How to Say Something New (When Everything’s Already Been Said)

Did you ever click on a blog post and think to yourself, well, haven't I read this before? And you're not alone. There's a lot of good advice that gets ignored, not because it's wrong, but because it's boring. And as counsellors, we wanna be helpful. We want to share ideas that support and soothe. But when your blog sounds like.

Every other blog out there, it just gets lost in the noise. So today we're talking about how to write in a way that actually feels fresh and human even when the topic isn't new.

Welcome to the Grow Your Private Practice Show. I'm Jane Travis and I'm here to help you to get found by more of the right clients with simple doable marketing, especially blogging.

Each week I'll share practical tips to help you grow your practice with clarity and with confidence. So look, let's dive in.

Well, hello, hello, hello. And how are you? Welcome back and if it's your first time here, you are very, very welcome. Okay. There are lots of reasons people write a blog, but there are two that really stand out.

One of them is to get found by more of the right clients, of course, but the second one is to help people. Blogging is a great way to help people. So in your blog you can offer support and guidance and a little relief when they need it the most. So sometimes that blog post you hit publish on is the very thing somebody reads at 11 o'clock at night when they just can't sleep or on a lunch break when life just feels a bit too much. So even a short post can matter. But here's the thing, if your post blends in with everybody else's post online, then nobody's gonna read it no matter how good your intentions are.

So let me tell you what sparked this episode. So the other day I decided to work from the sofa with my laptop on my knee and daytime tv. Murmuring around in the background and hey, don't judge me. A loves me a little bit of barking bargain hunt. Now. A well-known TV doctor came on a morning. Talking all about stress, so there's nothing unusual there.

But then he started sharing his top five stress busting tips, and I'll give you one. Guess what they were? Well, I'll give you five guesses. So here they are. One of them was eat better, the other one was get more sleep. Then we had spend time in nature, then we had move your body and then some other generic advice there that, to be honest, by that time I'd probably fallen asleep.

So this isn't good advice, not because it's wrong in any way, it's because it's so familiar, it's so recycled that it barely registers for people anymore. I bet if I've got 10 people and sat them down and said, write down your five top ways to, to deal with stress, they probably write those sorts of things down.

The thing is, the advice itself isn't bad. It's just really tired. It's a bit boring. You know, there's, there's nothing new there. We've seen these tips in every blog, every email, every podcast, every leaflet, every fridge magnet, every wellness app since ancient Egypt, and I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a papyrus somewhere that says, take a walk in nature.

In hieroglyphics and yet these are still really good ideas. So people do benefit from sleep, they do benefit from slowing down. They do benefit by being outside in nature. So it's, the problem isn't the content, it's the delivery of that content. It's the sameness, it's the way good advice gets boiled down into shoulds until it loses all human shape.

So here's an example , just to demonstrate it really. It's like a nutritionist who might talk about the benefits of Five Fruit and Veggie Day. There's nothing new there. Everybody knows that they should be getting five fruit and veggie day. But what will make it different is if that person writing a blog talked about some simple practical ways to do it.

You know how they can incorporate more fruit and veggie in a very simple way into their daily routine? Then it starts to get really interesting. And as a counsellor, you are not, your job isn't to shout louder or to offer hacks. It's to connect and you can write about the same topics everyone else does, but in a way that feels ethical and real and meaningful without sounding like a motivational speaker with a megaphone.

Another example. Now you've probably heard this one, don't use screens an hour before bed. It's good advice really, isn't it? And good advice in theory, but in practice, often that's when people finally have some time to unwind, to catch up, to sit and watch something easy on the tele. And let's be honest, streaming platforms want to keep you there, and they are very.

Very good at that. So you tell yourself that you'll go to bed after this episode, but then it's, they show you a massive cliffhanger and you're like, oh my god. And the next episode auto-plays, and the plot thickens. And before you know it. It's well past the time that you're meant to switch off. Now, we don't do this 'cause we lack discipline.

We do it because it's designed that way. You know, they're very clever at keeping people on their platforms. And if it's not Netflix, it's YouTube or your phone or some sort of late, late night rabbit hole about something wildly under unrelated to your original search. So for me, I always used to take my tablet to bed and watch videos only. The problem with that is it really got my brain buzzing, but that was because I was watching things that stimulated my brain. So I watched things like marketing tips or productivity hacks and things like that.

And before long. I was reaching for a notebook and scribbling down ideas, or I was getting up and getting my laptop and I'd be starting to, just starting to write the notes for a blog and I'd end up staying up later than planned. And then when I decided that I was put the light out and go to sleep, my brain was still charged.

So I decided I should make a change 'cause I was exhausted. So I still went on my iPad, but I started watching things that were calming, easy, boring, even things. Things like, I love things about skincare and makeup. So I'd watch skincare routines, I'd watch makeup tutorials. I'd started watching these ridiculously, oh, I don't even know how to say it. It's a company that cleans absolutely filthy rugs.

