Do you want to identify your client’s needs? Not sure why and how? As a business owner understanding your client’s needs is crucial to delivering the right solutions and building strong relationships. But how do you accurately identify what your clients truly need?
In this guide, we’ll explore some tips and strategies to help you better understand your client’s needs and deliver satisfactory results.
Active listening to identify your client’s needs
Active listening is a fundamental skill in identifying client needs. It involves fully concentrating on what the client is saying, both through their words and nonverbal communication. This means:
avoiding distractions, such as checking your phone or watching the clock, and instead focusing on what they are communicating to you.
ask clarifying questions to confirm your understanding and avoid assumptions. This shows the client that you value their input and want to provide them with the best possible solution based on their specific needs.
By actively listening, you can gather insightful information about what your clients require, which will help guide your work towards meeting their expectations effectively.
Ask the right questions to better understand their problems
One of the most effective ways to identify client needs is by asking the right questions.
Open-ended questions can be particularly useful, as they allow clients to share their thoughts and feelings in more detail. This can help you understand the root of the problem and the desired outcome.
For example, instead of asking a closed question like “Do you need a new website?” ask an open-ended question like “Can you tell me more about your current website and what you hope to achieve with a new one?” This not only helps you understand their needs but also builds trust by showing that you care about their specific situation.
Additionally, follow-up questions can also provide clarification on any vague responses given, allowing for better understanding for all parties involved.
Analyse data and gather insights to make more informed decisions
In addition to asking questions, analysing data and gathering insights can also help you identify client needs.
Look for patterns in client behavior, feedback and other relevant data points. This can provide valuable insights into what clients are looking for and what pain points they may have. It’s important to use accurate data that is relevant to your specific client base, as this will help ensure that the insights gathered are actionable and effective at meeting their needs.
By taking a data-driven approach, you can make more informed decisions about the solutions you offer and how best to address your clients’ needs.
Segment clients into different groups based on their needs
To better identify and meet the unique needs of each client, consider segmenting them into different groups based on their common characteristics or interests. By doing this, you’ll be able to more effectively tailor your solutions to fit the specific needs and preferences of each group.
For example, if you offer a product that appeals to both younger and older consumers, you may want to create different marketing strategies for each age group, highlighting the benefits that are most important to them. This approach allows you to prioritise which groups have the highest potential for success and lets you focus your resources where they’ll have the greatest impact.
Additionally, regular communication with clients via surveys or other engagement tools will help ensure that their needs are being met and allow for adjustments over time as their needs evolve.
Stay in touch with your clients and continually reassess their needs over time
Identifying client needs is an ongoing process that doesn’t just end after the initial solution has been delivered. It’s important to stay in touch with your clients and continually reassess their needs over time. This will ensure that you’re able to adapt and evolve your solutions according to their changing requirements.
You can use various tools like surveys or focus groups to gather feedback from your clients and keep track of changes in their preferences or priorities. By staying in touch with your clients, you’ll be able to build better long-term relationships with them, keep up to date with market trends and deliver top-quality solutions that meet their evolving needs.
Remember, the better you understand your client’s needs, the more effectively you can help them achieve their goals and improve their overall satisfaction with your services.
Check out the Get Clear On Your Target Audience template to help you map out your ideal client and their needs so you can really understand and connect with them.
As the world continues to embrace technology and artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, a powerful AI chatbot, has taken the digital landscape by storm. Created by OpenAI, ChatGPT has become a game-changer in various fields, from content generation to research assistance.
In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the world of ChatGPT, exploring its features, applications and limitations, and offering insights on how to maximize its potential.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a natural language AI chatbot designed to produce human-like text and engage in conversations with users. It is powered by GPT-3.5, a Generative Pre-trained Transformer model created by OpenAI.
This large language model is trained on vast amounts of information from the internet, enabling it to generate unique, context-aware responses to user queries.
How Does ChatGPT Work?
ChatGPT’s primary function is to process questions or requests entered into a text box, and it generates appropriate responses based on its extensive knowledge.
The chatbot uses a combination of supervised learning and Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF) to fine-tune its language model, resulting in more accurate and context-relevant responses.
