How many times have you found yourself scrolling endlessly through Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest?
How many TV series have you binge-watched on Netflix?
Did you maintain your Duolingo streak today?
All these apps use one simple model to keep you hooked to them, and it’s been an immensely successful model in product design and user experience.
But what if you can apply that to your writing?
What if you can hook your readers so that they want to read your content and keep coming back for more?
If that sounds a little too good to be true, let me tell you: it isn’t.
If it sounds a little tricky and dishonest, well, it isn’t that either.
It all centres around one specific behaviour: habits.
Out of all the content out there…
As an online content writer, you might be struggling with attracting readers, let alone maintaining a constant readership.
Trust me; we’ve all been there.
With the stupendous amount of information available online, readers are bombarded with content every single day.
Their attention span is alarmingly shrinking.
As a result, they are missing out on a lot of valuable information for utterly meaningless but moreish content.
So, you might be thinking:
“Out of all the content out there, what makes people want to read my content?”
And that’s a good question, but you might be asking it for the wrong reasons.
If you’re asking this from an impostor-syndrome way of thinking, this can easily turn into a limiting question. Impostor syndrome describes the feeling we get when we doubt our skills and abilities that bring us success. In other words, it’s the condition of feeling like a “fraud” or an “impostor” when, in fact, you’re not.
In this context, doubting your writing skills, content quality, and ability to attract readers compared to other writers out there would likely hinder you from ever reaching your goals.
So, let’s put this perspective aside for now and look at this question opportunistically.
What is it that would make people want to read your content? What value are you providing? Why are you providing it? And how are you doing that?
For instance, the value I am providing in this article is particular advice on how to improve your connection with your readership and instil a positive pattern. The reason is I want to help you and other writers like you get better at online writing because I believe in collective growth: grow and help others grow with you. And the way I’m providing this value is by applying the exact principles and advice I am sharing with you and doing that consistently.
Once you have defined the value you’re providing and the reason(s) behind it, here’s how you can deliver it in a manner that leverages the science of habits. This can help you establish a robust connection with your readers and hook them to your content.
