GoWrite magazine Issue 8

GoWrite! AUGUST/SEPT 2019 • ISSUE 8 FINDING your TRIBE  5 Ways to Write a Lead CREATING What is CONSISTENCY BRAND How to theme your VOICE? content to create a brand And why does it matter?

Welcome 2 Growing a brand isn't just about pretty websites and fancy 4 logos. In this issue of GoWrite we're celebrating the role 7 writing plays in positioning your business. FOLLOW US! Branding. What do you think when you hear that word? Design? Logos? Websites?  @gowritemagazine Any marketer will tell you that one of the most @gowritemagazine important aspects of growing a brand is the way you talk to your customers. Thankfully, we've got some of the best marketers and copywriters to share their wisdom about writing your way to brand success in this issue. You'll know that one of the most powerful ways to grow your brand is to connect with your audience. But what turns a follower into an ambassador? Holly Pither from Tribe PR explains why people don't just buy from brands any more—they join them. Turn to p.10 for her practical tips. A method of promotion that more and more businesses are turning to is influencer marketing. We asked Socialight app's Iain McFarnon to give us a beginner's guide and some myth-busting advice. Find it on p.7. I can't wait to share this issue's interview with YouTuber Ramin Nakisa. Ramin's grown his financial advice channel from zero to over 6,000 subscribers simply by answering his followers' questions. Read about his strategy on p.20, and learn how understanding his audience's desire for simplicity  has brought big rewards. Plus, we've got all the usual writing inspiration and advice you'd expect: learn how to write a great lead, read our book recommendations, discover the best picture libraries and find out how to use templates to make your content into a brand in its own right.  I hope you enjoy this, our biggest issue ever, as much as we have. Happy reading—and happy writing.  Sophie Sophie Bradshaw Editor P.S. The new GoWrite website will be going live later this month! You'll soon be able to access the magazine in its new home, so watch out for updates.

VIDEO EDITING GoWrite! I N B R I E F APPS FOR BEGINNERS WHAT IS BRAND VOICE? Wondershare Filmora We all have a unique way of talking. The vocabulary we use and the way we put sentences together is part of our personality. We want Filmora is a our brands to have personality, too, so developing a certain way of great entry- writing is vital for maintaining consistency with our customers. Here level video are some things to remember: editing software Brand voice is everywhere that's easy enough for  The way you talk to your customers shouldn't be restricted to complete beginners. Its intuitive user social media. Your brand voice should be consistent on your interface makes cutting and slicing video website, in articles and on your packaging. It should even carry easy, and you can also add text and across to how you speak on the phone. transitions. Even a beginner can learn to navigate Filmora in a few minutes, unlike It's all about vocabulary other programs which can take hours. When your video is finished, there is the The words we use are an important part of our brand voice. I call my option to upload it straight to YouTube clients 'authors', Disney calls its employees 'cast members'. If you or other video-sharing sites.  want to convey certain values, nothing will do this better than filmora.wondershare.net.  words. VSDC  What we hear is how we feel The tone of your brand voice has an impact on how you make your VSDC is a fairly customers feel. Energy company Bulb has a brand voice that basic free video exudes simplicity and clarity. It knows its customers value these editing tool that things, so that's how it tries to make them feel. can accomplish simple tasks Brand voice can be chosen, but not manufactured easily. It has You can't force brand voice if it's a way of communicating that some fun built-in doesn't come naturally. Customers will pick up on an inauthentic effects and  way of speaking straight away, so choose a tone that fits with your transitions, and a screen-capture tool personality. If you're naturally serious, adopting a jokey style will for recording video from your laptop. just sound wrong.  However, the trimming and slicing tool is hard to use and it has a slightly counter-intuitive interface.. It's also only available for Windows. But as a free tool it does many jobs videosoftdev.com/free-video-editor Openshot Openshot is a free video editing tool for Windows, Mac or Linux. For beginners, the ability to switch between simple and advanced view is a bonus, and adding text and other effects is easy. It's not as intuitive as Filmora, but as a free tool it will tick the boxes for many beginners.  openshot.org

