You write an article that is called “The 6 Tips that will Result in the Ultimate Success.” Great title, right?
But, does it deliver? Is it really the ultimate six tips that will 100% absolutely result in 100% success for 100% of the readers?
Another question is, “Do you care?” Is your objective to get people to click? Is the real objective to get traffic to your site and get some advertising dollars from those visits to your site? That’s ok. Hey, be honest with yourself and recognize that that is your objective.
Oh, we would all like to say that we care. That is a noble and honorable thing to say. But, if we are truly honest with ourselves, there is one objective that stands out above the rest.
Another objective may be that we want to be a credible source of information. We want to be the “go to” place for the answers to all things related to our niche. It is true that if we achieve that, we may also achieve advertising dollars with the traffic, but ultimately, one objective wins out over the other.
So, it is time to decide what that objective is. Is it money (traffic / advertising) or is it credibility / authority? Or, is it something entirely different? That’s ok. Own it. Then, master it.
Credibility
Let’s say you want to build credibility. You want to ensure that when you say these are the six steps that will do it for you… build success… that that is the case. Oh, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be other steps that will help to build success, but you want to be true to your word. That is the only way to build credibility and set yourself up as an authority on the topic that you represent.
If this is your goal, then you need to be accurate. A great way to be accurate and mean what you write is to perform case studies. Also, perform research. Ensure that the research that you find is credibility, valid, and reliable.
In the academic world, reliability is measured by the ability to repeat the case study and come up with the same or similar results. Validity is measured by the answer to the question. In other words, if you ask if an apple is red and the answer is the apple is smooth, well, that is not a valid response because the answer is not related to the question.
The key is to ensure that the research proves what you are stating, whether it is your own research or something that you found, that someone else has tested. If you want to get geeky and academic, you can read an article here on reliability and validity.
Pizazz
If your goal is to get the click (money, traffic, advertising dollars), you are going for just that… the click. Make it sound good. Don’t lie to your readers, but really sell the emotion. When they read your article, you want them to feel good about what they have read. This type of audience is not necessarily in it for the exact step-by-step how-to and the precision results. They want to be encouraged that they can do it. That is where the hype comes into play and delivering on that click (and the advertising for your vendors).
One word of caution is to ensure that you are not outright lying to your readers. Do not intentionally mislead them or they will view you as a crook. However, it is true that some readers are into the hype and some readers are into the actual step by step on how to accomplish their goals in a systematic approach. Now, it is your turn to decide what type of presenter and content producer you are and more importantly, what type of audience you draw to your site.
Now, deliver on it.
Getting back on the too much of a good thing? If you are the type that delivers on the systematic approach and you are using the Pizazz approach, you may be delivering too much of a good thing for your audience. Know your audience. Know yourself.
And, again, deliver on that.