 If you run your own healthcare business, you’ll know by now that health blogging is an essential tool to build reader engagement and establish your brand’s credibility. No problem if you enjoy writing and have time to spare. But for many small business owners finding the time and creative juice to create regular engaging health blogs can be an unwelcome chore. At least that’s how many of my regular clients feel. Maybe you do too. Here are 7 of my top all-time reasons I’m hired as a health blogger.1. Hiring a freelance health blogger can save you precious time. If you’re running your own business you’ve probably already got plenty to do. You may already have people in your office who are decent writers, but wouldn’t their time be better spent on other tasks? A freelance writer can create fresh content quickly and professionally. It’s what they do for a living. When you take into consideration the amount of research and other time-consuming activities needed to get a major writing project, or even a short blog completed, it makes sense to hand some of your workload over to a professional. 2. You give your readers a fresh perspective Freelance health bloggers can write across a wide range of health specialities For example, my background as a Midwife gives me natural expertise in the fields of infertility, maternity and baby care. But as a freelance writer, I write about a huge range of subjects that are health related. Each time I write I increase my depth of learning, all of which builds my experience and helps me generate fresh ideas for the next client I write for. 3. You can hire global talent with no additional employment costs A key advantage of enlisting the skills of a freelance health writer is that it does not confine you to your local job market. From my point of view, this has to be one of the most liberating aspects of my work. I’ve written for clients on the far side of the world whilst living on an isolated Scottish island, in a remote village in Devon and even from the deck of a boat. It doesn’t matter where I am. I can write in either US or UK English, attend virtual video meetings and stay connected via email and messaging services no matter where I am. From your point of view as an employer, the benefits are even greater. You can by-pass the conventional costs of in-house employment and can protect both your budget and your stress levels. 4 A freelance health writer can help you appear as an industry expert If you are generating regular high-quality blog posts for your health care business then before long you will have plenty of good quality content that can be re-purposed into an e-book. If you want to appear as an industry expert that is a simply brilliant idea that you can’t afford to ignore. For example, you could offer:
 5. A freelance health blogger can help bring clarity and focus to your marketing plan The chances are you’re busy. Busy focusing on your patient’s welfare. Busy running your business and busy keeping up to date with all the latest developments in your clinical field. With so much happening at once, it’s easy to lose sight of the need to work on your business as well as in it and key marketing messages can get buried in your ‘to do’ lists. A specialist health content writer can help you keep your blog posts on track and on message and whilst freeing more of your time to build up your business. If you’re finding it a challenge to keep your patients or customers up to date with all the latest development in your business, or new developments in your field, it’s worth exploring how a content writer could help. ,6. You don’t need to find original content your health blogger will do that for you. Do you know that saying “you can’t see the wood for the trees”? Well writing fresh and engaging content for your healthcare business can be a bit like that. The chances are you are so close to your work it’s no longer easy for you to view your marketing materials as your ideal client would. Fortunately, this is one skill that freelance health writers are very good at. Usually, all you need to do is decided on the topic, provide relevant links and keywords and leave the rest to your writer. Most health writers will even source appropriate royalty free images for you. 7. Freelance health writers are trained in SEO optimisation In today’s ultra high-tech world writing innovative, fresh content for your readers is only part of what is required. The other element that is often overlooked is to write for the search engines. This step is essential if you want to reach your target audience. Discovering what keywords are trending for your industry can be time-consuming and knowing where to place those keywords within your text is a skill that needs time to develop. So why not let an expert help you out with that? So, there you have it.