THE BEST PHOTO WRITING TIP LIBRARIES 5 WAYS TO WRITE A 'LEAD' Unsplash The lead is the opening paragraph of an article or blog. It might be Unsplash is a one sentence or it might be four or five, but it's what draws the recent addition reader in and makes them keep reading. Here are five ways to make to online stock sure you open with impact. imagery, and for many TELL A STORY writers  it's revolutionised Once you've decided on the main point of your article, can you the way they put content together. It's think of a powerful story that illustrates it? Stories teach and best for nature, landscape and generic entertain, so they're a great way to get your reader interested. 'laptop' shots, so if you need a high- quality free image for a blog or article, it CREATE MYSTERY should be your go-to option. The images are easy to download and come in a People are drawn to puzzles, so creating a mystery and bringing high-res format. However, the search your reader with you as you 'solve' it is a good way to capture— engine isn't that powerful, so if you're and keep—their attention. Start your article with a question. searching for a specific image you might not find what you're looking for. BE PERSONAL unsplash.com General statements (often starting with 'there are' or 'it is') will Shutterstock always turn your reader off. Start your article with an 'I' to make it personal and believable. Shutterstock is arguably the SAY SOMETHING SURPRISING best of the paid-for image Opening with a controversial statement ('All marketers are liars') libraries. or a surprising metaphor will always get people's interest. There's a good selection of photographs, illustrations, END WITH A 'SNAPPER' fonts, backgrounds, vectors, clip-art and even news and sports footage. The Pay attention to how you end your first paragraph, too. Making a search engine is extremely powerful, joke or quip, or better still asking a question, will make it hard for and you can also search for similar your reader to give up. images using a variety of filters. You can even edit images on-site.  It costs £29 for a pack of 5 images, and monthly subscriptions are available.  shutterstock.com Adobe Stock Although it doesn't have the same variety of images as Shutterstock,   Adobe is a good second best. You can buy video, 3D and editorial footage, and even templates for Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator. You can get 10 images a month for £23.99, or buy pre-paid packs for around £35 for 10 images.  It also does a free 30-day trial. stock.adobe.com

Creating Consistency Content can do more than raise your profile—it can be a brand in itself.  Sophie Bradshaw explains how. In 2007, John Lewis created a Christmas In 2011, John Lewis used its ad spot to tell a advert. In it, viewers saw the silhouettes of full-length story for the first time. A young employees putting popular products in a pile. boy counted down the days till Christmas, In a clever twist, the final scene revealed that with the final scene revealing that it wasn’t the products formed the outline of a woman his own presents he was impatient for but walking her dog through the snow. the act of giving to his parents. The ad was a success, and the company By now, people didn’t just love the Christmas decided to release another Christmas advert advert—they anticipated it. They would talk the following year, this time using the about it before it was even released, and the Beatles song ‘From Me to You’. Again, the first showing would inspire conversation on film was a talking point, and each year after and offline. Today, the John Lewis advert is that  the Christmas advert became longer an established part of Christmas tradition. and more elaborate.

What makes the John Lewis adverts so successful? Yes, they’re clever. Yes, they pull on our emotions and tell stories with a seasonal message. But the reason they’re anticipated instead of just enjoyed is because they’re consistent. These films are no longer just advertising for a brand—they are the brand. So how can you make your content into a brand in its own right? Posting regularly is of course essential, but more important is creating content that follows a theme. It’s all about building expectation. Imagine you wrote a blog post answering a common question about your industry. Your followers loved it, and it received lots of comments and shares. Now imagine your followers knew you’d be sharing a post like that every week. Instead of just enjoying the content, they’d come to look forward to it. Posting consistently isn’t just about ‘showing up’. To build a brand around your content you need to make it predictable and recognisable. A regular set of tips styled with a consistent visual theme will quickly become a part of your branding—not just for how it looks but for the value of the content.   Here are some practical ways to create content that sticks: 1. Use ‘structure templates’ Make a template for your blogs that you can repeat. For example, you could start with a personal anecdote, use it to outline the chosen topic, then give three action points the reader can put into practice. If you do this every time, your readers will know what to expect and find your posts easy to read. Remember: the more predictable your structure, the more likely people are to come back for more.