No, I know it sounds ridiculous. Cleaning ridiculously filthy rugs. And I would watch that, and I'll tell you what, it didn't wake me up, that's for sure. But it was just really interesting to watch. So basically I started finding things that didn't activate my brain. It just kind of soothed it so I wasn't screen free.

But it didn't wake up my brain. And this is the kind of advice that sticks. Not a rule really, but a story. You know, if you can share a story to demonstrate what it is that you are trying to share, then you know, offering a small human alternative to the, you know, the, to the, the thing that you've been told that makes it easier for people to do than, than you are winning.

Now I've got another really good example of this, and this is Amish. So. This is the brainchild of copywriter Neville Madora. I'll put his details in the show notes so you can go and check this out. So he didn't talk about turning devices off for an hour before bed 'cause that'd be too boring and Neville's not boring.

He called it, Amish. I never know how to pronounce. I'll say Amish Hour. So he called it Amish Hour, which is absolutely genius. So he, that was his equivalent of not going on your tablet, so it's like, don't use anything electrical. I really recommend that you go and check it out.

It's a great fun post as well. So he breathed new life into a really popular concept, and he made it his, you know, I, that was years ago when I first saw that, and I still remember it now. It was just really good way of doing it. Another reason that the usual advice can sometimes fall flat is because it forgets that we're all unique, you know?

So take me for an example. I'm an introvert, so a weekend with no plans is it's bliss, you know, just pottering around the house, doing things on my own schedule. It just feels fabulous. I love it. You know, taking the dog out, making something nice to eat, but one of my friends is exactly the opposite.

She's a big extrovert, and if she sees a weekend looming up with nothing planned, she gets properly twitchy. It feels really uncomfortable for her. Not to have anything going on. So when it comes to advice, like take some time for yourself or do something relaxing, the real question becomes what actually feels relaxing for you? You know, is it quiet time alone or is it meaningful connection? Maybe it's pottering about at home like me, or maybe it's getting out into the world like my friend.

So you could offer a few ideas and thoughts for, you know, different things people might do given the different kind of personalities that they might be. So how do you make familiar advice? Feel fresh. Well, the first thing is I would recommend that before you write, you always take a little bit of time to think about the subject and make some notes about different stories that you can share and different ideas that you can share.

You'll have loads, I promise, but currently they're all just locked away. So give yourself a little mental space and they'll soon pop into your head. Now, look, you don't need to reinvent the wheel here. You just need to write in a way that feels real and thoughtful and human. So here are five things that you can do that will help you with that.

So the first one is to make what you are writing personal, not prescriptive. So instead of saying like, you should do this. Try saying something like, Here's something I've noticed, or Here's something I've tried, or Here's something I've heard. Maybe it'll land for you. So that's just a very gentle suggestion, which maybe make the reader think, all right, I'll give that a go.

Number two, go one layer deeper than the actual tip. So don't just name the advice, but explore why it matters. So something like a five minute walk might not fix everything, but it can help you to shift from looping thoughts into a bit more space. So you could write something like that. So to remind people why they need to do it or why, why it's a good idea to do it.

Number three, ask some reflective questions, you know. Reflective questions can help the reader to engage without feeling told what to do. So rest more could become, what kind of rest does your body actually need today? Stillness, silence, or movement. So you're giving them some thought, something there to think about, about what is going to be more useful for them. And number four, reframe the language. So words like self-care can feel really loaded and they can also feel like just another thing to put on your to-do list.

So maybe try some gentler alternatives like, you know, instead of self-care, talk about doing less, or something that soothes rather than stimulates. And number five, normalize the small stuff. Some people. Are just not used to looking after themselves. Some people just find it really difficult to, to do something that's just for them. So just share, you know, ideas for really simple things that they can do. 'cause that to them is one small step forward.

And that's what we need to do to, to sort of celebrate the fact that they are starting to make a change. So you could say something like, look, if your version of mindfulness is drinking your tea while it's still hot, that counts. People don't need more pressure. They need permission to start small and to know that small is enough. So if there's one thing to take away from today, it's this. Good advice won't get read. If it sounds like everybody else, you've put care and effort and time into your blog, so let's make sure it gets seen. 'cause you don't need to shout louder or be trendier. You just need to be a little bit more you, you know, say familiar things in a more human way. Use stories, ask questions and share what it might look like in real life, because when your writing feels warm.

And real and thoughtful people don't just read it. They remember it. So if you'd like some support with writing your blogs in a way that gets attention and feels like you, I've got loads of free and paid resources that can help you. Just head on over to janetravis.co.uk/starthere. To explore everything from templates to trainings, to helpful blog writing tools.

And, you'll find those details in the show notes. And that's it. So thank you so much for listening today. And remember, as always, action is the antidote to fear. So take action and you'll keep moving forward. Okay? You take care and I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.