That's the big one. People are busy. They're looking for insight. Whatever they read needs to be informative and eye-opening from the opening line.
That means:
- Skip the platitudes.
Don't tell a hospital security officer that HIPAA is important. She's knows it's important. Tell her something new or genuinely useful about how to avoid a compliance violation. - Don't be wordy.
It's OK to publish long pieces, but they should pack a lot of information. Individual sentences and paragraphs, wherever they appear, must carry their weight. - Don't make distracting mistakes.
Errors in grammar and spelling interrupt reading. Puzzling arguments and poor sentence construction frustrate readers. Don't give readers an excuse to look away. - Invest in research.
Know your subject, and know it well enough to tell your audience something they didn't already know. - Arm your readers.
Here's something that absolutely doesn't waste your readers' time: Giving them insights, arguments, and hard numbers they can use to do their jobs even better than before. Help your readers justify a new approach or a new purchase. Help them become heroes at work.
When you're looking for writers, look for people who can:
- Write something original.
- Write concisely.
- Write well and build solid arguments.
- Research a subject and dig up non-obvious data.
- Provide practical and important guidance.
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