Comments on: Supercharge Your Content With Voice

By: Sibirskiy Tiger

Sibirskiy Tiger — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 05:13:26 +0000

Thank you for such a unique encouragement on both of my pursuits: six pack and blogging.

Well, then may God help you teaching others to get over their fear of speaking (writing) in their own voice. Bless you…

By: Lance

Lance — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 00:41:54 +0000

@Sibirskiy: None taken. How are those abs coming? Still burning off the tire? Just kidding. I had to bust on you for busting on my post. Everyone is born with a unique voice, but as bloggers we rarely project that voice in our content because we’re not experienced enough in writing. My advice was to work on finding your voice by becoming a better writer. Interestingly, your blog has some nice voice stuff going on, so you must be a natural. Cheers!

By: Mr Nice Guy

Mr Nice Guy — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:27:40 +0000

Great post for bloggers Lance. I truly believe that content is king. There’s no substitute for having many followers because they like the way you write contents.

By: Sibirskiy Tiger

Sibirskiy Tiger — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:12:41 +0000

I have to say that this is a worthless post on many points.

First af all, God made us all unique, so we all have a distinctive voice already. Secondly, I really did not care for the advice on creating “fake” voice. And thirdly, emulating “Big Shots ” of blogosphere is definetly will not help in developing my style. Thanks though for reminder to read real books. No offense, just wanted to share my opinion.

By: Lance

Lance — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:03:22 +0000

@Matt: Dude. I checked out your blog. Great content, but I have two immediate suggestions: 1) Add an about page that’s obvious right on the first screen load. Describe what it is exactly you have going on here, ie the relationship of Imelda and shoes; 2) Try blogging entirely in the first person and give the audience the voice of Imelda. Go over the top with it. I read your last three posts and it’s obvious the author is a guy. If your blog didn’t have a banner graphic that said Imelda, I wouldn’t have a clue what was going on. Give me a female’s perspective and be a despot!

The writing is intelligent and interesting, but could use some tightening up. I had trouble staying inside each post.

Obviously, you read Manolo’s Show Blog, which does voice perfectly. Look there for pointers on concision and voice.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:44:05 +0000

This was interesting because I blog in character (despotic former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos), this and my content give me the edge over all the other footwear blogs. I’ve found I can connect with an older reader who appreciates the satire but younger readers just don’t get it. What to do?

By: Scott Hepburn

Scott Hepburn — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:05:05 +0000

A lot of bloggers (and non-bloggers, too) would do well to heed Lance’s voice. The most frustrating thing I face as a copywriter for a marketing firm that serves small businesses is the reluctance of clients to explore their voice.

Review some of the most popular newspaper columnists, TV personality, radio talk show hosts, and authors, and you’ll realize every one of them has a distinctive voice. Dave Barry has always been a favorite of mine, and his voice is unmistakable.

The other thing these people have in common is that they have built an audience. When you speak/write in your own authentic voice, you’ll find people who enjoy your tone. And if enough people enjoy your style, you build a massive audience. No matter what field you’re in, the more people tuning in to you, the more money you’ll make.

Call me a convert…I’ll be checking out HoneyAndLance.com sometime soon.

By: Cara

Cara — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:38:03 +0000

Jumping in with the “me, too” to say thanks for a great post. It can sometimes be helpful (especially if you’re trying to find your voice or even just figure out where to start writing) to pick one person that you know and write your blog as if you were writing them a letter.

By: mike

mike — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 16:49:29 +0000

I always spell check my blogs and try to write perfect english at all times. It is important in keeping readers coming back.

By: Terra Andersen

Terra Andersen — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 13:14:45 +0000

Great insight. I do imagine that even on a tech blog, a voice is still important. There are so many other tech blogs out there… it’s important to differentiate yours by adding personality and voice.

By: Phonecto

Phonecto — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:28:50 +0000

But if you’re writing on a tech blog, it’s the voice so important?
I think that more important it’s the content, the news you are presenting.

By: Tom Beaton

Tom Beaton — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:18:24 +0000

You need to give these things time. Assuming you read and write regularly, these thing develop very well naturally. On top of that, if you spend a little time every now and then thinking about it you will probably make huge progress.

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:14:20 +0000

Great post.

I read a lot of copywriters works and am truly amazed how interesting they can make their works no matter if they are writing a how-to book or about some other subject.

The greatest ones can make almost any subject interesting reading.

Being able to change their voice according to the present audience and need must be their greatest asset.

Writing effectively and making any voice changes has been difficult for me as you can see.

This post has been very interesting.

By: James Whatley

James Whatley — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:29:17 +0000

S’funny – I saw this pop up in my google reader and I thought…

“WOW! Cool! Some others are blogging directly with their voice…”

See here: http://whatleydude.vox.com/library/post/speaking-freely.html

But nope. However, LOVED the article. I know what you mean about finding your voice. I’m not hear to preach the gospel about SpinVox, I read this blog quite often for great tips for blogging etc…

Just thought I’d mention it is all..

By: Caroline Middlebrook

Caroline Middlebrook — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:28:06 +0000

My gosh trying to blog in any voice other than my own is something I don’t think I could ever do, or would ever want to do! Of course my blog is a personal blog which is branded with my own name so it would be kind of silly to try and blog in a different voice for that blog :)

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:10:51 +0000

Read real books – great advice.

By: The Masked Millionaire

The Masked Millionaire — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:28:53 +0000

I’m a little bit hesitant about voice. One of the things that I like about the internet is that it gives me an oppurtunity to find information by reading. I’m burnt out on radio and tv.

Too much noise.

Now they want to add more noice to the internet. It will soon become background noise when everyone starts posting that way.

I vote for reading.

The Masked Millionaire

By: Lance

Lance — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 02:19:22 +0000

Word! Thanks for the props. If anyone is interested in Hunter Thompson stuff, I recommend his awesome essay on the Kentucky Derby:
http://www.derbypost.com/hunter.html

Gonzo journalism, excellent piece, unique voice. My attitude is take your voice to the max.

By: Julie Power

Julie Power — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 01:17:19 +0000

love your point about books. Sometimes we get so obsessed about what people are twittering about, digging, im-ing, emailing, etc., that it is hard to turn the computer off for a while and sit down to read and reflect. The blog is a beast that needs to be fed, needs constant attention and always craves more … more time, more posts, more energy. Just like kids. And just like parenting, there are times when it is best to shut the door, turn off the lights and say goodnight. And sit down away from the chatter with a good book and hopefully a good glass of Australian red, she sighed in a homesick way… writing from Bethesda Md in the United States.

By: Cindy Szponder

Cindy Szponder — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:44:32 +0000

Thanks for an insightful post, Lance. I’ll be sure and check out FakeSteve and Bloggies as you suggest. I have to agree that finding your voice is probably mainly a function of writing. As you write you become more comfortable with it and with the way you present yourself to your audience. Probably most people, unless they’ve already been writing a lot for other purposes, come across a little stiff. A little exercise on the keypad loosens you up and more of your personality and passion begins to shine through. People get a better picture of who you are. Thank again, and all the best!