The best writing advice for small business you’ll never hear
I bet you’ve asked or heard questions before like:
- What’s the best camera to use? Or,
- What’s the best exercise to lose weight?
And you’ll hear a refrain much like:
- The best camera for the job is the one you have with you.
- The best exercise to lose weight is the exercise you’ll do regularly.
But you just can’t deal with that can you?
I can’t.
We have to fling ourselves into the ether to uncover the missing formula for X.
So when you’re considering the holy grail of business writing advice you’re going to ask something like:
What should I write about?
This is where things get interesting, and then, go completely off the rails.
As with exercise and diet or areas with legions of rabid users like photography, everyone will now proceed to shout each other down from ideological mountain tops about the smallest of differences in things like equipment, brands, methods, gurus, gadgets, loopholes, and tiddlywinks.
All the things you can and should do.
I’ve done the same. It’s well intentioned. Sometimes it’s even accurate. Mostly not.
And then after consulting all the best practices and gurus we’ll be unable to reconcile why people have become successful with no seeming regard for any of the rules. Or how they actually complete the 84 steps to nirvana that some guide dictated.
We don’t want to hear things like your mileage may vary. We want to believe. We want to be one of the outliers we read about in a Malcolm Gladwell book.
As you might imagine, there’s a reason for that.
We’re suckers. All of us. And we’ll never stop being suckers. It’s our nature. We must take this into account.
So when I give you this gift of hard won knowledge that might just be the best business writing advice you’ll never hear, you won’t heed it.
Want to try anyway (just to confirm your nature)?
The best writing you could do is the writing you care to do.
If it’s not your business you care about, you might want to change your business. It’s called free enterprise after all. You’ve got to enjoy what you’re going to be writing about or it’ll never stick. But don’t confuse not caring with not caring about writing. No one actually likes to write! Writers just have more tolerance for the pain writing causes and because they become addicted to the feeling of being DONE with whatever it is they’re writing.
There are other feasible options.
You can spend truck loads on advertising. In fact, if you have truckloads of money, advertising is truly a great place to get rid of it. Tax deductible. Give me a call.
You might consider hiring a professional writer. They’re like the people who clean up crime scenes, but for words. As long as they’re trained, interview you regularly, and take time to understand your individual character, they can write for you. Some of the biggest earners in writing use ghost writers to pen many of their books (apparently James Patterson does).
You might hate writing but love to talk with people. Record an audio podcast. They’re experiencing a renaissance right now. You might be able to make love to the camera. Video time. Get it on ‘The YouTube.’
Find the way that works for you. If you succeed, the way you write will end up having a lot in common with people who write for a living. What you care about won’t.
About the author: Julian Seery Gude
I have a hunger for knowledge, a head for business, a creative streak that hungers for wide open spaces, and a boundless affinity for technology.
I’m married to Shannon Seery Gude, live in South Florida and have fours kids ranging in age from 9 to 23. I’m American but I grew up in Western Australia.
I own a small business called exceler8 where I help small businesses grow their customer and audience base by developing their digital strategy, story, web design, content marketing, and Internet advertising.
I work on projects here in my home town of West Palm Beach, around the U.S. and some international clients.
Join me on www.exceler8.com