\"Consistent content marketing isn't just about ticking off a calendar.\" 2. Create a series to think of content and gives structure to If you have lots of ideas on one topic, turn my blog page. In a similar way, Ramin them into a series you post on a particular Nakisa, who we interviewed for this issue, day. I started sharing regular writing tips on varies his YouTube videos. He mixes Instagram every Friday. Because the format is practical guides with video interviews and repetitive, my followers have started to look reviews of funds and services. out for them each week. Similarly, Annie Ridout from parenting website The Early Hour Consistency isn’t just about ticking off a posted new articles every morning at 5am, calendar. It can turn your content from a when many parents were up with their young marketing tool into a product your readers children. She says many a sleepless mum or anticipate. With a few basic templates you dad relied on the regularity of that content. can transform your content from box- ticking into a brand. 3. Rotate themes Pick three or four types of content and switch Sophie Bradshaw is a writing coach, business them around. On my blog I alternate practical book editor and ghost writer and the editor- tip posts (‘How to structure a business book’) in-chief of GoWrite. You can find her blog at with author profiles and industry insights www.sophie-bradshaw.com/blog and on (‘What’s the role of a literary agent?’). Creating Instagram at @sophiebradshaw_writing categories like this has made it easier for me 

UNDER the INFLUENCE Even if you’re new to marketing and PR, you’d have to be living on a different planet to avoid the term ‘influencer marketing’.  But what is it, asks Iain McFarnon—and does it work? I But you don’t need a celebrity to make influencer marketing work for your brand.       nfluencer marketing gets mixed reviews. Real influencer marketing is understanding that, Some dub it as the most cost-effective form of through the power of social media, you can use digital marketing you can do, while others normal people to raise awareness of your struggle to maximise its potential and see brand. They don’t even have to have a huge ‘influencers’ as nothing more than a nuisance. following: powerful influencers can have anything from 1,000 to a few hundred thousand So what is influencer marketing? It might be followers. easier to explain what it’s not. Influencer marketing is not using Love Island contestants to The thing that makes these influencers different promote your brand. These people, together from celebrities is that they are powerful with other high-profile Instagrammers, fall content creators who have a particular interest under the category of celebrities. And we all in a subject or lifestyle that others relate to. This know that, in 2019, you can be classified as a is what makes them a powerful marketing tool. celebrity just for having lots of social media They’re relatable—something that celebrities followers. often aren’t.

So, what should you consider when working with influencers for the first time? Well, here are some of the things they often don’t tell you: 1. Followers mean nothing It’s easy to become attracted to an influencer because of the size of their following. We naturally assume that the bigger the number, the bigger the reach, therefore the bigger the ROI. This isn’t the case. Social media users are beginning to value the authenticity of an influencer’s voice above their celebrity, and that authenticity is often found with those who have considerably smaller followings. 2. Sales isn’t everything What?! Business is all about sales. SHOW ME THE MONEY! Wrong. Influencers are marketing and branding tools. They increase awareness and educate like-minded people about your brand. Consumers are progressively switching off when they see self-promotional adverts, so when they see a recommendation from someone they know, the message value is considerably higher. When you work with an influencer, consider how you can provide them with tools and information to help them educate their followers, not sell to 

them. You’ll get a more valuable collaboration The world of influencer marketing is much and a better long-term ROI. bigger than these three points, but if you’re just starting out they’ll help you to put 3. Their content is invaluable together a successful campaign. By remembering the importance of authenticity, You’ll know you’re working with a great you’ll see the value influencers provide.  influencer when they're ‘content proud’. This means they won’t undermine the quality of Iain McFarnon is the creator their content just to promote your product. of Socialight app, the This is a good thing. It means that you’ll have number one influencer the opportunity to not only benefit from their marketing platform for promotion of your brand, but from the high- businesses in the hospitality quality imagery they create. This can be of the & leisure sector. same quality as a professional photographer. www.socialightapp.co.uk Pay attention to the nature of their content @socialightapp and weigh up what’s more important; their direct promotion of your brand or the content they can generate for you. 