ChatGPT Applications
ChatGPT’s versatility makes it suitable for various tasks, from content generation to research assistance. Some of the most popular applications of ChatGPT include:
Content Generation
Writing news articles, blog posts, and novels
Summarizing lengthy documents
Creating brand logos
Research Assistance
Answering questions on various topics
Writing and debugging code
Building text-based games
Education and Tutoring
Assisting with homework and problem-solving
Providing guidance in planning vacations
Generating software activation keys
How to Use ChatGPT
To use ChatGPT, users must first create a free account with OpenAI. Once registered, they can access the chatbot by visiting chat.openai.com and following these steps:
log in using a Google, Microsoft, or email account.
provide a phone number for verification (VoIP numbers are not accepted).
enter the confirmation number received via text message to complete the registration process.
Tips for Using ChatGPT Effectively
To maximize the potential of ChatGPT, users should:
be creative with prompts and instructions.
refine and modify queries based on context and desired outcomes.
experiment with different styles and tones to achieve the desired response.
Limitations and Challenges
Although ChatGPT is a powerful tool, it is not without limitations and challenges. Users should be aware of the following potential issues:
Inaccurate or Misleading Information
ChatGPT may occasionally provide inaccurate or misleading information, also known as “AI hallucinations.” OpenAI acknowledges these instances are rare but advises users to verify the information generated by the chatbot.
Limited Knowledge of Recent Events
ChatGPT has limited knowledge of world events after 2021, as its model is trained on data available up to that point. Users seeking more recent information may need to rely on alternative tools or sources.
Data Privacy and Security Concerns
As with any AI-powered tool, data privacy and security remain significant concerns for users. It is essential to be aware of how OpenAI collects and uses user data and to exercise caution when sharing personal or sensitive information.
ChatGPT Plus: A Premium Subscription Service
OpenAI offers a paid subscription service called ChatGPT Plus, which costs $20 a month. This service provides subscribers with several benefits, including:
access to ChatGPT during peak demand times
faster response speeds
priority access to new features and updates, including GPT-4 (and newers one).
Despite these advantages, some users have reported difficulty accessing ChatGPT due to service capacity issues. It is crucial to carefully weigh the benefits of ChatGPT Plus before subscribing.
API and Integrations
OpenAI has developed a ChatGPT API for developers to integrate the chatbot into their applications. The API operates on a pay-as-you-go pricing model, with costs starting as low as $0.002 per 1,000 tokens.
This API has enabled the creation of innovative applications and shortcuts, such as integrating ChatGPT with iPhone devices.
The Global Landscape: Bans and Controversies
ChatGPT has faced bans and controversies in various countries, such as Italy, where it was temporarily banned due to concerns over data privacy and age verification. However, the ban was lifted after OpenAI made concessions to address these issues.
As AI continues to advance, governments and corporations must address potential threats and challenges associated with tools like it. Recent bans and warnings from industry experts highlight the need for regulation and oversight to ensure the safe and responsible use of AI technologies.
Detecting ChatGPT-generated Content
As ChatGPT-generated content becomes more prevalent, tools have been developed to differentiate between human-written and AI-generated text. One such tool, GPTZero, utilizes “perplexity” and “burstiness” scores to measure text complexity and identify AI-generated content. With the increasing use of AI in content generation, such tools are essential for maintaining transparency and authenticity in the digital landscape.
Conclusion
ChatGPT is a revolutionary AI chatbot that has transformed the digital landscape, offering users a powerful tool for content generation, research assistance, and more. With its versatility and ever-evolving capabilities, ChatGPT is poised to become an indispensable resource for individuals and businesses alike.
However, as with any AI-powered tool, users must remain aware of its limitations and potential challenges, ensuring that they use it responsibly and effectively.
Are you looking for an effective way to convert more visitors into customers on your website? Writing a highly converting homepage is the first step. Your homepage is the face of your website, and it is the first page visitors see when they come to your site. It is essential to have an attractive and optimised homepage that quickly and effectively conveys your message and helps visitors to achieve their goals.
This step-by-step guide will help you to create a homepage that is both visually appealing and designed to drive conversions. You’ll learn how to identify the key elements of an effective homepage, create compelling content, and optimise your design for maximum conversion potential.
With these tips, you can craft a homepage that will engage visitors, and keep them coming back for more.
Identify the key elements of an effective homepage
There are several essential elements that make up an effective homepage. Each one of these elements helps to drive the desired action on your homepage. With an effective homepage, you can increase your conversion rate, win new customers, and increase your overall sales.
Tagline: the tagline is one of the most important elements of a homepage. It is the first thing visitors will see on your homepage, and it should instantly catch their attention and compel them to read more. Make sure it has the right mix of benefits, product information, and calls to action.
