129: Content that builds goodwill and positions you as a trusted authority {A writing prompt for women entrepreneurs}
Ready to become a respected voice in your industry without coming across as pushy or self-promotional?
Let me show you how to create the kind of content that naturally positions you as an authority while building genuine connections with other experts in your field. In this episode, I spill the tea on my Beastie Boys-inspired approach to becoming an "ill communicator" (spoiler alert: it's all about being the dopest marketer you can be), and share a game-changing writing prompt that's about to transform how you create content.
Buckle up, because I'm diving deep into the art of crafting a "Top Experts to Follow in 2025" piece that works like magic across blogs, newsletters, and social media. Through real examples from my own network, I break down exactly how to structure this content for maximum impact – and yes, I share the surprising reason why you absolutely need to include yourself in that lineup. Stick around until the end, where I give you a sneak peek at something new I'm cooking up to help take your copywriting to the next level.
Topics We Cover in This Episode:
Why playing it humble might be sabotaging your authority (and what to do instead)
The sneaky psychology behind expert recommendations that makes your audience trust you more
A brilliant networking hack that turns content creation into relationship-building
The unexpected criteria for choosing experts that actually boost your own credibility
How one simple content piece can snowball into multiple marketing wins
The common oversight that could be costing you valuable visibility
A clever framework for crafting headlines that make people stop scrolling
Ready to level up your content game? I'd love to hear your thoughts on a new offering I'm dreaming up – a monthly dose of writing prompts, tutorials, and live copy coaching sessions to help you write with more confidence and impact. Share your input in my quick survey at www.kimkiel.com/WritingSurvey.
And if you're looking to expand your circle of trusted experts, be sure to check out some of the amazing women I mentioned in this episode: Rebecca Vigelius, who's revolutionizing how women CEOs approach sleep and stress; April Stroink, your go-to for making profit first actually work; and Megan Sumrell, who's redefining time management specifically for women's unique needs. These powerhouses are changing the game for women in business, and I can't wait for you to discover their work!
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Welcome to ill communication, copywriting tips and sales strategies for small business. I'm your host, Kim Keel. I'm a copy coach, sales strategist, and direct response copywriter. It's my mission to help women leaders and changemakers amplify their voices through copy. It's why I'm dishing out all the juicy tips, writing prompts, and sales formulas to help you generate more leads, book more calls, and get more high value clients on repeat. Sounds pretty good. It's time to ditch the overwhelm you might be feeling and find confidence in your copywriting so you can get your message out there and attract more soul mate clients. Let's get started. Hello my sweet friend. Welcome back to the Ill Communication Podcast, where you'll get tips, strategies, prompts, and formulas to help you help you become an ill communicator. Today, I'm sharing a killer writing prompt that will position you as a trusted authority and leader in your field. But what, you may ask, even is an ill communicator. If you're a newer listener, you might not know the story behind this podcast, so let me fill you in. First of all, I'm a huge fan of the Beastie Boys, which is a hip hop band that dates back to the early 1980s. The Beastie Boys crafted rhythms and rhymes that tell wicked stories. They're fun to listen to, fun to dance to. I became a fan of the Beastie Boys after their first commercial hit album, Licensed to Ill, in 1986, and I've been a fan ever since.
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In 1994, they released their fourth album called Ill Communication. But what does that mean in this context? Ill is slang for sick dope, rad Bad, meaning it's the best. So on this podcast you get tips, strategies and frameworks to help you become the illest communicator. When you listen and follow the tutorials and tips I share, you'll become the sickest, dopest, Raddest bestest marketer for your business. And in today's episode, you're getting a killer writing prompt that is truly going to position you as an authority in your industry. Some might say when you follow this prompt, you'll be positioned as one of the illest leaders in your field. Anyway, enough with the silly jokes. Here's the writing prompt. The top 5 to 7 experts your audience should follow in 2025. Okay, so when you're writing this piece of content, it could be for a blog post. It could be an email, it could be a podcast episode, it could be a LinkedIn article. It could even be a magazine article. First, make a list of the top five, seven, nine, 11 experts or influencers in your industry not necessarily competitors, but collaborators or folks who share your audience. These could be people you have a direct connection or relationship with, but they don't necessarily have to be directly connected to you.
