Writing Tips

How to Become a Better Writer in 3..2..1

D Harris 0 Comments December 6, 2022

Okay, so you’re no Shakespeare, Nicolas Sparks, or even Kandi Buress.

Meaning when you put pen to paper it’s not exactly poetry in motion.

But does that mean you can’t improve and write effective copy for your travel business with some practice?

Does that mean you can’t craft compelling stories that draw people in and make them want to come experience what you have to offer?

NO……Of course not

With a little practice and these tips, you’ll be burning up that keyboard in no time!

Ready to up your writing game?

1. Read. Read. Read

If you want to become a better writer, the best way to start is by reading as much as you can. And for you… read about travel. Learn how your suppliers describe their suites, cuisine, and beaches.

Pay special attention to their descriptive words, and how they make you feel. Use those techniques in your own writing.

Keep a swipe file. When you feel inspired by the writing you’ve read, make a note of it and keep it in one place. To make it simple, take a screenshot on your phone, and save it in a folder. Then when you need some inspiration for your next project, you can go back and review what caught your eye.

2. Write. Write. Write

The only way to get better at writing is to actually write. It may seem obvious, but it’s true! Make sure to set aside some time every day to write—again, it doesn’t matter what you write about, as long as you’re writing.

And if you write something you don’t love, resist the urge to throw it away and start over.

Repeat after me: Do Not Throw it Away.

Instead, take a step back, and look at what you’ve written with fresh eyes. See if there’s anything you can salvage, build upon, or rephrase.

3. Edit. Edit. Edit

Editing is an important part of the writing process—in fact, it’s just as important as the actual writing itself. Editing means making sure that your grammar and punctuation are correct, that your sentences are clear and concise, and that your overall message is coming across loud and clear.

And if you were unhappy with your first draft and avoided that urge to hit delete, this is the perfect time to make those changes and turn your draft into something you love.

Now, don’t get discouraged if your writing isn’t perfect the first time around. Writing is an art and a craft—it takes practice to hone it. With these tips in mind, you’ll be rocking that keyboard like a pro in no time!

Writing is so much more than a bunch of words on your page. They are what build emotion, connections, and ultimately… sales.

So if you struggle with your writing, don’t give up.

Follow these steps, and just take it one day, paragraph, and sentence at a time.

And you’ll be on your way to writing compelling copy and travel that sells itself!

Writing Tips

3 Key Ways to Make your Blog Content Shine

D Harris 0 Comments September 17, 2022

A blog is a kinda storefront. It’s the manikins gorgeously dressed in this season’s fashion or piles of cream-filled cakes in the bakery window. It’s the thing that tempts your customer to make a purchase. You’re not selling your blog, your blog is selling you.

That’s why it’s super important to have good quality blog content. But what is just as valuable is consistency. Algorithms for social channels vary but a golden rule is to make sure you’re posts are as consistently shared as possible. And what’s the key to consistency? Planning!

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Content Mapping – Quartering your year

Yeah, I know, planning isn’t the sexiest job you’ll do for your business but it’s one of the most important. There are heaps of ways to map out your content. But quartering is a cool way to link your biz goals to your content and save tons of time. Plus, a year quartered is three months, so chunking a whole year in this way doesn’t seem too intimidating.

Outline each of those three month’s business goals and write down what you’ll be doing each week to get your business to that target. Done that? Boom! You’ve got a strategy, baby!

Break these weekly goals down again into 5 focused topics/actions and think about what that looks like from the outside. What value could your customers get out of your processes? What need will you be filling for them by sharing those aspects of your business?

Make a note of your ideas onto a daily content template or calendar like Hootsuite or HubSpot. Whoops – I think you just went and planned a whole quarter of content.

Red Letter Days

Potential customers want content that looks fresh, even if you know it’s been scheduled months in advance. So keep key local, regional, or national events in your content planning calendar – especially if they are related to your business.

Your Valentine’s day post is going to be a MUCH bigger hit if you give those naughty forgety-Betties some tips on how to book a last-minute romantic getaway for their spouse. It might just save their bacon!

