My Favourite F-Word

I am in the midst of renovating my home. Even as I write that sentence I can hear the theme song to that classic 80s movie ‘The Neverending Story’. And just like the movie, renovating is filled with mystical creatures (tradespeople), many hurdles (Artax in the swamp of sadness feels about right sometimes) and the idea of creating a fantasy home!

As I now (annoyingly) hum away to that tune in my head it reminds me that I need to make some decisions about my carpet. I’ve shopped around, organised quotes and now must decide who to go with. But I’m stuck…

They all showed up on time.

They were all pleasant and informative.

They all had the product I wanted.

They all had almost identical pricing.

AND, they all gave me that ‘good’ gut feeling that I rely on heavily when making decisions.

So, I have waited to see who will actually give me – a busy freelance health content writer, an active mum, a training athlete (ok, try-hard athlete) and part-time STEM teacher – my favourite F-word…a FOLLOW-UP.

Yep, that is how I intended to decide. Whoever follows up with me first will win my business.

So, like The Neverending Story, I may be on a quest that lasts a while.

It’s been over two weeks and not one of them has called me to follow-up!

This little lesson is more applicable to health and wellness content writing than you may realise.

It’s not an epiphany to discover that people are busy. If they have taken the time to engage with your content, then make it easy for them to continue moving forward towards your service or product.

I love bonuses in life. So, as a health and medical content writer I always try to sprinkle a few little bonuses when submitting content to my clients.

One of the best little bonuses I can offer is to help you make YOUR health content more valuable to your audience.

If someone engages with your content, which is generally the whole purpose (see this post on the importance of Call to Action’s) then ALWAYS follow-up. If you’re not sure how, then simply call or reply with, ‘Is there anything further I can help you with?’ Side note: Can you see how the follow-up is specifically asking a question that could extend your content’s usefulness?

That follow-up to a comment or reaction signals that you are listening to THEIR needs. This type of personalised ‘feel’ moves not only THAT reader one step closer to choosing YOU, your service or your product but also shows everyone else who reads your content that you value your readers.

If just one of my carpet quoter’s had made this call in the last two-weeks, they could strut around the showroom calling themselves Falkor, the luck dragon, with a hefty order in their sales tray!

Make your content writing worth it, follow-up!

If you want [Writing that gets your health clients hooked] or you have you’re own thoughts about follow-up, The Neverending Story or renovations, then leave a comment and see if I practice what I preach…

Kylie