Part of the challenge in my day-to-day freelance life is writing content for my varied clients. And while it is a challenge, it?€™s also a lot of fun. Where else can I write about Central America second homes, mobility scooters for seniors and travel nurses all in the same day?
I suppose I could do that at an agency, but that might take some of the fun out of my job.
So how do I keep writing content for different industries day after day?
When I first get a client, I read everything I can about them. What they?€™ve done in the past, what kind of indexed content they have on Google, who links to the client?€™s pages, who client link to, how does their online marketing work with their offline marketing, what the clients keywords and phrases are etc.
Then, I find out what their competition is doing. This usually involves setting up some Google alerts and more web surfing, which I?€™ve blogged about before.
Once I?€™m familiar with a client?€™s business, their customers, their industry and their competition, it?€™s easier (not always easy, though) to write content that appeals to customers and search engines.
For example, if I?€™m writing a listing for a property like the Trump International Golf Club in Puerto Rico, chances are, I?€™ve already had oodles of links, PDFs, brochures and press releases sent to me by the client. Beyond that I?€™m sure to have scoured the web to see what others are writing to sell the property.
Chances are, in this case, the competition all has one thing in common: They?€™re all doing the same thing. Whether it?€™s swiping info word-for-word from the press releases and brochures or stealing each other?€™s listing copy, there?€™s one way to step above all this and get attention:
Be different.
It?€™s that simple. I write compelling, optimized copy that is different from everybody else?€™s. We?€™re all marketing the same property with the same amenities, units and prices ?€“ but Condo Hotel Center (and all my clients for that matter) have realized that original, unique content is what sets them apart online. And the best way to be original is to see what everyone else has done and do something else.