Finding T         he gap between business to business (B2B) your  and business to consumer (B2C) TRIBE communications is narrowing. What makes us choose to buy from one brand Gone are the days of dry, corporate press over another? Holly Pither explains why making releases and boring thought leadership copy. people feel they're part of something bigger Today, organisations know they need to target a encourages them to become not only your far more essential audience: people. customers, but your raving fans.  At Tribe PR, we know that people don't just buy from brands, they join them. This means that good brand communication is all about engaging directly with people, understanding what makes them tick, responding to their needs and then turning them into fans. These people then become brand advocates and do something every PR professional dreams of; they tell that brand’s story for them.

'People don't just buy from brands; they join them.' If this sounds hard to believe, think about the makes us feel free, wholesome and optimistic. following scenario. It’s a hot day and you’re thirsty. You pop into a shop to buy a drink. It works for all kinds of products. We buy our When faced with a fridge full of juice, which outdoor kit from The North Face because we product do you choose? It’s a hard decision, want to feel like we’re part of an explorer tribe. because these days we don’t just buy a product We buy a family car from Volvo because we because of what it does, its health benefits or want the reassurance of belonging to a brand how it makes us feel. We buy a product because that values safety and reliability. Brands that the brand helps us define who we are. have defined their consumer tribe win over those that haven’t time and again. Buying from certain brands helps us feel part of something bigger. As the consumer, we know So, if this is true, and customers don’t just buy that we’re one of a group of people who support products for their features but to be part of that product. We all have something in common. something bigger, what does it mean for you? We’re a consumer tribe.   Whatever your brand, you need to consider how best to find your consumer tribe. Then This is why, for example, we may decide to buy once you’ve found it, you need to make the most an Innocent smoothie over a Sunny Delight. of it. We know that the Innocent brand—from its name to the way it advertises its products— Here are my top tips to help you do just that:

1. Know what your tribe people will be left out. That’s about what you do and live up stands for. ok. Think back to Harley to your brand values, people Davison. Sometimes making will follow you. Spend some time working out your tribe exclusive makes what your tribe’s shared belief people want to join it even 4. Know the difference is. Consider what people will more. You’ll lose your brand between loyalty and get out of being part of your message and purpose if you advocacy. tribe. Likewise, when someone try to be everything to buys your product or service, everyone. Instead, focus on These two terms often get how can you reinforce their your message and make sure mixed up. Loyal customers are sense of belonging? Once you're clear about what you people who keep returning to you've figured this out, make do and who it’s for. your brand, but they might not sure all your written and    actively be talking about your social communications are 3. Be authentic. brand to other people. On the consistent. Be sure too that all other hand, brand advocates employees, spokespeople and Authenticity is a word we hear are people who are both loyal brand influencers you work bandied around all the time, to your brand and proactively with also sing from that same but with so many brands share it. Your advocates will hymn sheet. shouting loudly on social tell your story for you. As media and in the press, there’s such, it’s essential to turn 2. You can’t be everything to never been a more important your brand loyalists into everyone. time to get it right. Remember brand advocates. that people can spot a fake a If you’re clear about your mile off, so make sure you’re Take a look around you. On brand and what it stands for, genuine and stay true to your social media, in the street, on you’ll always find that some  purpose. If you’re passionate TV… consumer tribes are everywhere. Now have a think about your own brand. Who’s in your tribe? Holly Pither is the founder of Tribe PR, an independent communications agency specialising in earned media to help organisations of all sizes increase their brand advocacy. Tribe PR works in partnership with both B2B and B2C brands, earning them reputation, helping them understand their audience and deepening their media relationships. www.tribepr.co.uk

