Joshua Vecchio walks you through three quick steps to write blog posts that will draw in your potential future clients.
Director of Red & Co., Joshua Vecchio, has written over $250m using techniques and tips being shared on his website Top Broker.
Building on from our article last week on Supercharging Your Personal Brand and growing your influence, we are going one step further and talking about how to action this through writing.
I will also caveat this by saying writing isn’t for everyone – and that’s ok – but the fact is, blogging helps you bring potential customers to your website, helps you establish yourself as an authority and drives long-term results.
That’s great, but I find it really hard to write, you say?
Ok cool, I bet you do pretty well writing out emails every day, so try starting small like writing 100 words a day, each day and after a week you will have written a 700-word article!
If on the other hand you completely hate writing, that’s also fine –you might find it easier to take voice memos of tips and ideas you have and can get someone on Upwork to transcribe it and turn it into an article.
So now you have written (or have gotten someone to transcribe) a terrific blog post – But why aren’t clients reading it?
As we have established, writing blogs isn’t exactly rocket science – but there are some really simple factors that can really impact your blog’s readability and pretty much stop clients from reading it.
I’ve put together this blog checklist after a combination of client feedback (asking what they’re looking for) and just through trial and error. Here are three key tips and the ultimate checklist for brokers to write content like a rock star!
#1: The Eye Catcher – Your Headline
Create something eye-catching, this is the first and last opportunity you’ll get for readers to open your article or email.
It’s simple but often underestimated how important the article’s title is. If you don’t create a bit of attention around the headline, it’s going to be a whole lot harder to get your clients to open your article and want to read on.
Your headline should be catchy and create one of the following elements for the reader:
Instead of:
Five Suburbs In Brisbane That Are Good To Buy In
Try:
Five Booming Suburbs in Brisbane
Instead of:
Are big banks or private mortgage brokers better to use?
Try:
Private Brokers vs. Big Banks: What’s the verdict?
#2: The Eye Candy – Images
If you’re sharing your content, ALWAYS make sure that you have an image to accompany it. This not only increases the click through rate but also draws further attention and gives the reader more information about what they’re going to be reading about.
Don’t be lazy and use stock images – it looks cheap and generic. I used to just opt for stock photography but now I’ve found that overlaying text with an image and an Instagram filter gives it much more appeal and increases my click through rate.
Here are four awesome tools to create thumbnails
Now is the time to showcase your broker-boss-skills and give your clients information they WON’T be able to put down.
The key is to do a bit of planning before you jump into writing and list out your article’s purpose/goal and what you’re aiming for the reader to do after they read the article.
Top Broker Ideas: Give your reader value by providing them with a purpose to keep on reading or entice them to share it with someone else. As you continue further into your blog, highlight the pain point of the reader.
Blog structure:
The most important change I made with my content was creating thoughtful and purposeful content. Try to imagine being in the shoes of your clients and really think about what they’d want to read.
This article originally appeared on Top Broker, an online space where tips and strategies are shared by Australia's top mortgage brokers.
Building on from our article last week on Supercharging Your Personal Brand and growing your influence, we are going one step further and talking about how to action this through writing.
I will also caveat this by saying writing isn’t for everyone – and that’s ok – but the fact is, blogging helps you bring potential customers to your website, helps you establish yourself as an authority and drives long-term results.
That’s great, but I find it really hard to write, you say?
Ok cool, I bet you do pretty well writing out emails every day, so try starting small like writing 100 words a day, each day and after a week you will have written a 700-word article!
If on the other hand you completely hate writing, that’s also fine –you might find it easier to take voice memos of tips and ideas you have and can get someone on Upwork to transcribe it and turn it into an article.
So now you have written (or have gotten someone to transcribe) a terrific blog post – But why aren’t clients reading it?
As we have established, writing blogs isn’t exactly rocket science – but there are some really simple factors that can really impact your blog’s readability and pretty much stop clients from reading it.
I’ve put together this blog checklist after a combination of client feedback (asking what they’re looking for) and just through trial and error. Here are three key tips and the ultimate checklist for brokers to write content like a rock star!
#1: The Eye Catcher – Your Headline
Create something eye-catching, this is the first and last opportunity you’ll get for readers to open your article or email.
It’s simple but often underestimated how important the article’s title is. If you don’t create a bit of attention around the headline, it’s going to be a whole lot harder to get your clients to open your article and want to read on.
Your headline should be catchy and create one of the following elements for the reader:
- A question
- Curiosity
- Surprise element
- Personal reference (You)
- A positive or negative statement
- Concrete facts
- SEO optimized
- And lists – People love lists.
Instead of:
Five Suburbs In Brisbane That Are Good To Buy In
Try:
Five Booming Suburbs in Brisbane
Instead of:
Are big banks or private mortgage brokers better to use?
Try:
Private Brokers vs. Big Banks: What’s the verdict?
#2: The Eye Candy – Images
If you’re sharing your content, ALWAYS make sure that you have an image to accompany it. This not only increases the click through rate but also draws further attention and gives the reader more information about what they’re going to be reading about.
Don’t be lazy and use stock images – it looks cheap and generic. I used to just opt for stock photography but now I’ve found that overlaying text with an image and an Instagram filter gives it much more appeal and increases my click through rate.
Here are four awesome tools to create thumbnails
- PicMonkey – Great for creating thumbnails, editing photos and collages, kind of like a beginners version of Photoshop. https://www.picmonkey.com
- Canva – Easy graphic design tools for anything – from posters or business cards and more. canva.com.
- WhatFont – Get any font you want, on your computer! http://www.chengyinliu.com/whatfont.html
- Pictaculous – Helps those (like me) with a lack of colour awareness to set up a colour palate that works! http://www.pictaculous.com
Now is the time to showcase your broker-boss-skills and give your clients information they WON’T be able to put down.
The key is to do a bit of planning before you jump into writing and list out your article’s purpose/goal and what you’re aiming for the reader to do after they read the article.
Top Broker Ideas: Give your reader value by providing them with a purpose to keep on reading or entice them to share it with someone else. As you continue further into your blog, highlight the pain point of the reader.
Blog structure:
- Intro/Hook: Introduce your main topic that you’re going to be covering, make it relatable!
- Body: Give your reader actionable strategies to solve the pain point. Ensure content is SEO optimised with your keyword or phrase. Include subheadings and dot points to make it easier to read.
- Conclusion: Leave the reader wanting more and ask a question. If your client has made it far enough to read your entire piece, it’s time to reward them!
- Call to action: Offer your reader something clear (like access to a free eBook or free assessment) and create a call-to-action (your contact details or ask them a question so they leave a comment). Also, include social media and links to other useful blog posts.
The most important change I made with my content was creating thoughtful and purposeful content. Try to imagine being in the shoes of your clients and really think about what they’d want to read.
This article originally appeared on Top Broker, an online space where tips and strategies are shared by Australia's top mortgage brokers.
