Challenges in Writing Content and How to Overcome Them

Created on 5 July, 2024 • Marketing & Business Communication • 70 views • 5 minutes read

In this article, we’ll discuss the challenges of writing content and how to overcome them. Many marketing channels use written content as their main strategy, with blogs and emails being two of the most popular ones. Writing content for these channels is

Challenges in Writing Content and How to Overcome Them

Unfortunately, writing content isn't as easy as posting on social media. If it were, we wouldn’t hear stories of bloggers or email marketers quitting halfway. There are challenges, but that doesn't mean writing content is impossible for beginners.

We’ve identified three common challenges in writing content based on our over two years of experience in the content world. By understanding these challenges and learning how to overcome them, we hope you can write more effectively and create valuable content for others.

So, what are the challenges in writing content, and how do we overcome them? Let's dive in.

3 Challenges in Writing Content and How to Overcome Them

Based on our experience, here are the three main challenges in writing content:

Ideas and Content
Consistency
Monetization

Let's break these down one by one.

Ideas and Content

The first challenge in writing content is coming up with ideas and actual content. Many bloggers and email marketers often struggle with what to write about. However, content ideas can come from anywhere.

The easiest way to generate content ideas is by identifying the problems of your blog or email readers. The answers to these problems can be your content ideas and topics.

For example, if your readers struggle with creating an email address with their own domain and want a professional-looking email, you can write a tutorial on how to do that. Similarly, if your readers have health concerns, your content could include health tips, how to maintain good health, lists of clinics, information about medications, healthy eating habits, and diets. The key is to address their problems and provide solutions as your content.

But how do you know what problems your readers have?

You can ask them directly or do some research. While research might take time and resources, asking directly is the simplest and most efficient way to gather ideas.

You can ask on Q&A sites like Quora, Ask.fm, or Yahoo Answers. Or, join Facebook groups that match your readers' profiles and ask about their problems.

Once you have the content ideas, the next challenge is writing the actual content. To do this, simply expand on the ideas you have. If you still find it difficult, look for inspiration on platforms like:

Pinterest
Medium
Digg
Kaskus

Ensure your content is as original as possible. Don’t just copy-paste. Even if the idea is similar, the content should be different. If you must copy, modify the sentence structure and word choice, and don’t forget to ask for permission and credit the original source if you quote someone else's content. Crediting the source is a way of respecting the original creator.

Consistency

The second challenge is consistency. Many bloggers and email marketers have great ideas and content but struggle to stay consistent. Consistency here means maintaining a regular quantity of content and a consistent style (such as tone and word choice).

“Consistency is a vital factor in business communication because humans essentially grasp impressions rather than messages. These impressions are built on the habits we perform daily towards others, including written communication (like emails) to our customers. To create a good impression, we must strive to communicate in a way that reaches the subconscious level of our email readers.”

Based on this quote, imagine if a blog updates its content sporadically. Sometimes it updates, sometimes it doesn't. We often see blogs where the last post was three years ago. This gives the impression that the blog is outdated, and its content might no longer be relevant.

The same goes for email content. If we only write emails when we feel like it, it affects our email engagement. The more frequently we send emails, the better the engagement. If we aren't consistent, our emails might eventually end up in spam. You don't want that, right?

Maintaining consistency in writing content isn't easy. It's no wonder many bloggers and email marketers quit halfway. One major reason is a lack of consistency.

Here are some tips to help you stay consistent in writing content:

Set Targets: Start by setting a target. Decide how many pieces of content you want to write each week. Initially, aim for 2-3 pieces per week.
Maintain Targets for 1-2 Months: Write content according to your targets for 1-2 months, or about 40-60 days. This time frame is enough to build a habit.
Increase Your Targets: Once you’ve maintained your targets, gradually increase the amount of content. If you started with 2-3 pieces per week, slowly increase it.

Monetization

The third challenge is monetization, which is finding ways to make money from your content. Many bloggers and email marketers get discouraged when their blog doesn't generate income despite their consistent efforts.

This might be due to relying on just one income source or not having enough traffic. To overcome this, you need to:

Attract More Traffic: There are two main ways to attract traffic: organic and paid. You can learn more about these methods in the article “Website Traffic Strategies.”
Add Income Sources for Your Blog and Emails: Typically, blogs earn by becoming ad publishers. Many platforms offer this service, but Google AdSense is the most popular. You just place ad codes on your blog, and they automatically turn into banners. When someone clicks on the ad, you earn money.

Besides being a publisher, there are other ways to monetize your blog or emails, such as:

Becoming an affiliate marketer
Selling your own digital products
Joining paid review programs
Offering backlink services
Entering blog competitions
Providing soloads services (for emails)

Regarding soloads, if you have a large email database and good email engagement, this program is worth considering.

In soloads, you, as the broadcaster, send emails to all your subscribers with content specified by the advertiser. Once you’ve sent the broadcast, your job is done, and you get paid. Easy, right?

These are the three content writing challenges we wanted to share with you. We hope this helps you. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next article.

Conclusion

This article covers the main challenges in writing content and how to tackle them. The three major challenges are generating ideas and content, maintaining consistency, and monetizing your content. By identifying readers' problems to generate content ideas, setting achievable targets for consistency, and exploring multiple monetization methods, you can improve your content writing and create valuable content for your audience.