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TEN TIPS FOR WEAVING A WEB OF KNOWLEDGE
- By Joyce Hansen
I was inspired to write this article after watching the movie “Charlotte’s Web”. It was amazing to observe how everyone pulled together and never gave up on reaching their goal. The spider weaved words into a web to entice the observers to take positive action to keep the pig alive and to have the pig remain a part of the barnyard crowd.
Watching the movie and reading the words in the spider webs Charlotte created helped me to realize what a powerful impact words can have on actions people take after they see or read the words that are written.
Writing an article or content for a website or newsletter can be daunting but it doesn’t have to be an arduous task if you take baby steps. Write down every idea that you would like to write about and keep separate folders. As you gather information from periodicals or the internet, or from interviewing people, file it. When you feel the urge, pull out the folder, sit down and start jotting down your own thoughts about each topic and weave them into your research to form the basis of an article.
Imagine who the readers of your work will be and how they will feel after they have finished reading it. Will they be motivated to call you to talk about your products or services? Will you have provided them with tools that they can immediately use in their personal lives or business to achieve greater results? Will they be more knowledgeable on the subject that you have written about and be anxious to share their new knowledge with colleagues? Will they be aware of a new trend that is emerging?
Think about the endless possibilities that you could create by writing and sharing with others. When you feel the urge to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, it may be helpful to follow these tips to manifest a winning finished product of knowledge:
- Clearly indicate what the article is about
In the first paragraph outline what you will be covering in the article and explain how the article is going to enhance the reader’s knowledge or solve a problem.
- Organize information in a point-wise fashion
Before you begin writing, list the points that your article is going to cover and then write content around the points from your knowledge and research.
- Engage the reader
Write in a simple style that will entice the reader to want to read to the end without stopping. If you introduce terms, define them for your readers. Not everyone understands what abbreviated forms mean in the context that you are writing about.
- Explain points in short paragraphs
Short paragraphs are easier for the reader to follow. Three, four or five sentences are usually enough for one paragraph. Arrange the points in order to build on the core of your story line, leading up to your final paragraph which should leave the reader excited, inspired and motivated to take action from the words that you have written.
- Share your knowledge fully
If you share your expertise freely and write about all of the information that has current relevance, you are more likely to be considered an authority on the subject that you are writing about and gain more credibility.
- Provide examples and personal experiences to back up your points
Share how you faced a problem and solved it. People love to hear about struggles and triumphs that you personally faced and conquered. This style of writing exudes that you are a person with challenges like everyone else.
- Emphasize the benefits of your product or service
Weave in the benefits of your products and services that you offer to readers that highlight how your expertise can help them with their challenges or help to make them and/or their company more profitable and efficient. This needs to be done very skillfully as readers do not want to be left with the impression that you are only interested in selling yourself.
- Provide resource information
Include addresses of websites where your readers can obtain more information on the subject that you are writing about. This is a great writing tool to increase traffic to your own website (especially if the sites are listed on your website). This writing tool often results in cross-promotion success.
- Have others critique your writing
Share the results of your writing with others for critique purposes and be prepared to welcome all of their comments. Profitable ideas often come from obtaining friends, colleagues, clients, and other people’s opinions before finalizing your writing for posting and or publishing purposes.
- Summarize what you want to say at the end
Keep your most important information near the beginning of the article and summarize what you have said in the article at the end. This is the place to make a powerful impact on your readers to create a desire for them to seek other material written by you.
Writing is a great way to motivate yourself to continually keep updated on trends and knowledge in your areas of expertise. I am often asked how to go about writing an article – my simple answer is read, research and write and do these three things, in order, continuously.
Writing helps to keep your mind sharp and your contribution to your readers meaningful and rewarding. Journal writing is also a great way to tap into your creative self and to get the juices flowing to pave the way to write for the benefit of others.
Weave your words into a web – Charlotte’s Web achieved results – your web of knowledge can benefit others too!
Copyright Class Act Connections. All rights reserved. Joyce Hansen, President of Class Act Connections helps clients to manifest success. She can be reached at 906-278-0952 or joyceh@classactconnections.com.
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