The Power of Emotion BY MELISSA BRANNLUND

E                very day we make choices—what to with your audience’s emotions and                 wear, what to eat, what to buy. Whether persuades them to buy from your brand,                  it's walking down a supermarket aisle or here are three tips: browsing online, we’re presented with many seemingly similar options. 1. Tell your story So what makes us choose one product or service Consumers are constantly bombarded with over another? sales talk and marketing slogans which often have little impact and can even turn When we decide to buy something, we convince them off a brand. Instead of going in for the ourselves that we’re making a rational, conscious hard sell, show off some creativity by telling choice, taking into account our preferences and your brand’s story. Give people a reason to personal circumstances: ‘It’s a bargain’, ‘It’s high care about you and show them how your quality’, ‘It’s from a brand I trust’. But whether brand can make their lives better. Consider we’re aware of it or not, it’s our emotional, the following questions: subconscious brain calling the shots. - Why was your business founded? “People buy on emotion and justify - What need are you serving? What with logic” problem are you solving? This idea has been around for a while—Gerald - How did your business grow from Zaltman, professor at Harvard Business School, conception to where it is today? said that 95 per cent of our decisions to buy are unconscious. - What is your vision for the future of your business? But we don’t like to admit that. Taking a logical approach seems like the most sensible way to Storytelling through your written content make decisions; trusting our emotions and acting helps to connect with people’s emotional on impulse is seen as risky and irresponsible. But side, so write something which entertains, this is far from the truth. Our unconscious, inspires, or moves them. intuitive mind can process vast amounts of data in a fraction of the time it would take our 2. Be relevant and relatable conscious mind. Far from being wishy-washy and ethereal, emotions are a powerful tool for When people choose to buy from a brand, influencing our decisions. it’s often because they feel it reflects their values and identity. Start by defining what Emotions are simply the unconscious brain’s way your target audience likes and dislikes, what of communicating a decision to the conscious motivates them, what turns them off. brain. To help you create content that connects Crafting content that appeals to what your target audience actually cares about means they are more likely to engage with your brand and choose you over your competitors.

3. Show some personality trustworthy. Overpromising or lying to customers can seriously harm your brand’s reputation; Remember the phrase ‘people buy from people’? play to your strengths and shout about what you Think of your brand as a person—one with a do best—whether that’s offering great value, unique personality that customers will connect exceptional service, or an amazing product—you’ll with. To develop your brand personality, think never please everyone, so stop trying! about: Crafting content which appeals to people’s - Style and tone of voice—how do you talk to your emotions can help you to develop a unique and customers? Are you laid back and conversational? memorable brand. Use emotion to engage with Or formal and authoritative? Ensure your style your customers and create a strong brand identity and tone reflect your brand values and how you which ultimately persuades them to buy from you wish to be perceived. —they’ll justify it with logic later. - Channels of communication—how do you get Melissa Brannlund is your message across to customers? Your website, a freelance copywriter product descriptions, email marketing and social and digital marketer. media channels all contribute to your brand personality and should convey a clear, consistent linkedin.com/in/melissa message. brannlund - Authenticity—are you credible? People want reassurance that a brand is reliable and

books We believe reading is the start of good writing. So in each issue of GoWrite we review three business books to guide you to create great content. Here's our pick of the bunch.