Visuals: visuals on your homepage can help to engage your visitors and make your content more memorable. They can also help to demonstrate the product and provide context around your offer. Make sure the visuals you choose are relevant to your product and help to clearly convey your message.
Value proposition: your value proposition explains what your product does and why someone should buy it. It answers the question, “Why should I buy from you?” and makes visitors feel confident in their purchase decision.
Craft compelling content for your homepage
The content you create for your homepage plays a crucial role in converting visitors into customers. It needs to be engaging, easy to understand and written with a sales-focused mindset (not sleazy though).
Visitors need to trust you (without you saying ‘trust me’), understand your product and be convinced that it is the right choice for them. The best way to do this is by creating compelling content that focuses on helping visitors achieve their goals and solving their problems.
So it’s important to really understand:
who you are targeting/selling to
what problem they are facing and
how you best solve it (better than anyone else).
The first step in crafting a compelling homepage is to identify the goals of your homepage. What is the purpose of your homepage? Once you know the goals of your homepage, you can then create content that is engaging, persuasive, and helps visitors to achieve their goals.
Homepage call to actions
Another effective way to increase conversions on your homepage is to set up compelling call to actions (CTAs). A CTA is a hyperlink or button on your homepage that prompts visitors to take the desired action e.g. go to a check out a service page, contact you, etc.
There are many different types of CTAs you can use on your homepage:
product CTAs,
service CTAs,
free trial CTAs,
subscription CTAs
offer CTAs.
These will be based and linked to your website goals/objectives.
For each of these CTAs, you’ll want to make sure that your copy is compelling and emphasises the benefits of clicking. For example, if you are adding a product CTA, make sure you write copy that showcases the benefits of the product, such as reduced fatigue, increased productivity, and overall better health. You can also add social proof to your CTA by including customer testimonials and ratings.
Design for maximum conversion potential
The design of your homepage has a significant impact on your conversion rate. You want to make sure that your design is attractive and appealing to your audience. The design should also be consistent with the rest of your website, and it should accurately portray your brand.
One way to ensure that your brand and design is optimised for conversion is by creating a style guide and mood board. A mood board is a visual guide that includes pictures, colours, fonts, and other design elements that you want to incorporate into your homepage design.
By creating an effective mood board, you can ensure that your design elements are consistent and that they appeal to your target audience.
Optimise your homepage for mobile devices
With an increasing number of customers using mobile devices to browse online and make purchases, it is important to make sure that your homepage is easily accessible and optimized for mobile devices.
Visitors browsing on a smartphone or tablet will have a smaller screen size and shorter attention span, which means that you need to create compelling content that is easy to understand and quick to read.
Make sure that your homepage is easy to navigate, has short paragraphs and that each page of your website loads quickly. It is also important to make sure that your images are not too large and that your font is easy to read regardless of the device that visitors are using.
Visitors to your site on a mobile device might not have the time or patience to zoom in or click through to another page to find the information they are looking for.
Google can also crawl and rank your website if it is optimised for mobile devices.
Test and measure results
Even after the homepage design has been implemented, you should continue to test and experiment with different elements to see what results in the highest conversions.
It is important to test your headlines, visuals and call to actions to determine what produces the best results. When you test, make sure to use control groups. This means that you have a control group that does not see the element you are testing, as well as an experimental group that does see it. This will allow you to compare results and see the impact that your tests have had on your homepage design.
Adding a blog to your website can help showcase your knowledge, convert visitors and target keywords. Want to learn how to write blogs? Check out this article about A Step-by-Step Writing Template to Quality Content
Crafting the perfect blog post is no easy feat. Writing content that engages readers and reflects your brand’s unique voice can feel overwhelming. But with a step-by-step blog post writing template and the right approach, you can create quality content that will help your content stand out from the crowd.
This blog post template will help you develop your articles from start to finish, giving you the confidence to create content that your readers will love. You’ll learn how to research, structure, write, and publish your post so that it reaches its potential. You’ll also get tips on how to optimise it for SEO and share it on channels, so that you get the most out of your content.
Get ready to create blog posts that will draw readers in and make them come back for more!
Researching Your Topic
Your blog post will only be as good as the research behind it. Before you start writing make sure you have the facts to back up your content. Researching your topic is the first step in creating a blog post that will engage your readers and build your authority as a blogger.
