing on your list of ‘must have’ skills to support your life as an LIP? What kind of writing do you find yourself doing – or want to do more of? What kind of tips and suggestions would help you to stretch and develop your own writing skills?
Joanna Young is a writing coach who’s based in Edinburgh but coaches people all over the world. You’ll find more writing tips and virtual coaching at her Confident Writing blog. She’s also running the Absorbing Writing with Emma Bird in Sardinia later this.
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Comments
Writing a blog does one more thing Joanna (in my humble opinion)…It assists in clarifying your own thoughts. The discipline of taking the time to pen (type) some well-considered thoughts can be extremely powerful in a modern world where most people are rushing from one task to the next, checking communication on email, twitter, blackberry, sms, and more. Writing can actually help you unclutter your thoughts and provide a path to a clearer perspective on life. At least it has for me.
@Perfect Life Project - I completely agree with you…my thoughts are frequently clarified when writing on my blog and I have had plenty of “aha” moments which have occurred when I’ve finally been able to sit down with some quiet time to write some blog posts.
Hi everyone, just wanted to say thanks again to Lea for giving me the chance to write here. Although I’m not an LIP (yet) I love reading it for the clear insight Lea offers into a different way of life, sharing the positives but keeping her feet on the ground (like this morning’s post).
@Perfect Life Project, yes I agree completely too. I learn, constantly, from my blog about what I think, what I value, and what’s really important to me both in business and in life.
Joanna
It was a pleasure to have you and your voice on the blog Joanna…
What is interesting to me, is quite how much I’ve learned not just from writing blog posts but running and managing one too. It’s shown me a completely different side to that much-maligned field of online marketing…one which I enjoy, that works and that allows you to market what you do and attract the *right* people in an authentic, honest way versus some of the more the typical hype-y internet marketing strategies.
From a business perspective, writing on my more business-y blogs forces me into a “what’s in it for them” frame of mind for my readers, rather than the more introspective ramblings that sometimes occur on my personal blog!
Writing is something that I never thought I was much good at (English wasn’t my best subject at high school!)…blogging has given me a very different perspective on writing and is something I really enjoy. Am sure my English teacher would be amused!!
I found your site on google blog search and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. Just added your RSS feed to my feed reader. Look forward to reading more from you.
- Randy Nichols.