Today I decided to write about one of the most highly requested topics among our BLAM partners, and that is advice on blog writing. Hopefully, this post will be helpful to people who consider starting a blog. Just to clarify that I am by no means an expert in
blog writing. I am simply going to share with you a few tips which I find useful for
my weekly blog writing and tend to work well for me.
It is worth noting that blogs have changed dramatically since I first started blogging
as a hobby during my teens. Back then most blogs acted as personal journals and
bloggers would not expect an audience other than a few friends. The Web 2.0 and
the social media revolution caused the emergence of content-based websites,
user engagement increased tremendously and blogs naturally became an essential
traffic generation tool for any business.
So my advice to new bloggers can be summed up in the following points: 1.
Consider your objectives.
Before you
start writing, it is best to consider a few things with regards to your
business’s overall objectives. Why do you want to start a blog? What do you
want your blog to convey? How is your blog going to help you grow your
business? These are essential questions you might want to ask yourself before
you start planning your first post as the answers are going to dictate the general
topic, approach, tone of voice or any key areas you want to emphasise within
your posts. 2.
Find a topic that interests you and your
audience.
It is a no-brainer that your blog should be of interest to your audience.
However, equally important is that the topic appeals to you as well. As far as I'm aware, nobody has ever
written a great piece about a subject they considered boring. Combining topics
and adding your personal touch will definitely make your writing more
enjoyable, so feel free to expand on your main subject to tailor the post around your personality.
3.
Write about what you know at first.
If
you are a new blogger, I would recommend that you start writing about familiar
subjects at first. Drawing examples from your work, background, and personal experience
is much easier and pleasant to talk about and it can definitely increase your
word count quite effortlessly.
4.
Research to back up your theories.
If
you are writing a blog on your company’s website, then you probably already have
a good knowledge on the topics you are planning to write about. Quite often, however, bloggers
deal with entirely unfamiliar subjects. Recently I had to write an industry related piece for a
cocktail bar, something completely out of my area of expertise. In that case, knowing
how to properly research the topic is vital. I would recommend reading academic journals and interviewing industry experts if possible. Always make sure that
your sources are reliable to avoid humiliation.
5.
Start by outlining your ideas.
Now on
to the actual writing. I always start my posts by outlining the core structure
first and then moving on to adding the main point in each section. That will help
you start visualising the outcome whilst organising the pieces of information in separate sections for easier writing. 6.
Expand your initial points.
Having the
key points in place means your work is halfway done. Now all you need to do is
start elaborating on each idea until you have a paragraph or so. Explaining one point at a time is much simpler than trying to come up with a whole
piece at once.
7.
Check cohesion.
Once you are done
writing, try reading your article out loud. This will help you edit your
paragraphs to make the piece sound more coherent and make sense as a whole. If you like the way it sounds, you are good to publish! Chances are your first post is not
going to be perfect, so try to avoid wasting too much time editing, be brave and hit
publish – a blog doesn’t have to be perfect; it’s more about what you say than
how you are saying it.
8.
Be prepared to invest time.
I am sure it
is not the first time someone tells you that blog writing requires time. Different
people have a different perception of time, however. So just to give you a rough
idea, a blog article can usually take anywhere between a day up to a whole week to write in most
cases. Exceptions apply depending on a number of factors, such as post length, blogging experience, the amount of research you are willing to do, the topic itself,
etc. In any case, I would advise against rushing it. Choose a quiet and motivating environment with minimal disruptions, relax and let those creative juices flowing!
Once you get used to the process, it does certainly get a lot easier. My advice is to not be discouraged if your first attempt disappoints
you. With time and practice, you might even discover that you actually appreciate
writing and find yourself a new interest – I certainly did!
