The books I choose to read in my leisure time usually have lots of humor or they are full of mystery and suspense. Every now and then I like a little romance thrown in, as long as they keep it fun and not just the same old "boy meets girl, they fall in love, break up over some stupid misunderstanding, patch things up, and get married" story.

The first romance novel I read was fun, especially since there was just a little smut thrown in to make my heart race. But after I had read a couple of books, it felt like the same story over and over where only the names had changed. For me, there has to be more to it than that: some mystery to solve, something funny to keep me chuckling, something inspirational that hits close to home.

On the other hand, I have friends that LOVE reading romance novels. It is their life blood; they devour the pages like a starving hound, hardly taking a breath between books. To them romance novels are exciting and fun; and, no they do not think they are all the same. When I suggest they might want to read the latest Dean Koontz or James Patterson book, they look at me like I grew another head! They wouldn't have any fun in shivering through the weird and scary parts or trying to solve the murder. They would be bored to death!

Here is the thing, we all have our own personalities. We have different preferences in what we read, how we learn, and what inspires us. Just as there is no "one size fits all" for our interests, there is also no "one size fits all" for writing newsletters, brochures, and articles. While there are certain formats and guidelines you need to follow, how and what you write depends on several things:

1. Your purpose for writing

2. Who you are writing to

3. What kind of appeal is needed

4. Your personality

Chances are the newsletter, article, or brochure you are writing is to promote a product or offer a service. You need to identify your market. What kind of people will be interested in the product or service that you are offering? Who will it appeal to: young people, office workers, entrepreneurs, blue collar workers, moms and dads, singles, etc.? What do you need to capture their interest: great title, pictures, special offers? How about your personality, does this need to be reflected in the writing? If you are offering a service, such as a real estate broker, a marketing representative, or a consultant, your personality plays as big of a part, or maybe even bigger part, in getting new clients as your skills do.

Let me give you an example. At a time when I was considering what I wanted to do with my "career path", I stumbled across a great article. The title was what captured my attention; however, what really spoke to me was the authors enthusiasm and encouraging personality. If this article had been written in a manner that gave me all of the information I needed but without a trace the authors fun personality, I would not have finished reading it, nor would I have looked for further information from this source. Reading this article was not only educational but humorous, inspirational, and entertaining as well.

So next time you are preparing a newsletter, article, or brochure, make sure you give yourself permission to let your personality shine through. After all, you want people to want YOU to do the job, not just someone with similar skills.