When researching your topic you also need to keep your reader/ideal client in mind. If you really want to get to write and engage with them consider the following:
who is your target audience/ideal client/reader?
what are their interests and pain points?
what are their hobbies and everyday struggles?
what can your blog post teach them?
what do they care about?
what do they read?
where do they hang out online?
what keywords will your post be optimized for?
Your research will also help you stay on topic and avoid the dreaded ‘blogging paralysis’ where you’re too afraid to start writing. When you know exactly what needs to go into your post, it becomes much easier to start writing.
Armed with this information, you’ll be able to create a post your readers will love. It’ll be helpful, interesting, and valuable to them.
Structuring Your Blog Post
After the research phase is complete create a clear outline of what your blog post will cover. With an outline, you can easily stay on topic and avoid writing a disorganised or overly lengthy blog post.
When structuring your blog post, focus on answering the following questions:
what is the main takeaway the reader should get from reading your blog post?
what is the core argument or point you want to make?
what are the major supporting ideas or points you’ll include in your post?
Once you have a clear outline of your blog post, it becomes much easier to start writing. You’ll also find that your post is easy to edit and improve upon, even after you’ve written the first draft. Keep your reader in mind every step of the way.
Aim for a blog post around 800-1,000 words, as readers are less likely to read long posts but you need to have substance to your article. If your post is too lengthy, it will become difficult for readers to navigate your content and find the information they’re looking for. Long articles can also be intimidating, turn readers away and make them less likely to come back to your content again.
Writing Your Blog Post
Now that you’ve done all your research and have a clear outline of your post, it’s time to start writing! There are a few key things to keep in mind as you write your blog post, so that it comes out as clear, concise, and engaging as possible.
Consider the following when you start writing:
what is the emotional tone of your blog post?
what is the mood or feeling you want to evoke in your readers when they read your blog post?
what is the most engaging and relevant title for your article?
what are some interesting information/facts you can use?
Chop, chop, get writing and ensure your post:
is on topic. Nothing turns readers off more than reading blog posts that don’t seem to have a point or any clear direction.
has a clear structure with a strong introduction, where you hook readers and draw them into your post.
has a core discussion or point, and then finish with a conclusion that reinforces your main idea.
includes short paragraphs and sentences. Shorter, more concise writing is easier to read and comprehend. Avoid overly complex language or jargon that only a select few would understand.
is engaging and personal. Your readers are reading your content because they want to learn from you.
talks to your audience and addresses their needs and interests. Be authentic and be yourself. You’re creating content for your readers because you have something to say and knowledge to share. Let that shine through in your writing.
Editing and Proofreading Your Blog Post
Even the most experienced bloggers make mistakes when writing, and that’s okay! Writing blog posts is a skill that takes time to perfect, so don’t be too hard on yourself. However, it’s important to make sure your post is as error-free as possible, so it doesn’t distract readers from the helpful content you’re trying to share.
Editing and proofreading your blog post are essential steps that shouldn’t be forgetten when creating content. It will help you catch errors like typos, missing words, and formatting problems that can turn readers off. There are a few ways you can edit your post:
reading your blog post out loud is a quick way to catch any mistakes or anything you missed
hire a proofreader or editor if you don’t feel comfortable editing your own work
use online editing tools such as Grammarly or Hemingway App, that are designed to help you quickly find and fix common mistakes.
Balancing Act: optimising for SEO & the reader
When you’re creating your blog post, you’ll want to keep SEO (search engine optimisation) and your reader in mind. This will help your post rank higher in search engine results, so your article is found, but meaningful to your readers too. Don’t write just for the bots!
When optimising for SEO be guided by the following:
what are the core topics your post covers?
what are the main keywords related to this topic?
how can you incorporate these keywords into your post without being too obvious or spammy?
what are some engaging, keyword driven titles for your blog post?
When you’ve finished considering the above, it’s time to optimise it for search engines. This will ensure your post is easily found by readers and has a higher chance of going viral.
To optimise your articles for search engines:
keep your blog post around 800-1,000 words. It will allow readers to get through the content, give Google enough content to rank, but also allows you to share your knowledge.
use strong headings with keywords. Headings act like topic sentences in a paper and are good for SEO. They allow bots and readers know they’ve found what they’re looking for, making it easy to navigate your posts.
include your keywords naturally. Keywords in your content will help optimise your blog post but don’t force or overdo it with keywords. Include them naturally, just like you would if you were talking to a friend.
Publishing Your Post
Now that you’ve written your post, edited and proofread it and optimised for SEO, the only thing left to do is publish it!
