Social Networks
Subscribe to Our Blog!
A Step-by-Step Blogging Guide
Step-by-step blogging formula
A lot of small business owners and entrepreneurs have started blogging to help raise their online visibility, but they don’t necessarily have an effective method to regularly write solid posts.
About a week ago, Chris Brogan posted an article about A Simple Blogging Formula. His formula includes a few vital steps that a lot of new bloggers tend to overlook:
Step 1: Decide WHAT the Post Should DO for You – This can include a call to action, attracting business, promoting someone else, etc.
Step 2: How Can I Be Helpful? Think about how your post is helping your readers. Are you providing insight or advice? Telling them about a new tool that will make their life easier? Brogan says he relies on his readers wanting tips, advice and ideas they can use for themselves – not a bad way to help out.
Step 3: The Actual Writing – After coming up with his headline and finding an image, Brogan starts with a personable lead-in that’s about 30 words long. He uses a lot of subheaders to allow readers to bookmark and revisit, and makes sure the length of the entire article is appropriate (keeping it brief is generally the goal). Brogan ends his posts with a question or a call to action to tell the reader what he wants them to do.
A few steps we would add:
- Format – Brogan mentioned this briefly in Step 3 when he skimmed over subheaders, but we think it should be a separate step. After you’ve written the content of your post, think about how it looks visually. Is it easy to skim? Should you make some sections into lists or bold certain phrases? Remember that your readers are just as busy as you are, so in addition to keeping your post brief, make it easy for them to read quickly.
- Proofread – Remember that, although it might seem trivial, your grammar and punctuation determine your online voice. If your posts are rampant with incorrect spelling, numerous typos and confusing grammar, you lose your credibility – regardless of credentials and experience.
- Publicize Your Post – Once you have a new article up, tell people about it. Post it on your Facebook and Twitter page. If it’s appropriate, mention it in your next enewsletter. There are all sorts of sites like Digg that you can use to increase your post’s visibility, too.
Another thing to keep in mind: Every once in a while look over the most recent posts to make sure you’re not repeating yourself or only writing self-serving posts. Brogan says he puts some of this information into a calendar for editorial decision making as it helps him keep a better mix of fresh ideas.
We tell our clients to keep a pen and notepad with them so they can write down blog ideas they have no matter where they are – at the store, dropping the kids off or cooking dinner. Every once in a while, sit down with your list and plan out when you will post each article. The plan might change, but it eliminates one more thing to think about as you sit down to blog. Plus, if you wake up knowing what you plan to blog about that afternoon, you can mull it over in the back of your mind as you check email, wait for a page to load or drive to that lunch appointment so you have a starting point once you sit down to blog.
What do you think? Are there additional steps you would add to this guide?
Photo credit Leonid Mamchenkov
