Very few people I talk to about writing content for growing their business tell me they absolutely love it. What's far more prevalent is the sentiment expressed in this post's title. Everyone -- even people like me, and I actually love to write most of the time -- hates writing content at the levels required today for running a successful business online.

However, we all know that when it comes to business development for your services...when it comes to branding...when it comes to delivering a phenomenal experience for your clients...writing and publishing consistent content is a permanent stamp on the ownership papers of your Solopreneur practice.

With that said, for people to look to you as a valuable resource and ultimately say yes to working with you on meaningful projects, you need to consistently produce and publish useful content that's timely, timeless, and/or relevant.

Writing content will start with your ideas and knowledge and usually falls into 3 distinctive buckets:

-Educational
-Entertaining
-Enlightening

If you can create consistent content that hits all three of these categories, that’s the trifecta.

Most people aim for one category to start and then build a solid arsenal of content assets within that category before adding pieces that fit into the other two buckets.

If Writing Content Isn't Your Jam, Go for the Low-Hanging Fruit First

Educational content is not difficult to generate for your Solopreneur practice. After all, one of the reasons you are a Solopreneur in the first place is because you have more experience and knowledge about your area of expertise and industry than most people. Your expertise is valued in the marketplace.

Why would you want to keep it all to yourself?

Last I checked, being the world's best-kept secret doesn't put money in your bank account. Profits are what keep the lights on, am I right?

And writing content ultimately leads to profits. That's why it only makes sense to lean on your experiences for sources of what to write about. Believe it or not, you have an infinite supply of rich material you can mine at any time! And, better yet, you can ride one idea in several places for a stretch of time, amplifying your reach and saving you time for other things that help your business hum.

Here’s an example of how to mine for ideas and then write educational content for building your brand, solidifying your place in the market, and attracting people to you.

1. Set a timer on your phone or laptop for 5 minutes. (One of my favorite cloud-based timers is the Pomodoro which you can check out here.)

2. On a legal pad or in a new Google doc write down everything and anything that comes to mind about the work you love to do, the people you enjoy working with, and the problems you help people solve. Nothing is off-limits. Put everything and anything down on paper. Stories, anecdotes, client projects, mistakes, dreams, what if’s and why not’s are but a few of the numerous kinds of things you can write about. Let your imagination go to town. Aim to fill up at least one side of the page if not more. Don’t stop until the timer beeps and if you’re in a flow state go longer until you’ve reached a natural end to the exercise. BTW—I recommend handwriting this list. Here’s why.

 
3. Once the timer chimes look over your list and organize your ideas into similar themes. You could use words to describe each theme like “people” “problems” “how-tos” “personal stories” “things I wish I’d known” etc. I like color-coding lists like this. My what if’s might be purple. I might use turquoise for people ideas. (Any excuse to get out my colored pencils makes me happy.) Depending on your personality you might want to transfer the categories to their own pages or organize them in a spreadsheet or even on boards inside a project management system like Trello.

4. Next, pick one of the ideas from your list and expand on it in a draft. Again I recommend doing this on a new piece of paper or in a fresh document. If you’re using Google docs you can create folders for your categories to stay organized. If you’re using Trello you can write your post inside the specific boards you create.

5. If you’re just getting started with consistently writing content, aim for a piece that’s 200-500 words (~1-2 pages of writing). Keep it simple and on point. Write as if you’re talking to a good friend. Use conversational language and avoid trying to sound scholarly or like you’re trying to impress your high school English teacher.

6. Now it’s time to get it out there! Publish it on your blog first, then repurpose it for social. You can grab little excerpts from the piece for LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook. You can also turn it into a short video like this if you’re so inclined. What’s nice is you don’t have to come up with something new for each platform. You’ve got your main piece—sprinkle its awesomeness around the Internet.

Growth happens through practice and practice is built on repetition. Now that you have a list of ideas to write about, you’ll never have to worry again about writing content because you will always have a handy list of things to say. The more you practice writing content about what you already know, the more likely you’ll bring people into your world who either want to work with you or know people who do.

And who knows? You just might discover that you enjoy writing content about your business after all. It's all one big experiment, anyway. Go for it and learn!