Ensure you publish your blog post at a time when your readers are likely to be paying attention (during the holidays isn’t a great time). Different audiences are online at different times throughout the day. Publishing your post when most of your readers will be paying attention is key to making the most out of your content.
Share Your Article
Don’t pop your article on your website and hope people find it. Share it on your business social media channels, to your mailing list, collaborate with others and ask them to share it too, and even share it on your personal social channels.
When sharing your blog post, don’t just post a link to your blog. Instead, engage your readers and build a relationship with them by sharing your post in a more creative and interesting way.
Post interesting photos or visuals, short videos, or engaging GIFs that are related to your post. Be sure to include your blog’s title and a short description of the post so readers know what it’s all about.
Finally, well that’s it, there are no more steps. Now off you go, and make a start. And if you are still daunted, you can:
download the tried and tested blog post template from my site, which will guide you through what to write in each section of your blog
Have you ever experienced writer’s block while trying to create content for your blog? Do you feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to write a blog post? If so, you’re not alone. Writing a blog post can be a daunting task, especially when you want to create quality and engaging content for your business.
But the truth is, there’s a way to make the process easier. Introducing The Perfect Blog Post Writing Template—a comprehensive guide that will show you how to create content that drives traffic to your business and captivates your readers.
This template will show you how to structure an effective blog post, craft an engaging introduction, and create compelling content that resonates with your audience. So, if you’re looking for a way to make the process of creating quality blog posts easier, The Perfect Blog Post Writing Template is here to help.
How does the Blog Post Writing Template work?
It will guide you through the process of creating quality blog posts. Whether you’re new to blogging or you’re familiar with the process, this template will help you create engaging and captivating content that resonates with your readers.
The template consists of sections, each of which plays an integral role in the blog post
writing process. This comprehensive guide will show you:
The most obvious benefit is being able to create engaging and quality content for your business. The template will guide you through every step of the process, from coming up with a topic to creating a call to action at the end. If you’re struggling to come up with ideas, using this template can help you get started.
Another benefit of using this template is being able to create a structure for your blog posts. Without a structure, you may find that you don’t have the control you need to create quality content. The template will help you create a plan for your blog posts, which will make the entire process easier. You’ll be able to see exactly what you need to do and when, which will allow you to create blog posts with ease and confidence.
How to structure an effective blog post
Before you can start creating content, you need to know how to structure an effective blog post. The components of an effective blog post, including the introduction, body, conclusion, and call to action.
Your introduction is arguably the most important part of your blog post. It sets the tone for your entire post, so it’s important that it’s engaging and interesting. Your introduction should pique your readers’ interest and make them want to continue reading.
The next section is your body. The body is where you’ll expand on the topic you introduced in your introduction. Create paragraphs that are easy to read and are divided into sub-headings. This makes the blog post easier to navigate and read.
The next section is your conclusion. In your conclusion, you’ll want to summarise what you’ve written about in the blog post. You can also use this section to tell your readers what’s next. This will leave them with a sense of anticipation and help to keep them engaged with your brand.
The last section is your call to action. In your call to action, you’ll want to tell your readers what you want them to do next. For example, you can suggest that they subscribe to your newsletter or learn more about your product or service. Your call to action should be clear and direct so that your readers know what you want them to do next.
How to create compelling content
It’s important to remember that the quality of your blog posts will depend largely on the quality of the content you create. To create compelling content, you first need to identify your audience. You should know who your target audience is, what they care about, and why they’re reading your blog posts. Once you know who you’re writing for, it’s time to create compelling content. You can start by coming up with a title that hooks your readers and makes them want to read your post.
Next, you want to create an outline for your blog post. You can use a tool such as Google Slides to create an outline, which will make it easy to navigate your blog post while you’re writing it.
Another way to create compelling content is by including visuals. You can do this by using images, charts, graphs, and videos. Or you can incorporate all of these elements into one post to create an even more engaging blog post.
Last but not least, you want to proofread your blog post before publishing it. This will ensure that your blog post is error-free and that it resonates with your readers.
Tips for creating quality and engaging content
Now that you know how to create compelling content, it’s time to put your knowledge into practice.
Here are some tips for creating quality and engaging content.
– Start with a baseline of readers. Before you can start creating content, you need to know your baseline of readers. This will help you understand what your readers are looking for and what they want from your blog posts.
– Know your audience. Once you know your baseline of readers, it’s time to get to know your audience. You can do this by asking yourself questions about your readers, such as why they’re reading your blog posts, what they care about, and what their issues and challenges are.
