Some topics that are really, really important may seem dull and uninteresting to the average web surfer. You can probably think of a few of these topics on your own. Income tax law is often one of these “unpopular” topics.
Aside from tax professionals, if you were to put 100 people in a room and ask them what topic they’d like to read about online, I’ll bet that very few would willingly choose income tax law.
However, tax law issues are important. Changes to tax law can change the amount of income we get to keep and ultimately affect our quality of life. That’s why it’s important to share information as you learn it and important that people read what you share.
So what can be done to get folks with no background in accounting to read about important topics like changes to the tax laws?
If the information that you are writing about might turn off some readers, here are six techniques to make your writing more exciting for your readers:
1. Pay attention to the headline and first few lines. The headline and first sentences are what your reader will see first so it’s important to pull out all stops to make these attention grabbers. If you don’t grab their attention with the headline or first few lines of your post or online article, your readers won’t go any further and you won’t convey the material that you’re trying to share.
2. Tell a story. In general, readers love to read about real people. Share a story about how a tax law change has actually affected someone (be sure to ask permission before telling the story) or even about how it has affected you. Talking about real people brings the tax law changes home and shows the reader that they too could be affected by tax changes.
3. Make it personal. Another good way to make income tax law more interesting to your readers is to use statistics to make it more personal. For example, many statistics state that the average income in the U.S. around $45,000. So, use that dollar figure as a baseline and discuss what might happen under the tax laws to someone earning that amount. A lot of “average” people will be able to relate.
4. Use compelling images. Images are powerful, so make sure yours are good. Images are important for all online writing, but they are especially important for technical and detailed material. Don’t stop at one image either. Use photos to illustrate a concept and charts and graphs to add visual impact to relevant statistics.
5. Avoid “legalese.” When writing about a complex subject, such as tax law, it’s important not to get caught up in the specialized language of your field. Terms that you use every day may be unclear to someone without an accounting background. Conversational English is the way to go. Write your online material as though you are explaining the concept to someone with no accounting background at all.
6. Don’t forgot to promote your material. Last, but not least, it’s important to promote your material through social media and among your clients and acquaintances. Even the best online material will not get read if no one knows it is out there. Build social media accounts and learn how to use them. Also, reference your online materials in your written correspondence with your clients and on your business cards.
With the right writing style and the right methods to grab attention, you’ll soon find there’s no really such thing as a “dull” topic online.
Do you write about tax or accounting topics? What methods do you use to capture the attention of your audience?
About the author: Laura Spencer is a freelance writer from North Central Texas with over 19 years of professional business writing experience. If you liked this post, then you may also enjoy Laura’s blog about her freelance writing experiences, WritingThoughts.
© 2011, Bruce Mc. All rights reserved.
