If you are reading this post, chances are that you are involved in the office supplies industry to some degree. In the ever competitive world known as the Internet, any person running a business with a website knows they need a way to stand out from the crowd. Anyone who has done even the least bit of research keeps hearing the same things over and over: Create unique content and establish yourself as an authority in your field.
Okay…but how exactly do you do this?
The New Way of Marketing
If you want your office supplies business to take off online, marketing is essential. But with the changes to the Internet in the past years, Internet marketing today consists largely of writing. Blogs, websites, forums, and search engines all rely heavily on the written word to get your message across to your potential clients.
Not everyone who runs an online business is a prolific writer. If you can’t string words together coherently and properly punctuate your sentence, consider hiring someone who can. If you do not have fresh, well written content online, the search engines will bury your website on page three thousand and forty two and you will see very little traffic to your site.
The Industry Standard: Original Content
Let’s look at the first piece of advice we mentioned: Creating unique content. Because there is so much written on the Internet on a daily basis, your articles or blog posts must be different to stand out from the crowd. Another article on why you should exercise for fifteen minutes each day is bound to put your readers to sleep and not inspire them to hit that almighty ‘Like’ button.
So how, then, do you create a unique article in a marketplace filled with millions of written words? Try a new spin on an old favourite. In the office supplies business, for example, you could write many articles titled, “How to Save Money on Office Supplies”. To me, this is pretty blah. On a search engine, there may be hundreds of articles with similar titles. In fact, I typed this into Google and was rewarded with over 200 million possible articles to read!
Now try rewriting this same headline to, “How You Can Save £1,000 A Month on Office Supplies”. This is the type of headline that people want to read. Inject a personal aspect into your articles and give your readers something interesting and useful to use, and you will see your traffic soar.
Tips On Establishing Your Authority
Now, the next step is becoming an authority in your field. Once you have learned how to create unique articles that make potential customers stop and actually read the article, you must establish yourself as an authority in your field. You can have a very interesting and relevant article about office printers, but if you do not come off as sounding like you know what you are talking about, readers will not trust your information.
One of the biggest things I have noticed online that quickly sours my opinion of a writer is poor grammar and punctuation. If you struggle in these areas, get help. Have someone else write your articles, or have one or two people read over them and proofread them. As soon as I read a sentence that is poorly constructed, or has misspelled words or incorrect punctuation, my assumption is that this writer does not know what they are talking about.
Before you can worry about punctuation however, you need to have a subject to write about. We have discussed the importance of unique content, but the other part of writing a great article is to do your research. You may very well be an expert on office supplies. However, you never know what you may learn if you research a subject you know well. For instance, you may know how much that HP Photosmart Printer retails at, but do you know when the first HP printer hit the market? Give your readers an interesting detail or point to ponder that they may have never come across to boost the originality of your article.
Whatever you do, do not be afraid to voice your opinion. Especially when you are writing for your own website or blog, use the first and second person. Making your articles too formal will turn readers off. By using personal pronouns you are ensuring that the information presented is readable, relevant and interesting. Leave third person writing to the academic world. Let your personality and opinions shine. Just don’t write things that are rude, offensive or profane.
So, let’s sum up the tips you need to remember to become an office supplies authority:
- Create Unique And Interesting Content
- Re-write Your Headlines To Make Them More Interesting
- If You Can’t Write, Hire Someone Who Can
- Research Everything, Even Subjects You Know Well
- Insert Interesting Details Into Each Article
- Voice Your Own Opinion, In A Respectful Way
Last, but not least, reach out to others to help you on your journey. If you have questions about what is written in this post, please ask me or feel free to call me on 01903 215220. Let me know what you think about these tips, and feel free to share other tips you think are important.
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