Describing and defining your voice is like trying to explain what your own face looks like. You may be so used to the way that you look, that you think it's just "normal" and not noteworthy. When it comes to your own writing, you may have thoughts that you put down, but you may not know what your voice is. But not knowing what your voice is... or not having a defined message... can lead to a lot of aimless wandering and you won't have the confidence to get your message across. How do you start defining your voice? Last week I was talking to a new client about setting up a newsletter. He was on the fence about it, partly because other people's terrible blogs and newsletters had left a bad taste in his mouth. And so he said he didn't want to end up "like THOSE people" who yammer on and on in their blogs about stuff nobody cares about. Another thing he didn't want to do was constantly write about problems. He didn't want to be a cynical writer who is constantly skewering people or analyzing current events to find things to complain about. And you know what?
He doesn't have to do either one of those things. One of the first steps to finding your voice is to identify things that you don't want to do. Once you have your list of things you don't want to do, you can start to think of things that you would like to do. And make a list of people that you would like to help, starting with your ideal clients. How can your newsletter make a difference to them? What kind of information do they need to improve their lives? When you approach from the standpoint of writing things that will be of service to your customers, you get over the fear of pressing send on a regular basis. I am offering a limited number of one hour email newsletter jumpstart sessions. These consultations are $250. You will walk away with a recording of our conversation, an audience analysis and a list of topics and outlines for your newsletter. Just email me at mandy@mandyaudette.com with the subject line "Email Jumpstart".
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