Treat Your Writing Like a Business
The elements you need to make your writing a business
Why you should be writing like it’s a business
To be a successful writer, especially if you are an independent or an indie writer as in you are not going down the career or traditional publishing path, then you need to treat your writing as a business. Even if you aren’t concentrating on the money side of writing. Getting your work seen and read can be a challenge on its own.
Millions, if not billions, of blog posts are available online, and there are tens of millions of writers in the world. In the US alone, an estimated 1.6 million new books get published every year.
Ask yourself with this much content already out there,
“How can my work stand out? How can I be successful?”
These questions were what I was asking myself.
The Brand
You have probably heard the word ‘Brand’ many times and are confused as to what it actually means as a writer. Treating your writing as a business involves having a strong brand, just like Apple! But unlike Apple, which sells physical products, your brand sells you. As a writer, you are the company, and the product is your writing.
This is where branding stands out. Your brand is this. The reader knows what they are getting.
Your Writing Style and Voice
This is the core of your brand. It’s the unique way you write and tell your story, your writing personality, if you will. Keeping this fairly consistent is not only great for the reader but also good for you. Having a certain voice makes it easier to write a story because you already have your style fixed.
Inconstancy was something that I was struggling with. My mood affects my writing. Sometimes it can be lighthearted and fun, at other times darker or even angry if I feel passionate about something that in some way caused negativity.
Genre Specialization
Having a specific niche helps readers know what to expect from you and makes it easier to find your target audience. This is something else that you need to follow big brands like Apple. Their customers know exactly what they are going to get when they buy Apple products.
Your readers should know exactly what they are going to get when they read your work!
Themes and Values
What messages do you want to convey to the reader, if any? Is your writing focused on a subject such as personal growth or social justice? These are pretty important questions and if you don’t know the answers, how are the readers going to know?
Author Persona
This is the public image you project online and at events. I struggle with this because I am an outgoing person in my personal life, but in public I am shy and not very comfortable with people I don’t know. And I hate my photo taken! No matter what I do, I always look like crap.
But all of this reflects your personality and how you want to connect with readers. Are you humorous and approachable, or more mysterious and standoffish?
Quality vs. Quantity
Let’s start by debunking a common myth that so many people believe. Being a successful writer isn’t about churning out endless streams of mediocre content. In the short term, this will get you noticed and indeed it will make some money. But in the long run, you will lose readers and, more importantly, returning readers.
I studied business and the model that I learned way back when is just as important today as it was when I was in college. And that was that returning customers make more money for a business than new customers. Although new customers are important for growth, you want those customers to buy your product again and again.
Apple, I believe, does this extremely well. They convince their buyers that they need the newest version of the iPhone and their other products. So, like Apple, you need to be delivering a quality product that your customers, AKA readers, want. This is where the business aspect comes in!
Quality writing comes first! Everything else comes second. You need a good product to sell!
The quantity will build with time! The amount of blogs that you’ve published on Medium, eBooks uploaded to Amazon, or articles submitted to your favorite magazines will increase over the weeks, months and years.
And Finally
Your brand is YOU. Your unique voice, your preferred genre, the themes you explore. Your readers will know what to expect when they read your work, just like they know what to expect when they buy an iPhone.
Quality. Don’t get caught up in producing endless mediocre content just to get your name out there. Focus on crafting engaging, well-written pieces that give something to the reader. Going back to my business roots, loyal customers are more likely to buy more than just walk in traffic from the street.
Think handmade, not assembly line.
Thanks for reading!
As usual Clap, Follower, and Comment if you want.
Paul