Whether, you maintain a regular blog, would like to freshen up your practice leaflet or are thinking about creating an e-book to boost your credibility there’s a lot to consider and having a freelance health blogger or content writer on your team can free you up to grow your business in ways that only you know how. If you would like to talk to me about growing your business with new patient education materials, or fresh blog content, you can contact me here. At their simplest case studies are customer success stories that can help persuade customers to buy from you. They are typically considered to be one of the top three marketing tactics used by B2B businesses to boost customer engagement. So why are they so effective? In short, because a carefully crafted case study conveys trustworthiness and credibility from the first page to the last. They give you an elegant, way of showing your potential customers how you can solve their problem without overtly selling and wrapped up in a compelling storyline they make for highly engaging promotional materials.  Storytelling can bring your product to life
Case studies are all about success stories. They describe how your company has solved a problem, overcome a challenge, or introduced a new and innovative service. Unlike a white paper, a case study is a fairly short document, running at about 800-1000 words. The skill of the writer is to make each word count by crafting a compelling story to engage customers interest, connect with their pain points, point out the benefits of your product or service, and get them on board. Social proof at its most powerful A well-written case study is a powerful form of social proof. Not only does it tell the story of how a customer benefitted from your service but it also lets you subtly weave in the details of your product right within the storyline. Best of all readers expect a call-to-action. To show just how effective a case study can be, recent research has shown that about 78% of B2B buyers turn to case studies when researching potential purchases. And if someone is willing to take the time to read through your case study, it follows that they will expect to see your call to action at the end. It’s the natural next step to lead them towards the sale.  Ever heard of NLP? NLP stands for neuro-linguistic programming. Neuro as in the brain, linguistic as in language, and programming as in computers. In a nutshell, it’s using the power of words to re-program the brain and change behaviour. Not a million miles away from copywriting when you think about it. I've always been fascinated by the power of language to influence and persuade. So many years ago I trained as a Clinical Hypnotherapist and then as an NLP Practitioner and it’s been the bedrock of my business ever since. One of the most useful skills health writers can learn from NLP is how to enhance written rapport to increase reader engagement. To do that, you need to capture your reader's attention right from the start. That means using language patterns that suits the other person’s preferred communication style, whether their perception of the world around them is primarily visual, auditory or kinaesthetic / feeling. Why is this important? Because the words that have the greatest impact and convey the most meaning are those most closely aligned to the readers own preferred representational system. We all have one sensory modality that we give preference to over the others and it's useful to know what this is so you don't let that bias creep into your writing. Consider the examples below and see if you can recognise your own language preferences. Visual language patterns. Do you see what I mean? How does that look to you? I get the picture. That appears to be OK. Auditory language patterns. That sounds good to me. Do you hear what I’m saying? Tell me again. Listen, I’ve got an idea. Kinaesthetic or feeling language patterns. I need to get a better grasp of what you’re saying. That feels OK to me. You need to get a grip of the situation. Let go and move on. Can you recognise your own sensory preferences from these examples? Even just listening to yourself speaking out loud for a while should give you a clue as to whether you are primarily visual, auditory, or feeling in your perception of the world around you.  Speaking your reader's language. As a writer, having an awareness of representational systems is important because it reminds you to cover all sensory modalities in your writing. The temptation is to write, as you speak, using your preferred sensory words to communicate your message. And because they are your words, you probably won’t even be aware if you are being biased. But you need to appeal to all of your readers. Not just the ones who share your own language patterns. Now that you know how to spot those visual, auditory and feeling words, have a look back through your latest blog posts, articles or information leaflets and make sure you use them all to make the greatest impact on your readers. Whenever you are writing for your patients and customers, it’s important to choose words that will engage them strongly and deeply. Words that will paint a picture for them, strike a chord, or perhaps even touch their hearts. If you have an interest in medical copywriting, you’ll already know that it's good practice to use sensory language throughout your copy but having some background knowledge of NLP can make your writing even more effective.
It's one of those little details that can help your business stand out amongst the competition.
Need to write a guided meditation, a mindfulness exercise, or a self-help audiobook?
Writing for the ear, not the eye requires a different writing style if you want to keep your listeners attention! 
Here are my top tips to get you started
Remember a script that is well written can help you gain subscribers and showcase your content in a way that is memorable and engaging.
Click here to read more about how to write for audio narration.  Writing a blog is always a good idea if you want to grow your business, but it's easy to underestimate the time involved. Not only do you have to create a content schedule, but you also have to research and generate each individual blog post and source appropriate royalty free images. You'll also need to think about where to place your most important keywords and when all that's done you'll need to find the time to actually sit down and write your post. Enter the healthcare ghostwriter.  Hiring a medical ghostwriter can do all this for you. Quietly working away in the background on your behalf. If you're a healthcare business owner you'll probably be able to think of some good reasons of your own to hire a ghostwriter but here are the most common reasons I'm asked to write behind the scenes. Top 3 reasons I ghostwrite for medical and healthcare companies. 1. You get more free time Running a successful business takes time, and so does writing. Hiring a ghostwriter to work away in the background for you helps you see the bigger picture of where your business is going. It gives you much more time to work on your business rather than just in it. 2. Your ghostwriter does the research for you A healthcare ghostwriter does one thing. They write. That means they are well practised in the skills that matter.
