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As a content writer, you might have faced this dilemma:
Should you write for yourself or for your readers?
Should you follow your passion or your audience?
This is a difficult question to answer.
There are pros and cons to both approaches.
Writing for yourself can give you more freedom, creativity, and satisfaction.
Writing for your readers can give you more feedback, engagement, and income.
But what if you don’t have to choose?
What if you can create content that interests you and your readers?
In this article I will share my experience with you how to find the sweet spot between writing for yourself and your readers.
Let’s dive in.
Writing for yourself means that you write what you want to write, what you like to write, and what you think is important to write.
You write for your own satisfaction, enjoyment, and expression. You write for yourself.
Writing for yourself has many benefits.
It can help you:
But how do you write for yourself?
Here are some tips I acquire to write for yourself:
Write about what you love, what you care about, what you are curious about. For clearer context; write about what matters to you.
Don’t worry about what your audiences will think, say, or do when you write.
Just write what you want to write, how you want to write it, and why you want to write it.
Then, revise, refine, and polish your writing for your audiences.
Don’t try to sound like someone else, or use words that you don’t understand, or follow rules that you don’t agree with.
Just write like you talk, like you are having a conversation with a friend, a colleague, or a mentor.
Use your own words, your own tone, your own humor, your own stories.
The best way to improve your writing is to practice your writing.
Writing every day will help you find your voice, style, and personality.
This will also help you overcome your fears, doubts, and blocks.
Writing for the audience means that you write what they want to read, what they like to read, and what they think is important to read.
You write for their satisfaction, enjoyment, and engagement.
Writing for the audiences has many benefits.
It can help you:
But how do you write for your audiences?
Here are some tips I acquire to write for audiences:
Your ideal audience is the one who is most likely to benefit from your content, most likely to engage with your content, and most likely to buy your product or service.
Don’t write just for the sake of writing, or just because you have to write.
Write with a clear and specific purpose.
What do you want to achieve with your content?
How do you want to help your audiences?
Don’t write randomly or aimlessly.
You can write with a clear and logical structure.
How do you want to organize your content?
How do you want to guide your audiences through your content?
Write with a clear and consistent tone to avoid reader confusion.
How do you want to sound to your audiences?
How do you communicate with your audiences?
Putting the pieces together means that you write for yourself and for the audiences.
You write for both your satisfaction and the audience’s satisfaction.
By this one, you need to write about something that aligns with both your and your audiences’ interests.
You write about something that you are passionate about, but also something that they are looking for.
For example, let’s say that I am passionate about content writing.
I love writing content because it is important for my personal and professional growth.
But what about my audiences?
What are they looking for?
Well, perhaps they are looking for tips on how to create better content writing.
Maybe they need help with writing, rewriting, improving, or optimizing their content.
So, how do you write about something that interests both you and your audiences?
I can write about how to create better content writing, best practices, tools, and techniques for content writing, etc.
By writing about how to create better content writing, and how you can help audiences with it, you are putting the pieces together.
You are writing about something that aligns with both your and your audiences’ interests..
If you are looking for an example of a brand that puts the pieces together, I recommend you check out Copyblogger.
Copyblogger is a content marketing blog that helps content writers create and grow their online presence.
They write for themselves by writing about what they are passionate about, what they love, and what they think is important.
Also they write for the audiences by providing valuable, relevant, and actionable information that solves their problems and meets their needs.
So, there you have it.
That’s how you balance writing for yourself and writing for the audiences.
You just need to follow these tips:
So, what are you waiting for?
Start writing for yourself and for the audiences today.