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They could be people you admire or follow. As you list each expert, explain why your audience should follow them. Talk about their unique niche or area of expertise. Connect the dots for how they could help your core audience or reader improve their business or life. And then make sure you list yourself as one of the top experts your audience needs to follow. There is no shame here in plugging yourself and shouting out your own expertise. So let me walk you through an example. If I was to write this piece of content, I'd call it the top five experts Gen X women in business need to follow in 2025. I select experts who serve and support my ideal buyer, but who don't compete with me directly. So I'd probably talk about my friend Rebecca Vogelius, who's a certified stress and sleep coach for women CEOs and entrepreneurs, and especially those in midlife that include my money coach, April Stroink, who helps entrepreneurs implement profit first and find more freedom and fun through their money. Now, I've personally worked with April and Rebecca in many different capacities, so I'm comfortable recommending them. But someone else I might recommend is Megan Sumrall. She's someone I only know very casually through some networks that I'm in, but I'm really enjoying her content. She helps entrepreneurs develop better time management and organizational skills, but specifically for women, because a lot of the time management stuff out there is developed for men who bear different responsibilities in life and business, who have different capacities, who have different bandwidth, and who have different support systems traditionally.
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Even though I've never worked with Meghan personally, I'd be comfortable highlighting her as a resource for my audience. I'd probably also highlight a mindset coach or a business coach who serves my audience. And then I'd list myself as a copy coach and marketing expert for Gen X Women in Business. Each of these experts offers a complementary service to the other experts. No one is in direct competition. Now here's the kicker when you share your article or your post, and this is definitely one I'd recommend you share on social. Tag the other experts and leaders, because chances are they'll also share your post to their audience. You could even reach out to them individually to let them know you're highlighting them in an upcoming newsletter or article, and ask if they share an email to their list that links back to your content. Now here's why this post works so beautifully. People are following you for your expertise. They trust you when you share a resource you trust. You've vetted them already for your audience. They love to see who you're following and recommending. And if they get value from following those new experts, they'll love and trust you even more.
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The experts you include in your recommendations will also be more likely to refer you as well. It's just a beautiful way to celebrate the great minds and mentors in your space and position yourself as an authority. Now, as a side note, I shared this prompt with the members of the Joy of Copy Club last week, and one of them said she had sent an email to her list with the top five experts to follow, but she hadn't listed herself as one of the experts. So I encouraged her to repurpose her email, turn it into a blog or social media post and add herself as the final expert to follow. Now, once you've written this piece, it becomes like a listicle article with the names of the experts, maybe some photos, links to some of their resources and you as well. You're going to want some subject lines or headlines, so here are a few for you to spur your brainstorming juices. Five people you need to follow. Industry experts to help you. And then insert the outcome your audience wants so industry experts to help you grow your business. In part time hours, top five experts Gen X women in business should follow in 2025. Top five early childhood educators to follow in 2025. Or you can be very specific. Follow these five perimenopause experts to help you eliminate your symptoms and feel better in 2025.
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Now, I share four of these strategic, thoughtful writing prompts every month with the members of the Joy of Copy Club, but I'm kind of kicking around an idea to share these monthly writing prompts with you too. In this new offer, I have kind of rolling around in my brain you'd receive every month for writing prompts, a video tutorial, walking you through how to
use the prompt, why it works, do's and don'ts, and subject line ideas or headline ideas. Plus, I'm thinking of hosting one live copy coaching session every month, like an open office hours, so you can bring your draft copy for review or get help with any kind of copy or marketing question. Now, I'm still in that sort of goopy brainstorming phase, and I would really, really love your help. I've put together a quick survey with a couple of questions, which I would love for you to answer, to give me a sense of whether this is a good idea or not. Would anyone be interested in this low ticket subscription and any other elements I could add in to help you write your own copy with more ease, more flow, more sales. So could you please do me a solid? Could you go to. Writing survey? There you'll find the very short Google Form survey, where you can share your thoughts about this idea and anything else related to services you'd love to see me offer.
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It's totally anonymous, but if you want to be notified of when this new low ticket service is available, you have the option to add your name to the interest list. Once again, I really, truly value your input. So please go to Writing Survey and please use this prompt to create a brilliant piece of content that positions you as a trusted authority in your space. The top 5 to 7 experts your audience should follow in 2025. Make sure you share your post with me so I can see and follow who you recommend. That's it for today. Please come back again next week for another writing prompt, tipped strategy or formula to help you become an ill communicator who creates superfans for your business. Bye for now. And that's a wrap on today's episode of Ill Communication. Hey, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, I would love if you would leave a rating and a review to let me know. And don't forget to follow the show so you never miss out on the tips, prompts, and strategies I share in every episode. They're designed to make you an ill communicator too. As always, you can check out all the links and resources from this episode on the web page. Just head over to Kim Podcast. I'll chat with you again next week.
Resources Mentioned:
Share your ideas and thoughts about a new low-priced offer I'm thinking of creating to help you write effective copy, in this short survey
Check out some of the experts I shout out in this episode:
Certified Stress & Sleep Coach, Rebecca Vigelius
Time management & productivity expert for women, Megan Sumrell
I would love to connect on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KimKielCopy, Instagram: www.instagram.com/kim_kiel_copy, and Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kimkiel
Additional Resources
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