WWN26 : Writers who market. Marketers who write.

Wade and I have this ongoing discussion on the difference between these two things.

A writer who markets.

vs

A marketer who writes.

Now it’s distinctly possible, dear reader, that you are shaking your head or fist at the screen right now and saying:

“James, what? Who cares?!”

But this is more than mere pedantry.

It’s actually an important distinction.

And it’s a distinction that that will make the world of a difference to your approach if you understand it. And if you understand who you are between these two.

As Wade also says, know thyself is not a platitude, it’s a business strategy.

So what is the difference?

Well, dear reader, I’m glad you metaphorically asked.

Before we dive in, that let me clarify one thing.

Neither is better than the other. Right?

This is not a superiority screed.

It’s just a helpful distinction that will help you to write and market better.

In ways that fit you, and not what you see some guru doing when they’re actually a totally different fish kettle.

So, to define our terms…

Marketing, often seen as a dirty word in some parts, is simply putting a message out into the world. Setting out your stall in some fashion.

And as the most powerful way of getting ideas from one brain to another is through the medium of words, writing tends to be one of the main ways to market anything.

Which means that many marketers write.

But on the flip side, all successful writers market in some form. After all, once you’ve written something you need to get people to read it, or else what was the point?

Careful readers will have spotted the difference.

The marketer starts with the marketing and chooses writing as his medium to get the marketing message out there.

The writer starts with the writing and chooses marketing as his medium to get the writing out there.

In other words it’s all about two things.

Meaning and Medium.

Which is your “meaning”, your purpose?

Which is the medium you use to promote that meaning?

The distinction between our two types of people is that writing and marketing are flipped, depending on which you are.

For me and Wade, we’re writers. But we both like to eat and we both have to fill our pipes somehow. So we market our writing, and we write for money in various forms as well.

The marketing is there to carry the meaning. To get our message out into the world. To fund our creative projects, build an attentive audience for those projects, pay the bills while those projects build until they pay for themselves.

For someone like Ben Settle or Dan Kennedy, the meaning is the marketing. They wanted to sell something and discovered the best way to do that was through words.

And I know Ben at least has fallen in love with writing on the way.

Neither of these is “better” than the other as I said before. They’re just different.

So don’t take this as a sneery look-down-the-nose post.

But when you understand which of these types you are, you know what to focus on.

You know what matters!

If you’re a marketer who writes then you’re laser focused on ROI. You want to create content quicker, you want to learn copywriting techniques to make your writing more compelling, you want to create bigger and better offers.

If you’re a writer who markets, then you’re more focused on the craft of writing. ROI is only important if it frees more time for the craft.

And likewise you know who to learn from and how to learn from them. You can see someone like Dan Kennedy or Chris Orzechowski and think “you know, this guy is a marketing whizzbang genius. But they’re a marketer who writes, not a writer who markets. And so I’m gonna learn marketing from them but I’ll watch for where they differ in purpose.”

For one example, Dan Kennedy is a big fan of writing for the sake of the marketing benefits:

And that’s fine.

That’s a worthy purpose for a marketer.

But it’s not good advice for a writer who wants to market their writing. Marketers approach writing differently to us.

And on the flipside…

…we approach marketing differently to them.

As Wade said to me once:

Because marketing is not the main thing, not the meaning, we can play with it a bit more. We can do things that don’t make marketing sense.

But every writer needs to learn the basics of marketing.

Else how would you convince anyone to read your stuff?

I mean, I know some writers who like to sneer at “marketing” seem to think that the universe owes them eyeballs, but it don’t work like that sunshine.

If you want eyeballs, you gotta go grab them yourself.

(That was a metaphor, in case any Feds are reading this.)

So I will never sneer at marketing. The world owes me nothing, and if I want attention I have to find it.

So why not learn from the people who are best at getting that attention?

That’s my approach.

And while I can train you to write better and faster and more effectively, whether you’re a writer who markets or a marketer who writes…

…I recommend learning marketing from a real marketer who writes.

Someone like Chris Orzechowski, who is launching a new comprehensive course on email based business marketing.

And boy it’s a doozy.

Plus I’m adding my own bonuses on top, including a rare chance to get direct 1-1 coaching from me.

But you can read more about that at the simple sales page I wrote here.

Meanwhile, may your pipe fuel writing and marketing both, in the right proportions,

James Carran, Craftsman Writer

fin

But not quite fin for the fine folks in Craftsman’s Corner who keep the lights on around here.

For them, an extra bonus on top of those bonuses in the link above...