Short reports can help you to connect with your prospects and to position you as an expert in your field. These reports need only be about ten to fifteen pages long, and can usually be easily completed in less than a week. The important thing to remember when choosing your topics and titles is that you must be very specific.
You must also decide beforehand what actions you want your readers to take, and which products would work well as a follow up to your report. By thinking about these things ahead of time, your writing will bring you a better relationship with the people on your list and income for months or years to come.
Choosing the topic can be tricky, so you will need to do some research to find out what people are interested in learning about right now. The title will also be important. It must be catchy and promise something specific. For example, I could write a short report on article marketing, but if I use that for the title not many people will be interested.
If I titled it something like How To Write Articles That Will Be Read By Thousands Of Your Prospects there would be much more interest. If I included something on how to write resource boxes that will make your prospects take action immediately, even more people would want to read my report.
Once I have chosen my topic and my title, I them decide what action I want readers to take when they read my report. I usually include a few affiliate links, so having them click on these links to see if the information is a fit for them is one of my primary goals. I choose the affiliate products I promote very carefully, and will only promote what I have used and benefitted from personally to grow or enhance my business. This has been a major strategy that has led to my list trusting me to only recommend what I feel strongly about.
After your list has read your report, what do you want them to do next? I want them to purchase one of my products or join one of my membership sites, so that is my focus as I begin to distribute what I have written about.
Be sure to include several links within your report that will allow the reader to retweet your report. This can be done quite easily by using a graphic link right in the report that will take them to their Twitter account to update their status by telling others about what you have written. This will make the report go viral in just a matter of days or weeks, and will keep it circulating for long into the future. Writing these short reports every month will increase your income and build your credibility with your list.
Connie, you’ve convinced me that I need to give writing a report a try. You’ve made it sound so simple — thank you. As a newbie to social media, you’ve reminded me a theme I continue hearing — links!