– Create personas for your readers. Once you know who your readers are, it’s time to create personas for them. A persona is a representation of one of your readers and helps you visualize who they are and what they want to read.
– Use SEO to your advantage. SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the process of getting your blog posts noticed by search engines such as Google and Bing. By incorporating SEO best practices into your blog posts, you can get more organic traffic, which means more readers searching for your content.
How to measure the success of your blog post
Before you publish your blog post, you’ll want to know how to measure the success of your blog post. There are several ways you can do this, including tracking your readers’ engagement, collecting data on your readers, and tracking the number of pageviews.
You can use tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track the performance of your blog posts. By tracking the success of your blog posts, you’ll have a better idea of what your readers are looking for. This will allow you to tailor your blog posts and provide content that your readers want to read.
So if you want to measure the success of your blog posts, start by tracking your readers’ engagement. This will allow you to see how long your readers are spending on your posts and what they’re clicking on. You can also track the number of pageviews your blog posts receive. This will allow you to see how many people are reading your posts and how long they’re spending on your content.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to create quality and engaging blog posts, it’s time to get started. Start by coming up with a topic. Once you have a topic, you can start writing the post to create compelling and engaging content that your readers will love.
So what are you waiting for? This guide has everything you need to know to create quality blog posts, otherwise you can download my tried and tested blog post template for more guidance. You’ll be able to come up with blog post topics, create compelling content, and measure the success of it in no time.
Writing a book and getting it published can feel daunting, overwhelming and make you want to hide under your dunna. Yep, these are common themes that new, emerging and established writers.
These tips and guidance in this article will help you get rid of those feelings and get you moving so you can write that book and get it published.
Are you ready to start writing and get that book published?
Am I good enough to write a book?
This is the question I hear the most from authors, especially those starting out. It’s not the question of where does the full stop go, or should I add more dialogue to this scene that plagues them the most. Those answers are straightforward. It’s the simple yet terrifying doubt of whether their work has merit, whether the story they want to tell is ‘good enough’.
If you’re reading this, at some stage, you have experienced the same thought. Maybe it was fleeting or perhaps it hounded you for days, years or even stopped you from writing altogether. I can’t stop you from feeling fear but maybe I can help you to keep going despite it.
Avoid comparison paranoia when writing
We always compare ourselves to what we perceive we should be. Creative work is even more doubt- laden for many as you see your colleagues miles away plastering exciting press releases, bouncy blog posts and tantalizing teasers. They’re rocking it! Aren’t they? Well, maybe they are. But more likely, they too have been victims of their own self-sabotage at one stage of their writing career.
There is no boss in this field to tell us where we’re going wrong, or to praise our end product. Our only guidance is from other colleagues, and the feedback gets a bit overwhelming at times. Otherwise, you must reply on your own gut instinct and what you’ve learnt along the way. The first point I would like to make here is that EVERY SINGLE WRITER is in the same position as you.
There’s no crystal ball
So … how do you know if your story idea is good enough? How can you tell if it will be loved my many people or make a difference to those who read it? A friend of mine had these same doubts recently. Well, I can tell you the answer. It’s simple and straightforward – you can’t. You can never know the impact your writing will have. JK Rowling didn’t know for sure; Terry Pratchett had no idea; even Stephanie Meyer had no way of knowing. Their books became famous, but there was a chance they could have failed.
People could have disliked them for many reasons and the authors had no way of knowing the end result. But they started. And they completed what they set out to do. They told their story, for better or worse. Now I’m not saying throw caution to the wind and just see what happens. An editor, beta readers or writing mentor can all help to guide you with your work and polish it to the best it can be. But no one can read the crystal ball.
Is it worth the risk?
In the end, the question is simple: do you risk failure or do you fail to start? Should you keep your story bottled up forever, at the risk of it not pleasing readers or being liked? Or do you tell your story to the world and to hell with the consequences?
You’re a writer. Whether you’re published or not, if you have a story to tell then it’s meant to be told. And like the ripples in a pond, somewhere, someplace, it will affect someone. And maybe, just maybe, that one person’s life will change because of it. You have no idea where your story will go … so is it worth doing nothing?
The journey is often more important than the destination. And when you put pen to paper and let your story flow, chances are it already means something to someone: you. Don’t stop before you even start. Tell your tale. Because woven in those words is a piece of you. And you mean something.
Author of this article about writing a book and publishing it