Getting someone else to do this for you not only frees up your valuable time, it also saves you the headache of learning how to do these things yourself. 3. A professional writer can give you a fresh perspective Typically all you need to do is give your ghostwriter some brief guidance on the topic you want to be covered and any keywords that need to be used. Then leave the rest to them. Another huge benefit that is often overlooked is the fresh perspective your ghostwriter can bring to your work. A fresh pair of eyes can often see things that you can't, such as new or different ways to express your core message or engage with your readers. At it's best a ghostwriter can also turn out to be a valuable unseen member of your business team.  A good ghostwriter should be able to save you significant time and tell your story in an engaging way that provides each and every reader with something of value. But you know it's not all about blog writing. As a medical ghostwriter, I can write a variety of documents, all with your name on and credited to you. For example;
If you're a healthcare CEO or business owner who needs high quality content written in your voice, ghostwriting services may well be your answer.
It's about creating compelling content that is credited under your name. And no one else will ever know. Interested?
It has been said that intuition is one of a writers most useful tools. It has certainly helped me whenever I have felt stuck, or blocked, or simply undecided as to which way to go. Of course, to use your intuition is a very natural thing to do, you don't need any special skills to do it, just a genuine desire to get results and the commitment to practice with focused attention.
The main reasons why intuition can be such a valuable aspect of successful writing is that it gives you a resource that provides an additional level of information that does not come from the logical, analytical, or rational side of your brain alone. It can be both a valuable resource and a reliable tool when its language is understood. With practice, you can improve your creative breakthroughs and even increase your sensitivity and awareness to forthcoming changes in the marketplace.
Most people would agree that intuition is the ability to access the knowledge that you already know but don't know that you know. It can help to generate unique ideas to write about, overcome 'writer's block', resolve problems with your manuscript, or get a sense of where your niche market is headed next.
It is often described as a sudden insight, a feeling of knowing, or certainty that arrives without effort. Unlike facts which rely on external information, intuition is a direct experience that is self-evident and self-validating.
It is either meaningful, or it is not. For example, it is not uncommon to experience an "intuitive flash" where you suddenly know something that your conscious mind was unaware of. The trick is to be able to summon this intuitive knowledge, on demand, consciously and on purpose. Your intuition is a natural skill, it is an ability that we all possess, but like any other kind of skill, it gets better with the right kind of practice. As intuitive intelligence is linked to the more creative, right side of the brain you will probably find that the information you receive may come in a wide variety of ways such as inner sight, hearing, feelings, or perhaps a variety of these sensory experiences combined together. Best of all your intuition can be summoned at will, and the sooner you understand that the easier it will be for you to develop your 'intuitive muscles'. The first step . . .
The first step in this process is to be able to identify and distinguish your intuitive voice from the background noise of fear, desires, imaginings and normal mental chatter.
and then the next step.
Next, you need to learn to trust and follow your intuition. Listening to the heart as some people describe it is key to getting more information. Your intuitive guidance system is sensitive and non-invasive and if its messages are not being appreciated, they will diminish in frequency. On the other hand with care and cultivation, they will increase in both frequency and accuracy so that you can come to trust and rely on your intuitive intelligence.
Usually, we call this having a hunch, or a gut feeling about something, but whatever you chose to call it, it is that quality of direct and immediate knowledge that tells you what you need to know, when you need to know it. In other words your intuition can help to connect you with greater knowledge than is available to your conscious mind alone. It connects you with that part of yourself that has an overview of your life and which always has your best interest at heart and just like any other skill the more you practice the more proficient you become. All of us have a natural capacity for intuition but sadly formal education and social conditioning often means that these natural talents have been suppressed or forgotten; but it doesn't have to be this way, intuition is a skill that can be learnt and much like a 'mental muscle' your intuition can become much stronger with the right kind of practice. Use it for inspired and enhanced decision making, for unleashing and accessing hidden creativity and for checking on the wisdom of your rational analysis. Use it for everything! |
Anne Watkins
Hi, I'm Anne, welcome to the Mind Body Ink blog. 
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