There’s a very common response I get when I tell people that I’m a writer: “Ooh, I have a great idea for a book!” According to one widely distributed statistic, 81% of Americans want to write a book someday. That’s something like 265 million people. That’s a lot of books. Of course, most people who want to write a book “someday” never start—and if they do start, most of them never finish. But for a growing number of professionals, writing a book is an important and necessary

Picture it—a Friday afternoon (or a Monday morning—you do you), the phones are finally quiet, and you have time to tap out that short blog, e-mail, or article that you’ve been meaning to write for days. Not so fast. If you really want that content to be effective, take the time to ask yourself a few things before you start writing. "Who’s my audience?" This is probably the most important thing you can ask yourself about anything you write. Your audience could be one person (y