I have coached many lawyers to write articles, blogs and books. The initial response is usually; I don’t have time, that’s too much work, what would I write about, who would be interested in what I have to say… and so on and so on! But what is really behind all those excuses? In many cases, fear… because writing is scary! Beth Hayden contributor to the blog Copyblogger, writes… Why We Still Need to Write, Even When We’re Scared. She breaks these fears down to the essence.

Sometimes when we publish something, it makes us feel like our insides are hanging out, for all the world to see. We feel vulnerable. We feel naked. We feel … terrified.

But here’s the thing — we have to keep writing, in spite of the fear. If we let fear stop us, our content will have no spark, no life. And everything we write will be completely unremarkable

Brene’ Brown, sociologist and researcher believes, “We are put on this earth to connect with one another. Connection is what gives meaning and purpose to our lives.”

But if we want connection, we have to be willing to be vulnerable. Even though vulnerability is often hard — sometimes even excruciating — we’ve got to put ourselves out there in order to experience connection.

And here’s what very few people are talking about in the field of content marketing — vulnerability not only makes us better human beings, it also makes us better writers, and better content marketers.

We have to be willing to put our ideas, opinions, and deepest fears out there, so we can truly connect with our audiences. Content that isn’t vulnerable — that doesn’t scare us, just a little bit — isn’t necessarily going to draw a huge audience of raving fans. It’s not going to get shared on social networking sites thousands of times. It’s not going to really impact the world.

Vulnerability is the missing piece in content marketing.

So next time you cover up the fear with excuses… think about connection. Connection is what bonds a client, prospect or referral source to you… that is what’s at stake. So are you willing to be vulnerable in order to achieve connection?