MADE TO STICK by Whether you write sales copy, articles, blogs or books, Made to Stick will revolutionise how you express yourself. Chip and Dan Heath Best takeaways?  The Curse of Knowledge means that, once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it's like not to know it. This \"There's only one lead and there's leads to us expressing it poorly to others and revealing more only one core. You must choose.\" information than we need to. By simplifying our message, we open it up to people who don't have our knowledge.  Why do some ideas stick more easily Don't let your most important idea (your 'lead') get buried too far down than others? What makes something your communication. Share the most important thing first, as you don't not only believable and persuasive, know when your reader might stop reading.  but memorable? What's the Maintain curiosity in your writing. What will keep your reader asking: difference between an idea that's \"what's going to happen next?\" \"what's the answer to that question?\" interesting and an idea that's life- It's amazing how many bad films we sit through just because we want to changing? know the ending. In Made to Stick, Dan and Chip Heath Use existing ideas ('schema') your reader already knows about to hang put forward the most compelling your idea on.  A concrete example can make all the difference. argument for how to convince people of your way of thinking. Their simple SUCCES formula reminds us of the ingredients we need to make our content, ideas and businesses change people's lives. The Heath brothers argue that ideas stick because they appeal to what we, as humans, are drawn to.  For example, we prefer simplicity (S) over complexity, and unexpectedness (U) over similarity.  Unlike many business books for entrepreneurs, Made to Stick isn't  about developing good ideas. It's about expressing those ideas— however mundane—in a way that engages an audience. It shows you how to write about something in a way that will resonate and engage, no matter what the subject.  As well as lots of practical advice for how to write about ideas SUCCESfully, the Heaths have incorporated 'copy clinics' where you can see how to improve a piece of writing to make it 'stickier'. \"If you say three things, you don't say anything.\"

CONTAGIOUS by Jonah Jonah Berger has become known as \"The things other Berger a marketing expert with a people tell us have a difference. He cuts through boring significant impact theory and instead gives concrete on what we say and examples of great marketing in do.\" practice.  Contagious focuses on why some their life. ideas spread quicker than others. Best takeaways? Word of mouth Why do some videos go viral? What works as a marketing technique makes a restaurant the most talked- because it's persuasive and about in town? Berger believes it's targeted. For example, reviews by all to do with word of mouth. people with no vested interested The opinions, thoughts and in a company are more trusted behaviour of others have a huge than an advertising campaign. impact on what we do, say and buy, And you're more likely to and never more so than in a digital recommend a show to a friend age. Best of all, word-of-mouth who has an interest in the marketing is free. theatre.  So how do we get people to talk? It's also not just about social Berger's book focuses on the 6 media: only 7% of word-of-mouth principles of contagious ideas, from marketing happens online.  how talking about something makes people look to how practical it is in   \"IF YOU CONFUSE, YOU'LL LOSE.\" BUILDING A STORY global organisations. In fact, what it offers is a template that any BRAND by Donald Miller business can use to talk about its products and services. By using a Donald Miller is the creator and CEO story framework, anyone can of StoryBrand, a company that has make their customers understand helped thousands of businesses to the value of what they do. grow by clarifying their marketing Best takeaways? Most marketing message. So you could say he knows a is too complicated. As humans, we thing or two about marketing.  are drawn to clarity instead of But this bestselling book isn't about confusion. Telling our customers building fancy websites or even why they need our product in the writing brilliant sales copy. It's about form of a story taps into the the way we talk about our business. brain's need to make order out of Miller believes that there are 7 chaos. By giving them the universal story points we respond to, framework of a story, we're and that it's the connection between a helping people relate to our business and its potential customer product. In short, the biggest that makes us want to buy. enemy for most businesses is Building a Story Brand isn't aimed at simply noise.  multi million-dollar businesses or 

WHY FIT IN WHEN YOU WERE BORN TO STAND OUT?  DR SEUSS

INTERVIEW Finance expert Ramin Nakisa knew that content marketing would help him grow his business. What he didn't know was that he could do it in the most unusual of places.  We chatted to him about YouTube, committing to your followers, and trusting them to guide your content. 

