How to Improve Your Writing and Build Influence Online

What We Discussed with Morissa:

On this episode, host Eric Dickmann interviews Morissa Schwartz about how to improve your writing and build influence online. Here are some highlights of our conversation:

• [00:00:56] Where do things stand with creating online written content?-  We are in an era of TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media platforms watching or creating video content. Despite the continuously increasing demand for this type of content, online written content here to stay. According to Morissa, there are still many people who enjoy reading articles and other forms of written content. She believes that there is definitely a place for both content types.
• [00:01:57] Do people prefer long or short-written content?- Morissa shares that brands can create long-form content as long as it is aesthetically pleasing and easy to understand. She adds that since people are addicted to their gadgets, they are looking for ways to be entertained and learn something fresh. Schwartz believes both short-form and long-form content have their place.
• [00:03:51] Embracing other channels and getting your content read- First of all, if you want to get your content recognized, businesses should create a blog on their website. Morissa says that a blog is great for your SEO, and at the same time, a great way to show you as an authority figure. However, it's not enough to add the blog. You should also be doing backlinks to high domain authority websites. It is also essential to share your blog posts on social media and have your outreach strategies connected and consistent. 
•  [00:05:36] Morissa Schwartz's tips on collaborating with contributors-  Some content writers think they can simply message or pay a website to get backlinks, but that's not how backlinking works! So many changes have been made in the past year. For example, Forbes or Entrepreneur don't accept pitches anymore! It take more effort.
• [00:07:19] Should people do blogs directly on LinkedIn instead of publishing on their blog site?-  Schwartz believes it is much better to post content on your blog site first before sharing it to other platforms. However, it is also great to post content on LinkedIn directly since it doesn't affect your SEO, unlike when you publish on sites like New York Times or Entrepreneur, where Google suspects you to be a competitor and hurts your chances of having a high SEO score.
• [00:08:57] Advice for aspiring book authors-   We live in an era where you can self-publish, or easily get something onto Amazon. It's not that hard to get something out there for the masses to see. Before deciding to publish a book, you should identify what it will be about and the areas that will be covered. Morissa advises first-time book authors consider two things- hire a ghostwriter or voice record yourself when ideas pop into your head. Professionals may not have the time to draft content; it would be a better option to hire a ghostwriter. On the other hand, taking your phone out and voice recording yourself can save an entire drafting and editing round because your book ideas are already captured.
• [00:12:12] What makes a good book?-  The challenge that authors face is- What will make my book better than the next guy's book on a similar topic? According to Morissa, the definition of a good book will always be subjective since it's an art form. However, when writing a book, authors have to focus on their grammar and syntax. Readers can easily identify a poorly-written book. When you see too many errors, it ofthe means the author didn't put enough time into editing their book, which can hurt their credibility. Authors need to put a unique spin on their books to make them interesting to their audience. Whether it be a business book or a novel, story is still important. There is no substitution for a story, no matter what you're writing.
• [00:19:09] What are things that you do to try to capture that voice of the client or the author that you're working for?-  Morissa learned when she worked with Microsoft on eBooks that having strong background context on the subject matter is key to helping writers create content in which they might not be an expert. Helping writers understand the subject matter and the author's tone of voice can help them write better copy and relay the key ideas from the subject matter experts.
• [00:21:53] Podcasting as an important new channel-  Aside from the SEO benefit, podcasts are great for so many reasons. Podcasts are a wonderful tool to meet amazing people, network with fellow podcasters, and build connections with new audience groups. Morissa also says that podcasters are very much like influencers because they share content, tag their guest's socials, and have a sizable platform to attract prospects.