 by Dr. Jeffrey Lant. Author's program note. I'm going to do something quite different in this article; something unique, unprecedented, unheard of until now. I'm going to share -- for the first time ever -- my trade secrets about how I produce the best and most responsive content anywhere; the content that gets people like you to stop in your tracks, whatever you're doing, no matter how important, read what you've written... and respond to it. Once you learn how to do it, you'll use this invaluable skill over and over again... becoming more and more proficient each time, until you become a master too, a brand name, a recognized authority, someone people want to know about, pay attention to; quite simply the consummate master of your craft, constant deference, increasing rewards, recognition and admiration your part, and rightly so. Of course, we'll need a little magic to make this happen; such magic is useful at any time. Now repeat after me... " Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo/ Put 'em together and what have you got/ bibbidi-bobbidi-boo". These are of course the words of my colleague Fairy Godmother, from the 1950 Disney production. She was, you'll recall, the kind-hearted, sympathetic darling who, in record time, organized everything necessary to rush a radiant Cinderella to the ball... and her prince. You'll find the song in any search engine. Play it to yourself two or three times... sing it out loud. But don't share it with anyone just yet. After all, they may be a certified scoffer, gruff, dismissive, unhelpful... and that will never do. Bibbidi-bobbidi- boo. "It'll do magic believe it or not." Believe... it's the first and crucial step to achieve. Pick your subject. Creating content that gets maximum response starts with your subject, what you're writing about. Here are some suggestions: It should be timely, of interest and importance to the kinds of people you want to respond (future customers!), and most of all be a subject you either know something about already or one you are prepared to research, to add depth, resonance and layers of meaning. The last article I wrote just yesterday (one of over 1000 I've penned in the last three years or so; all available at jeffreylantarticles.com) was on... marigolds. Does this seem to you to be an unlikely topic to knock out of the park? Dubious? Then think again! There are millions of people worldwide who grow marigolds, use health and beauty products derived from marigolds, and honor them in their obsequies and solemn rites of passage into eternity, particularly along the great river Ganges,1569 miles long, its muddy waters flecked by the bright brilliance of golden marigolds, beloved of the Virgin, the gift of countless pilgrims along the way. Outline your content. To write superior content, content that motivates response, you must create a superior outline. Here's how to do that. Brainstorm just what you want in your content; then do a preliminary outline. Don't worry too much now about whether the points you want to make are in the right order. Worry instead that you have written them down. Never, ever trust to imperfect memory. . Once you have all the points you wish to include, arrange them in the right order, the order that builds your case. To see what I mean, go to jeffreylantarticles.com and peruse several articles there. As you do, think on this. This teeming site, content capital of the world, now gets over 1,000,000 hits a month and should be a "must" destination for anyone who understands the importance of content and wishes to master its every nuance, profiting accordingly. That would be you, right? Bibbidi- Bobbidi-Boo. The joy and necessity of careful research. I am a trained researcher with a Ph.D. from Harvard University. It took me seven meticulous and arduous years to achieve. I had to identify, travel to, work in and rely upon the arcane resources of dozens of private and public document depositories in several countries. My life was a demanding and insistent process composed of passports, tickets, incomprehensible pre-Euro currencies, strange accommodations with lumpy mattresses (and too often voracious bedbugs). As for food... I can even now remember, and luridly recite if you like... the various collywobbles to which I gave way en route to being elevated into the peerage of learning. That was then; this is now. These days my continuous researches are vast, detailed, up-to-date, best of all the work of minutes, with nary a plane to (wait for) and catch... or odoriferous train, the malfunctioning toilet making its noisome problem known to all and always over shadowed by one frightening question, "Have you seen my typewriter and my notes!" "I thought you had them when we changed trains." In our wired age research is easy, universal, distinguished by its celerity, thoroughness... and a researcher who now never looks like he slept in his clothes in the Iruna station, assaulted by fantastic mosquitoes and suspicious border guards, the jack booted minions of Generalissimo Franco, a man whose sole idea about intellectual endeavors of every kind (and the research on which they were based) was to crush, curb and curtail them. The Internet has changed all that forever... and I, for one, am profoundly glad. Now it's time to write. My mother, bless her soul, had a million pet sayings, each one a little gem of pithy insight. As for writing, she'd say, for she was a scribbler, too, "Having written is better." What she meant, of course, was that the business of writing was often hard, frustrating, exasperating, not infrequently infuriating, and always something demanding full heart, soul and brain. In short, writing is never a piece of cake you can do half asleep and hung over from the night before. Such writers, who take the demons of people like F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jack Kerouak as their inspiration and models, talk a good game about writing... but are more notable for their volubility on the subject than their productive output. You need another point of view, more practical, utilitarian, productive not to mention profitable. Write every day, every single day... without fail or "reason" why you didn't. People who understand the power and potency of content are people who do the necessary every single day to create it. That would be -- me... and is why in the past three years I have, remember, written and published over 1,000 articles, available for you and the world to see and use at jeffreylantarticles.com. How did these articles get written? Easy. Yes, I wrote on days when it was blistering hot. I wrote on days when my nimble fingers froze, sticking to my computer's chilly keys. I wrote on days of national triumph... and on the many days of national confusion. In short, I wrote, no excuses, no special pleadings, no reasons why I couldn't, shouldn't and mustn't. In short, I wrote on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays... on all the days. Thus with near military efficiency as I wrote words, so I wrote the superior content that got better and better still, the more I wrote... silky, smooth, sleek, the champaign of money-making language. Will you do as much? You certainly won't with the poor habits you now evince in the high and important business of creating content that sells... for what you produce is directly related to the habits you have and yours are nothing to write home about. "What me worry?" Years ago "Mad Magazine" featured on its cover a lout named Alfred E. Newman. Everything about him was obnoxious, irritating, an affront to good parents everywhere and their goody goody rug rats. To these good people Alfred E. posed the question of the centuries, "What me worry?" It was impertinent, insolent, and wildly popular with other louts. (It also made the copy writer who coined this golden phrase a millionaire many times over.) However YOU are not a lout... and you do worry and rightly so. Fortunately you have not only a useful friend in me but you have a direct line now to Fairy Godmother, who's no mean shakes in the content department, just ask those mice transformed into the most magnificent of coach horses. She has magic for you and to spare. I think I see her pointing her magic wand at...... you... Oh, yes, she is. Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! |
