Your Writing Is Not the Problem – Here’s What Is

“Stella, my writing isn’t working.”

If I had a nickel for every time I heard a business owner say this.

But here’s the good news – you don’t need to be a “writer” to build your fan base and win clients online.

You don’t need to memorize a bunch of “rules” about copywriting and persuasion.

And you certainly don’t need to trick people or manipulate them with Magical Power Words.

When I work with business owners on the results they get from their writing, the first thing we do is talk about what I call the “Triangle of Love.”

The Triangle of Love helps us all remember that writing is only part of the problem.

It looks like this: a triangle, with one word at each corner. Message, strategy, writing.

The Triangle of Love is useful because it helps you figure out where your problem is. Take a woman I talked to a few months ago. We’ll call her Penelope. Penelope came to me because she thought she was having a writing problem. She was sending emails to promote a group program.

The problem was, no one was buying from her emails.

Now, Penelope had a business coach. So she went back to her business coach and said, “my emails aren’t working. Now what do I do?”

And her business coach told her, “Send more emails.”

(Side bar: not everyone who calls herself a “business coach” actually is one. Beware the life coach in business coach clothing.)

Back to our story. Penelope followed the advice of her business coach. She sent more emails to her list, which was not responding, buying, or even opening the emails she had already sent.

A friend of hers, on her list, emailed Penelope to beg for email mercy.

“I love you,” the friend said, “But it’s a bit much!”

That’s when Penelope called me.

When I asked her what the problem was, she said, “it’s my writing! I’m writing all these emails, but no one is buying. Can you teach me how to write copy?”

Here’s the thing—the Triangle of Love tells us that what looks like a Writing Problem may actually be something else.

I asked Penelope, “How many people are on your list?”

“One hundred twenty,” she replied. Here’s what followed:

Stella: And if this project worked perfectly, what was your goal?
Penelope: To fill my group program with 10 people.
S: Do you already have a full roster of private clients?
P: No. I need more of those, too.
S: This isn’t a writing problem.
P: It’s not?
S: Nope. It’s a strategy problem.

Here’s the thing about writing – if you pick the wrong project, it doesn’t matter how much you write the pants off it. It’s not going to work.

In Penelope’s case, her first problem was strategic because she was using the wrong strategy to fill a group program. With 120 people on a mailing list, it’s going to be really tough for a first-timer to write emails that are so good, they move people to buy.

She would have been much better off picking up the phone and calling people, one at a time.

The personal touch always outperforms online marketing, until you have filled your client book with private clients and are ready for the next level.

Penelope’s second problem was also strategic. She decided to focus on filling a low-price point group program, instead of filling out her one-on-one client load.

This is a mistake because it sabotages her monthly income. She’s basically setting herself up for feast-or-famine mode.

Plus, in my experience it’s tougher to sell a lower price point program than it is to sell a higher price package. As a copywriter, I got used to selling done-for-you packages that cost several thousand dollars. No one questioned my rates. And sales conversations were a breeze.

But when I put together my first group program – a 4-week class on how to write sales pages – I had a bunch of people balk at the $350 price point, telling me the couldn’t afford it. Now, I was also less confident selling that program. That tends to happen when it’s your first time.

Even so, the reality is that people in the market for a $350 program tend to hold onto it more tightly than people in a position to invest $5,000. Sure, there are exceptions, but that’s been my experience.

Anyway – back to our Triangle of Love. The point is, if you think your writing isn’t working, make sure that you’ve ruled out that it’s a strategy or message problem.

In other words, you need to be confident that the project or campaign you are putting together is the right one for your goal. And you need to have done some basic messaging work so you know that the message you’re sending resonates with your slice of the marketplace, and you are not attempting to talk to “everybody.” That’s a rookie mistake, that ends up gutting your ability to connect with your tribe. The tragedy of the generic.

This isn’t to say there’s no such thing as a writing problem. It’s quite the opposite. From overcoming perfectionism, to streamlining your writing time, to making sure you stay creative and on your own growing edge so the audience you’ve built keeps paying attention… to how to actually up your email open and click rates… all of those are writing problems. And certainly valid ones at that.

But don’t let writing be your scapegoat.

I’m curious – when it comes to the Triangle of Love, what’s your biggest challenge? Post it in the comments below.