Regardless of your age, occupation or interest in martial arts, chances are you’ve heard of Bruce Lee. He was a one-of-a-kind presence that transcended everyday life to take on almost mythical status. His physical prowess in the martial arts is one reason for this, but equally as impressive were his philosophies about life and the martial arts.
In the world of modern day content writing, you can find several similarities between high-quality, consistent content creation and Bruce Lee. Great content may not have perfected the one-inch punch or one-arm, fingertip push-ups, but you can use some of the same concepts and theories to create content that will actually make a difference, instead of just taking up space.
One of the key Bruce Lee philosophies when it came to martial arts was not being bound to any one style. Bruce liked to borrow from many different styles, taking what was useful and practical and leaving the rest behind. He eventually developed his own style called Jeet Kune Do that exemplifies these principles.
In content writing, you can use this same overriding philosophy to create great content. First, you need to determine what the point of any particular piece of content happens to be. What do you want to accomplish? You may be trying to build out the content of your website to establish yourself as an expert in your industry, collecting emails as part of an inbound marketing campaign or making a final sale. Whatever the goal, effective communication with your target audience is the key.
And sometimes, in order to communicate effectively and be as persuasive as you need to be, some of the old-style rules need to be set aside. That’s not to say you abandon the rules of grammar or spelling completely, but you can’t be bound by every minute detail if you are to reach out and grab your prospects by the lapel and draw them in.
Bruce Lee still used punches and kicks, locks and throws with the proper technique, but some of the old concepts that he found limiting didn’t make it into the final movements. Wasted movement just wasn’t in the recipe for success. If you’ve ever read old direct mail offers, you’ll see grammatical errors, symbols placed where they shouldn’t be and a wide range of layouts that differ from what a “letter” should look like. But those copywriters weren’t concerned about what “should” be, they were concerned with results.
When you strip a martial art, or your content creation down to the bare essentials, you are left with something that’s practical and delivers the results you want. In modern content writing, there is an awful lot of noise, and it’s important to clear it away to reveal the true nature of what you want to accomplish. No matter what you are writing, take your readers on a journey that ends with them signing up, sharing the piece or making a purchase.
Join them where they are in their thought process as they encounter your piece of content, and then guide them where you want them to go. The methods for this can vary, but that’s another post for another day. For now, remember the Bruce Lee philosophy of using what’s useful and getting rid of the rest, and you’ll be off to a great start.
Another principle Bruce Lee lived by was that learning and growing were a never-ending part of life. You can never “perfect” a martial art, and you’ll never “perfect” your content writing. Always keep your mind open and take opportunities to absorb as much knowledge as possible. And don’t be afraid to try new things from time to time, because you never know when that little tweak or modification will lead to an avalanche of new customers.
If you’d like some help with your content creation from a team that may be a little farther along in the journey, call The Content Company today at 888.221.5041.
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