Oh, and while we’re on the subject – if there’s a big event that happens in the news you may want to swap-out a scheduled content for something more appropriate. If there’s a tragic event on everyone’s mind, your blog post “5 Tips on How to Apply Makeup On A Plane” isn’t going to go down well.

It’s all about them

Research your data and create an ‘ideal’ customer from the results. What makes this a good strategy? Because whatever has been driving your best traffic is what your ‘ideal’ customer likes. Create content around what your ideal customer wants. Writing with that ‘one’ client in mind makes it sooooo much less daunting. Plus, you’re much more likely to make every single one of those ‘ideal’ clients a keeper.

This kind of post may not work on a daily basis but try to make a storytelling blog article centerd around your ideal client a regular ‘feature’ on your blog. You’ll be mixing up your content while having a ‘system’ too.

Donald Miler’s StoryBrand idea really makes you sit up and think. He suggests pivoting your brand from “We’re the Best” to “You’re the Best” and it really works – we all love to see ourselves at the hero of a story. So create stories around your ideal client which shows how YOU make them the HERO.

They can’t do it without you so let’s get your business moving and shaking, people.

Writing Tips

The Best Time Blocking and Content Batching Techniques

D Harris 0 Comments September 8, 2022

Do you ever find yourself transferring your Monday To Dos to Tuesday’s list? And sometimes to Wednesdays and Thursdays’ lists? Possibly even Friday’s list? I feel your pain. But until we’ve mastered our schedules, we’ll never feel like we’re in control of our business. Let’s turn that around NOW so, you make the most out of your time.

If you’ve been struggling with time management, this post might just be the answer to your prayers. We’ll take a look at the best ways to schedule your time and get your content under control.

See Time As Your Asset

The most important thing to get to grips with is that time is not your master. You are the master of your time. If you see time as a resource that helps you achieve your goals and not as an ‘enemy’ then you’re rocking the right mindset that’ll move your business forward.

Two Ways to Make Time Blocking Work For You

How Task Batching Works

The task batching technique stops you from yo-yo-ing between tasks. It breaks the cycle of the “I’m just gonna just have one quick peek at my emails” or the “I’ve got a great idea for a Tweet that I absolutely have to do right now or I’ll burst” kinda moments.

You might need to do some auditing first to see how long tasks actually take and then batch your day accordingly. Give yourself 3 times a day to look at emails for short bursts. Once or twice a day for media engagement and schedule these for the ‘low-energy’ parts of your day. Those tasks that make you the most money need to be prioritized and NOTHING comes between you and that batch, baby.

Day Theming For Deep Work

Some people swear by the day theme technique to take their time management to the max. This means that you schedule entire days to a particular aspect of your business. You’ve just got into podcasting? Cool. You’re going to need a day for that! You need to meet with clients? Give them a time on the meeting-themed day. Copywriting your content? Yep, that’s gets a day, too. Whatever you need to do to get that focus – do it for the entire day. It does require being ruthless but it’s worth it for those results.

Two Techniques To Make You Master Your Content

Values Led Content Batching

What’s at the core of your business? Is it sustainability, inclusivity, adventure? Whatever you identify as your 3 main business “pillars”, these are going to be basis for 3 – 5 of your weekly topics – every week. You might give one post to each one of your values a week or touch all three of your values for all 3 – 5.

Value batching your content this way saves a ton of time because you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You take one focus for the week and find 3 -5 different ways of linking that focus to your values. And that’s your weekly content planning sorted.

Season Themed Content Batching

Season theming works really well for travel content. It’s where you get to showcase the best of the season to your clients. And you want to know a secret? We get the same seasons every year. Who’d have thunk it?! The point I’m trying to make here is you can pre-plan way in advance and your content still appears fresh. Let’s take the fall. We’re going to focus one week on foodie things: those breaks to gourmet hotels or the best spot to buy your pumpkin spiced latte. The next, getaways to watch the leaves turn golden. You get me?

Using this technique, you’re breaking your content creation into much more manageable chunks, making consistent posting a walk in the park. Plus you’re keeping it super relevant for your audience.

Picked up a new time blocking or content batching technique today? Great. Now let’s get batching, people!