I just got back from a week-long vacation to Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon and Zion National Park. We hiked up and down trails, in Bryce and wondered at the magnificence and beauty of the red mountain cathedrals of Zion and the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon. I didn't think of marketing for almost a week!
And here I am again, sitting at my computer and a blank screen trying to come up with some ideas that will help your marketing. What should I write about? What have I not written about recently? What is both interesting and useful?
Have you been faced with this situation and you find yourself stuck, unable to write anything? You feel as if you've hit a creative roadblock and run out of ideas. You'd love to write something - anything, but nothing is coming. As the stress mounts, you wonder if there is some hidden secret to getting past this block. If you knew it, you'd certainly use it!
Look, I don't know if I have the absolute secret to overcoming *marketer's writing block* but I do know that it rarely happens to me anymore. I have a simple formula that always seems to work. In fact I generate so many ideas that I don't have time to implement them all. And it's really not because I'm any more creative than the average person. Perhaps I just stumbled on this very simple but very effective formula.
It's just four steps that I call the Problem-Solution Path.
1. I create a deadline for something to be produced. This creates pressure that I think is very important. Because I write this eZine every week, I must find an idea and the time to write. Because I produce a new TeleSeminar every month, I must find the idea and time to put it together. If I didn't have a deadline looming, I think procrastination would be a lot easier.
- Do you have a specific goal and a deadline? If not, just make one up. If you don't, you'll have no focus to keep you on track.
2. I define a problem, predicament or challenge I believe my audience is facing. And since I've faced most of these problems myself, they are very familiar to me. It might be the problem of creating a marketing message, writing an eZine or putting together a proposal. I only spend a little time thinking about a problem and one usually pops into my head in a few minutes.
- Can you identify several problems your prospects and clients have experienced in the past? What are they currently struggling with? What's missing for them? Then pick just one.
3. I think about my solutions to this problem. Since I've solved many of these marketing problems in the past, I usually have a good idea of what will work and what won't work. I just reflect for a few minutes about various solutions and approaches to the problem until I feel confident I have something valuable to communicate that will make a difference to those who read what I write.
- Do you have solutions, techniques and strategies you can apply to the problems of your clients and prospects? Can you express these solutions in a way that is easy to understand and apply?
4. Then I just start writing. I don't worry about doing it perfectly the first draft. I just follow the Problem-Solution Path as I've outlined above. I try to avoid theory and stay very practical, giving very detailed how-to information. If I can make things clearer with a story or example, I'll use those too. My main concern is: Can my readers use this information to improve their current situation? If they can, I've succeeded.
- Are you ready to start writing using this basic Problem-Solution Path? Are you willing to do it imperfectly and then go back and edit and rewrite until it makes sense and flows well?
And that's my simple Problem-Solution Path. If you are stuck, I believe it's all you need to get started. And the more you write using this formula, the easier it gets. Not only that, the more you write, the more all your other marketing activities improve because your thinking gets more focused and your communication becomes more persuasive.
So take a shot at it and see what you come up with! What will you write about today?
