Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

Yeah, I know. What on earth can Tom and Jerry cartoons teach anyone about writing? But that’s the irony of life. I don’t know about you, but simple, yet powerful insights used to elude me a lot in the past. As a result I often ended up dwelling on needlessly complex alternatives. This cartoon series helped me overcome that limitation, making me more productive. These 2 lessons make simple common sense. And they’ve gotten me hired by clients to develop Web Marketing Systems based on Article Marketing for them. I share them below, in the hope that you may also find use for them:

1. Keep It Simple for Your Audience to Follow

Tom and Jerry do not speak – most times, except when they have to scream in pain or hoot in laugher. Yet, everyone who watches them leaves with a clear understanding of what transpired in each episode.

In my opinion, that’s non verbal (and non-written) communication at its very best.

To achieve the above outcome, the script writers and producers employ easy to follow plots that the average member of their target audience can relate to. And that includes children. For instance, we all laugh at the same scenes while watching – both adults and kids.

As writers, we are told to keep our target audience in mind. On the web, there is the generally accepted rule that you need to write in a way that someone in the 6th grade can understand.

It’s simple common sense. Yet sometimes we forget. Or decide to ignore that rule.

Consider the possibility that one of your readers could have a BIG purse, but relatively poor comprehension of English. If s/he’s looking to hire a writer, what happens if s/he cannot understand what you write?

Simple answer: You most likely will not get hired – at least not by him (or her).

Today, many business owners from non-English speaking countries seek increasing access to buyers in English speaking markets. Some actively hire English competent writers and marketing professionals to handle their web marketing content for their manufactured products and/or services.

But they often seek writers who use English in a way that they can understand.

That convinces them that people with limited grasp of English – like them – would not be alienated by the content you create. No client will hire (or retain) a writer who produces content that potential buyers struggle to comprehend.

Hopefully you see what I mean here.

2. Relentlessly Deliver Useful Value – Mixed With Entertainment – to Readers

I could be wrong, but I believe Tom and Jerry cartoons have been around since before I was born. I’ll be 43 in July. So that’s a fairly long time. Yet there is rarely a time – even now – that I watch an episode from that cartoon series that I do not laugh or at least smile.

And I know I’m not alone. Forgive me being so cheekily presumptuous

Each time these guys make us do that (i.e. laugh), they succeed in their objective of delivering entertainment, in exchange for our money. Amazing how well they’ve perfected that art, isn’t it?

For decades on end, generations of people across the world have continued to watch these two cartoon characters without losing interest. That’s because they fulfill their promise to meet our expectations of being entertained. Period.

When we write, it’s important to set out to add value by doing one or more of the following: informing, educating, inspiring or entertaining and so on.

We must never forget to think of the reader. Answering the “What’s In It for Me” question to meet the needs of our readers’ is the best way to succeed.

The more often we achieve our goal of adding value as outlined above, the better we succeed in our writing. Writing in this manner does not often produce instant results, but it eventually does produce useful, financially rewarding results.

Here’s a point worth noting: Quite often many writers focus too much on the “getting hired to write” kind of benefit.

My experiences have howver taught me that so many other channels of rewards exist that you can look forward to exploiting. Indeed some will lead to a chain of beneficial events happening to and for you.

To give a personal example, I have – in the past – won projects with clients by referring them to a piece of writing I produced.

In one case, a client mentioned a problem they faced in passing. Recalling that I had once written an article (with videos and screenshots) of how to solve that problem, I simply e-mailed the CEO a link to it.

More often than not, they would succeed in using the information in my article to solve the problem (sometimes they could call me to clarify aspects). Weeks later, I used the example of that solution they got from reading my article, to convince the CEO to hire me. The project was to develop and implement a Web Marketing System (with an Article Marketing component) for their already existing website.

Final Words: Build Up Readers’ Anticipation for the Future

In addition to other performance indicators which I discussed in seperate posts on this theme, evidence of success will be increased volume/quality of website traffic.

For instance, before I left Nigeria on April 1, 2013,, I was getting 450 to 1,300 visits per day on this blog. Today (less than 4 weeks later) I get 900 to over 1,800 visits per day. Not just that, the rate of subscription to my newsletter has jumped.

Here’s one of the main reasons: Ready access to electricity here in Benin republic has helped me improve the quality of my writing. I am able to spend more time thinking up and creating quality content. The feedback from visitors to my website reflects that fact.

Now, by achieving 1 and 2 above, what Tom and Jerry end up doing in the long run is to build anticipation and interest in viewers minds, to watch more. That’s why both adults and children are often ready to purchase new releases of the cartoon series.

Using lessons 1 and 2 above, avoid focussing on writing in a way that makes YOU look good. Instead devote your energy to producing write-ups make them better equipped to do what they want to do better.

In the process, you WILL look good to them. And that will make them decide to return to read more of what you write.Over time, they will tell others about you, and send feedback to you by way of emails, sometimes comments etc. At some point some who need help writing content for their own businesses, may decide to contact you. And suddenly, you would have come full circle.

Your goal of getting hired would have been achieved. But you would also have gotten there by being useful to others, thereby gaining powerful marketing traction for yourself.

The long term benefits of that will be tremendous, and definitely worth the effort.