\"Once you've built where people can discuss their YouTube provided a natural fit by questions and problems with each allowing us to convey complex a following, your other. Increasingly I find that concepts graphically. By focusing members of the community are all our energy on one platform we audience will answering each others' questions. can make the biggest impact. Our Sunday evening call is the YouTube also allows the creation guide your focal point for the community of a community by allowing where I answer questions posed comments on videos. We foster content topics on Slack for that week. this sense of community by answering every single question by asking Where do you focus most of your which is posted in the comments content marketing efforts? for our videos on YouTube. questions.\" We have decided to focus on just What would you say is the most Tell us a little bit about your one channel: YouTube. important thing to remember business and what you do. when producing content? What made you decide to do PensionCraft provides this? Ensure that the content you investment education. We produce is solving problems produce free videos, paid We don't have the resources to for your audience. It doesn't courses and have a rapidly produce content on multiple matter if your content is a bit growing online community on platforms, and our training rough around the edges, as long the messaging platform Slack. content is visual which is why as it's useful. We're funded by subscriptions from our supporters via Patreon. We also provide on-site investment training for companies and other organisations. Our paid courses are designed to help people of all abilities and backgrounds get started in investment. They're usually created in response to questions. For example, a frequently asked question at the moment is how to choose bond funds, so we created a course that describes how bonds are priced, how their returns and risks differ from shares and then goes through several of the largest bond funds, discussing their merits and drawbacks. There are several videos in the course as our audience is used to video as a learning medium. The online community is a critical part of what we offer. The Slack channel offers a place 

In each piece of content we focus on stating Slides. I always try and tell a story with the clearly what problem we're solving right at the information, and once I'm happy with the beginning, then we provide the solutions. Solving narrative I do a screen-recording of the slides with problems is what keeps your subscribers coming a voice-over. I then do a video of myself back to you and builds trust. This also means you introducing the video, stating clearly what have to know your customers' problems, which is question I am going to answer so that in a few difficult initially as you don't have many seconds the viewer knows if it's relevant. I also customers! When I was starting out I looked on record an outro saying how people can subscribe social media for the questions people were and asking for their support on Patreon. asking. What’s next for your business and your content? Once you've built a following, your audience will guide your content topics by asking questions We're planning to do more training for company and establishing a dialogue with you. For employees. Many employees are now aware of example, there could be a thread on Slack that their pension because of auto-enrolment, so garners a lot of interest which tells me that this companies can help their employees get the most might be a topic worthy of a video. Sometimes it out of markets by providing investment training. helps to discuss news stories, like the difficulties We did this for a video production company in suffered by Neil Woodford, because people are Soho and the audience found it extremely helpful interested to hear your take on events. (and we really enjoyed meeting them too!). When our income hits a higher threshold we intend to How well does your content marketing work for start hiring, starting with people who can help us you?  Are you able to measure the results? produce and share our content across multiple platforms. Without content marketing, we'd have no audience at all. We don't spend a penny on pensioncraft.com advertising; the cost is simply the time taken to produce our content. We created our YouTube channel at the beginning of 2017 and now have just over 6,000 subscribers (June 2019), and we're gaining around 500 per month. Every client that joins us has found us on YouTube, and our Patreon supporters usually subscribe using the buttons at the end of videos on YouTube. Since we started using Patreon in June 2018 we've gained 97 Patreon supporters who pay a total of $592 per month, and this is increasing rapidly. We hold a live weekly video call on Sunday evening where Patreon supporters ask questions and I answer (as best I can). Our email list has grown to just under 1,000 subscribers and we use our weekly email to give market updates and flag any new content we've produced. The process of producing content gets easier the more often you do it. I find it takes a day or two to research each topic properly. Then I assemble the information as a set of Google 

IN THE NEXT ISSUE OF  GoWrite! How Humans Communicate Death of the newsletter? Has the regular news email had its day? The Art of Procrastination Avoidance tactics—and how to avoid them. Language evolution How internet speak is changing English—for the better. Statistics: Boring or brilliant? The secret power of using data in your content. OUT 5TH OCTOBER