Seven types of content worth writing now
I get it. You’re worried about your business, your life, the universe and everything. Emotional, stressed, overtired, trapped, anxious - you’re finding it hard to focus on anything, let alone writing for a business that’s feeling scarily precarious.
Let yourself off the hook. If you can’t face writing your weekly tips, or if the blog you’d scheduled to write now sounds like something out of a period drama, don’t do it. No one will mind. Be kind to yourself and do something that makes you feel better instead. Go for a walk, ring a friend, make a cake, lie on the sofa and listen to Desert Island Discs.
Manage your energy and come back to it when you’ve got the headspace.
But if you want to write now - and there are lots of reasons why you might - here are some pointers on where to put your attention.
Content that’s worth your time
Deeper expert content
We’re all in this for the long haul. Some people are already using this time to research future projects and plan for the time when we’re back to whatever the new normal turns out to be.
If there’s content you can create that takes a useful deep dive into your area of expertise then it’s worth your attention. Potential future clients will be looking for it over the next few months.
This could be papers or guides, it might even be that book you always promised you’d write one day. Write to help the clients you’d love to work with, and to secure a long term future for the business you love.
2. Emotionally literate content
Stories that help people make sense of the way they are feeling and reacting are really useful. If you have insight to share here, it’s worth putting fingers to keyboard to create it. We’re all searching out content to help us feel connected and stay sane, so if you can add to this it’s a good use of your time.
This article, for example, helped me see things differently last week. That Discomfort You’re Feeling is Grief points out that we are all grieving in one way or another right now. For our friends and families we can’t see, for all the people we are worrying about, for our businesses, for the future we thought we were going to have, for that cancelled holiday, wedding, get together....
Recognising and naming it has helped. Honesty, compassion and wisdom are more welcome than ever.
3. Your newsletter
The best newsletters are never letters full of company news, rather they’re a shot of insight from someone you trust.
Spreading a bit of joy, perspective, sanity, love, or just genuine human connection is so important right now. And it’s something all of us can do.
I’m ditching newsletters that send me copy and paste Covid 19 responses, but opening and relishing every word of the well-written letters from people who are using their expertise and compassion to help me find a way through. If you can find the headspace to stay connected with your community this way, it will be time well spent. (You can sign up for my newsletter here).
4. ‘Open for business’ content
Projects are being paused left, right and centre, but there is work still happening. (And I’m optimistically hoping this ultra - panicky phase will pass in a few weeks and that things will pick up again before too long.) With that in mind, content that shows that you’re open for business is a good use of your time.
That might mean writing a blog or two, it could be the newsletter, it could be checking in with clients and prospects, it could be half an hour spent on LinkedIn commenting constructively on other people’s posts.
I think it means holding your nerve a bit too. Don’t offer huge discounts or cut prices. You’re valuable and worth paying for, and you want to have a business to come back to once this is all over.
5. ‘We’re on a break’ content
Or if you’ve taken a decision to pause for a few weeks, write something that explains that you’re on hold, but will be back in action in the summer.
There’s a positive case to be made for stepping away for a while, and it’s good to share that openly. There’s no proven right or wrong way to deal with this situation, but whichever route you choose, clear, trust building communication rarely goes amiss.
6. Educational content
If you’ve got time on your hands and the energy to tackle a writing project, consider turning what you know into material that can be taught online. It doesn’t have to be a full blown course, you could create a webinar, or content that could be taught over a series of Zoom calls.
If you can deliver your services differently, it’s worth some spending some writing time plotting out how that could work.
7. Feel good content
Funny, imaginative, inspiring, creative, human content. Everyone is hunting for things that will lift spirits and make people smile.
You’re probably right, no one does want the article you’d planned to write on Summer Events Marketing or How to Win at Your Next Networking Do, but they’ll be really open to reading something that makes them laugh. In amongst all the fear and anxiety and worrying news, genuine feel good stuff feels like a public service.
One more thing
If writing for the outside world really feels like too much right now, give yourself a break. It’s fine to be quiet.
But if you can make some space, it’s worth considering writing just for yourself.
There’s a therapeutic benefit to writing. I often don’t know what I think until I see what I say. You can write your way to clarity or calm. Writing is a way of exercising a bit of control and getting out of a state of fear. It’s a way of taking positive action. It’s practical and it’s free!
Give it a go. Turn off social media. Stick a timer on for 20 minutes and see what you come up with. It could be the start of something wonderful.
