Stuck writing your website? Getting past your blocks
Writing can be difficult and writing about yourself and your business can be even harder. Despite our romantic image of being a writer, the reality is often a little different.
It’s common to worry that what you write isn’t interesting enough. To doubt your ability to express yourself. To overthink your choice of words. Sound familiar?
The truth is that all writers – whether you’re writing a coursebook, a piece of fiction or your web copy – have moments when we feel blocked. Let’s look at the top three reasons for this and how to get unblocked.
Writing mindset blocks
These are the top three I come across:
The imposter voice
The sales unease
The perfectionism trap
What are these blocks and how to overcome them?
The imposter voice
AKA the troll. The internal voice you hear when you sit down to write. It whispers to you, ‘‘Who do you think you are?’’ and ‘‘You! A writer! Ha, no you’re not!’’. And it happens to the best of us.
“I am not a writer. I’ve been fooling myself and other people.”
The imposter voice is persistent but don’t let it stop you writing. This is what I do:
Recognise it. The voice is real, but it’s not speaking the truth. It’s your brain trying to protect you, to keep you in a safe space. That’s fine, but you are ready to move on.
Reframe the thoughts. When the imposter voice is telling you that you can’t do X or that Y is too challenging, rephrase the comments. Yes, X or Y are demanding, but you’re going to try them regardless and see what happens.
Refute the arguments. Keep a list of your strengths, skills and expertise. Refer to this when the imposter voice pipes up. Respond to the voice and say, ‘‘OK, you might be right, but I’m not listening. I can do this.’’.
QUICK TIP A smile file
Open a new folder on your laptop and call it Smile File. Whenever you receive positive feedback from a colleague, a nice comment on a post, or a client testimonial, take a screenshot, name it and add that to your folder.
If the imposter voice starts giving you a hard time, have a look through your smile file to remind yourself how good you are.
The sales unease
Feel a bit queasy about promoting and selling your offer? You’re not alone. This discomfort often comes from negative experiences we have as consumers. That pushy salesperson, the cold pitches, the use of FOMO, Black Friday.
In addition, we’ve been taught not to blow our own trumpet, and we confuse selling with boasting. It feels uncomfortable, even unprofessional (Spoiler, it’s not!).
“I’m really averse to self-promotion.”
There are myths about educators and teachers that make selling even more challenging. Have you heard either of these?
Teachers know how to teach, not how to sell.
You can learn to promote your offer in a way that works for you. A way that connects with your clients.
Teachers value learning, not making money.
This old chestnut, often used to justify low salaries. Educators value their expertise and should charge for it – just like any other business.
QUICK TIP Focus on helping, not selling
You may have heard this before, but it works. Rather than think about promoting and selling, focus on how you help clients with their language learning journeys. Talk about your expertise, answer common questions, offer tips. This change of focus helps you write better copy.
When you talk about what you do well, the words flow.
The perfectionism trap
A personal favourite of mine. The fear of getting it wrong, or not being good enough, or even being judged, can be paralysing. It’s why I took over a year (yes – around 14 months!) to write my own website.
“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.”
What I didn’t realise at the time was that 'good enough' is better than perfect. And it’s such a valuable lesson. Web copy is not permanent, it can be replaced, updated, tweaked. But, as they say, you can’t edit a blank (web) page. Give yourself time to redraft, to improve your copy, then publish. Don’t wait for perfection.
QUICK TIP: The permission slip
Send yourself a short email or note. Dear [name], you have permission to upload and go live with your website – even if it’s not perfect! Include a recent success or a smile file screenshot. That training course which went well or student feedback. Give yourself permission to move on.
Conclusion
Writing about yourself and your business is not easy. We all face mindset blocks that hold us back or put the brakes on our writing. With the right support, you can move past:
The internal voice that says your writing isn’t good enough.
The queasy feeling you have when you’re promoting your services.
The perfectionism that keeps you drafting and re-drafting but never hitting PUBLISH.
Website Revamp provides the support and accountability you and your web copy writing need. Along with input sessions, practical techniques and friendly focussed feedback from me and the other participants.
Over eight weeks we’ll work together towards web copy you are proud to publish. Without staring at blank screens or endless rewrites.
Ready to move past these mindset blocks? Join me on Website Revamp.
