by Laura Orsini

One of the quickest ways to increase credibility in your industry or profession is by writing about it. Yes, writing.

Writing is inordinately undervalued by professionals in virtually every industry and profession. People who rely exclusively on the truism, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” are missing out on vast amounts of business and credibility opportunities, because words are the things that really sell. Whether it’s Web copy or an article, the details are contained in the words. Pictures are nice; words motivate. Words give your customers — and your potential customers — reasons to relate to you. Words describe the features and benefits that move your clients to buy from you or use your services.

Words sell. Period.

Using writing to enhance and increase your visibility should not be limited to your Web copy or articles. Other ways and places to use words to promote your ideas, vision, expertise, and products or services include:

§         E-mail

§         Media releases

§         E-zines

§         Blogs

§         Books and e-books

§         Info products

Are You Using Your Words to Their Fullest Potential?

Chances are, you’re not.

Internet marketing guru Joe Vitale says there are three essential components that go into the success of any sales copy:

1.     A high-quality product or service

2.     Hypnotic writing

3.     A great list

The exact same ingredients are necessary if you intend to use your words to increase your credibility in your industry or profession. How so? Let’s examine the components again.

A high-quality product or service. In the case of your writing, your unique product is your expertise around your industry or profession. Your goal is to share your unique knowledge about your area of specialization to help people solve problems, earn more, feel better, look better, change their attitudes, or otherwise improve their lives.

Hypnotic writing. Joe Vitale defines hypnotic writing as “intentionally using words to guide people into a focused mental state where they are inclined to buy your product or service.” Any words you use that cause your readers to react because of the mental images you plant in their minds qualify as hypnotic writing. Telling stories is one of the quickest and easiest ways to do this. If your writing is going to build credibility, it must be hypnotic!

A great list. In Internet marketing, nothing happens without the list — that is, the potential customers with whom you will share your product or service. In the case of your writing, your list is equivalent to your audience. It doesn’t matter how dynamic, thought-provoking, or hypnotic your writing is if the only person who ever reads it is your mother. You must widely distribute your writing for it to help you build credibility!

What Are Your Stories?

Some people are born storytellers, but every person has stories to tell. As a matter of fact, we tell stories all the time — it’s our primary way of communicating. Think about the funny incident you witnessed in line at the grocery store last week. The clumsy coworker in the cubicle next to yours. The humorous things your kids do and say, all the time. Or how impossible it is to get one iota of emotion out of a US Postal employee, particularly when you are hysterical because a vital letter or parcel is MIA.

What are the incidents that stand out for you with regard to your business? They don’t have to be funny. What are your success stories? Failures? Painful lessons? Amazingly close calls? Times when you didn’t think you were going to be able to hang in there, but did?

Stories abound. Practice telling them — and writing them — and you will master the art of hypnotic writing. Use those stories to promote yourself and build credibility in your industry or profession.

“What If I’m Just Not a Writer?”

All writing has two aspects: content and appearance. While they are both important, the content is the more important of the two, by far. Beautifully formatted writing that is grammatically correct but says nothing accomplishes nothing. Focus on the content.

Sure, there are tricks to help you write better (check the Internet or your public library for fantastic resources) — and it would be a lie to suggest that proper grammar, syntax, style, and word choices do not matter. But those things are simple enough to learn — and it’s easy to get someone to help you with them. Without a unique and original message, though, correctness doesn’t really make any difference. Mumbo jumbo is mumbo jumbo. Garbled ideas are garbled ideas. Rehashing the same old stuff is just . . . you get the picture.

Since content is the most important piece of your writing, the essential thing is to get it down! Use bullet points. Create an audio recording of your ideas and have someone transcribe it for you. Write it all in one gigantic three-page paragraph. Just get it into words — on a page.

Once you’ve done that much, you can find someone to help you clean it up. Maybe your Aunt Myrtle is a retired English teacher — she’d probably be delighted to be called on for her skills. A creative writing or journalism major at the local college or university can be a great resource. Consider a trade with someone in your network who has great editing skills. Or hire a professional editor. The most important thing is that you commit to the process and find someone to help you, if you’re not confident in your own writing/editing abilities. Build it into your budget and spend what you can afford, knowing that quite often you do get what you pay for.

People will believe the words you write — and accept you as an expert — far more quickly than they will be convinced by any advertising campaign, no matter what the budget or extreme tactics you resort to. If you want to quickly establish credibility, differentiate yourself from the others in your industry or profession, and broaden your customer base . . . you must get started on that article, e-zine, or book today!