You can never feel as old as a writer. Writing is the work of the mind, and as long as your mind is excited and energetic, you can continue to produce amazing copies. However, on the contrary, your style can get OLD. What worked in writing a brochure back in the 1990s, may not work in writing an emailer now.
The minds of your target audience change every month, never mind every year. So, in order to stay connected, you must revive your content writing skills.
How do you refresh your copywriting skills?
We are going to provide a few tricks and tips that most professional writers use to keep their writing skills fresh and breezy. Read them and change according to your needs and style.
Don’t Write Topics You Don’t Enjoy
Your writing automatically spoils when you detest your chosen subject. A fashion blogger who lived his career in colors and patterns cannot explain inflation and deflation in a plain manner as a finance blogger. Do you get it? The best way to stay fresh is by doing what you enjoy.
If you have been in the writing business for more than three years now, you sure must have developed a love for a particular genre. Even if you have written sales agreements all your life, and you start feeling bored all of a sudden, you must change your genre and move towards creativity.
Of course, you cannot dump work just because you are bored but trying different genres can actually keep your writing skill fresh and passion stirred.
Remain Engaged with the Change
8 years ago, when content marketing was just gaining popularity, it was all about grammar, love for creativity, and of course keywords. But now, it has evolved and it’s wonderfully challenging. The web is a roller coaster full of opportunities for content writers to show their skill.
Now there are web content, newsletters, writing SEO, blogs, emailers, scripts, stories, ad campaigns, videos, and the effervescent social media, not to mention, mobile devices.
If you remain focused on the change, you will never feel bored with your skills again. Adaptation is the best way to evolve and refine skills. Do not settle down and definitely not for something that is outdating; rather grow along with the change. Also, make sure you increase your rates too.
Fight Some Battle
Most people think copywriting is all about copying and pasting content from old materials to new documents. If it was this easy, we would have made children copywriters haven’t we?
Did you know there are 100 different styles to write a blog alone? Forget the rest of things, like promotional content and ad campaigns.
Did you know a headline plays the most important role in your content, for around 80% of the readers click on your post because of the headline? So, it is not easy. Writers face a constant battle and good writers know how to win it.
If you want to make your skills jubilant, find some fun battles to fight, such as explaining people the power of writing a good headline or using rationale words (yes, there’s something called rationale words too).
You must find ways to interact with your audience. For that, you must discard mediocre and choose a witty and fun approach. Many will oppose you, but trust us a conversational tone is something that people are cherry-picking at present.
DO NOT run for Hot, Run for what is Safe and Secure
Every day, at least one content marketing tool or technique brims to the surface and people start following it crazily. Not all ‘gurus’ are actually gurus and not all ‘hot’ techniques are going to produce great results.
So, do not run for everything hot and happening. Sometimes they are not worthwhile. Invest more time in doing the kind of work you like and less time in new stuff. If a change is required, you will eventually come to know. Until then focus on what’s important.
Master Your Craft
The ultimate joy comes from mastering your craft. You have to love writing and look for ways to improve it, every day, every sentence, and every line. Good writing is not about expensive vocabulary. It is about expressing your thoughts in a way that not only informs the readers but also exploits the readers to take actions. Your pursuit to write better should not stop.
Rewrite, try, fail, and get up again. That’s the only way you can keep your copywriting skills fresh.
About The Author:
Aarif Habeeb is a content writer at GrammarLove and an SEO expert. He is responsible for brand-building via content and social media for GrammarLove. His success lies within his originality and hands-on experience in editing and writing. Aarif lives in Jaipur and loves his early morning filter coffee, dessert gazing and reading newspapers. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.