I always look back and remember my Uncle telling me to get off the couch and do something that will benefit my future as I was growing up. When I wanted to be a ched he always said, "Chefs cook, you should be cooking, always cook." When I wanted to be a director/cinematographer I remember him telling me to go film something because that is what they do.
When writing and public relations fell into my lap in high school my Uncle was still there with another life lesson, "Writers write, do not stop writing." For some reason, that is the quote that always sticks with me. A contrary thought would be that those statements lose some bit of credibility coming out of the same person over and over again. But they don't. My Uncle was doing for me what most people do for someone they care about. Keeping my motivation and passion alive so I can take my skills and make something of them.
Every time I wrote something I think about what my Uncle said, always write. I do my best to not look at my school work as tedious because it allows me to continue practicing what I will be doing the rest of my life.
I have my journal and personal writings saved but I never really blogged ( I probably have no more than three posts in my blog if you ever find it). So, when it came to writing for Rowan PRSSA's blog I knew I had to do my research so I could make my posts great and coincide with the Chapter's outstanding reputation. I want to make sure that when I know post on Mondays I am giving people something that can use and that I follow guidelines of successful blogs so that a possible mistake of mine does not wind up ruining someone else's work.
Instead of going on with personal stories, for my first post I am going to share with you one of the most interesting pieces of work I found during my research that I will be doing my best to follow when I write each week.
It is called "15 Basics to Insanely Useful Blogwriting" and is it from blogtodone.com
1. Write for the reader. This is the most fundamental of fundamentals, and though this list isn't in order of importance I'd be remiss if I didn't start here. While a blog can be a personal journal, if you want an audience of more than your friends and family, write for an audience. Don't just write about your random thoughts and experiences, but think of what the reader wants to know, what the reader's concerns are, what the reader is interested in, and how you can help provide that.
2. Solve the reader's problems. What are the reader's problems? Solve them, one post at a time. To do this, I think about the problems I've been addressing in my own life, and as it turns out most people have the same problems. I'm not as unique as I thought. And then I write about how I've been solving them- what actually works for me. People seem to find that useful.
3. Put yourself in there. While the post should be for the reader, it is really a conversation between you and the reader. So don't be afraid to put yourself in the post. Share what you've learned, talk about your life, as it's relevant to the post, and let your personality show. Make it personal, and the reader will connect with you.
4. Find your voice. This is the personality I talked about above. It's about finsing a conversational tone, but it's more: you have a unique voice, and that voice speaks to the reader, in her head, as she reads your posts. You need to learn to find your voice, by experimenting, trial and error. The more you write the more that voice will emerge.
5. Be concise. This is an ironic statement given that this is a long-ish post, but concise doesn't mean short. It means there aren't a lot of uncessary words. Write all the blather you want, but go back and edit, so you're not wasting the reader's time. Read more.
6. Make it scannable. The reality of reading on the Internet is that people scan articles, get the main points, and only if those main points are worthy of their time and do they read the full text- despirte what long- winded rantig bloggers have to say about the issue. So write for that reality, if you want people to read your posts: make it easy to scan and find your main points, through lists, sub-titles, blockquotes, or the like.
7. Headlines matter. The most important few words of your posts are your headlines (or post titles). They need to catch the reader's attention and promise to solve a problem the reader had. If it doesn't do this you've wasted a headline.
8. Offer solutions. This is almost a repeat of an earlier point, but it's worth stressing. Often a blogger will bring up a problem but then end the post. You need to offer a solution, or the reader will be left feeling unsatisfied. If you don't have a solution, maybe toss out some idead and then ask for reader solutions. But in most cases, write a solution.
9. Post regularly. This doesn't have to be dailym but if you haven't posted for a week (except to apologize for the lack of posts), you're not likely to build a good-sized audience. People subscribe because they have a reasonable expectation, based on past performance, that you're going to come out with useful content on a regular basis. I'd say weekly posts are a minimum, and 2-5 times weekly is ideal. More than once a day isn't reccomended (unless you're a huge blog like Lifehacker) because people don't like too many posts in their inbox.
10. Mix up post lengths. I prefer long-ish posts full of useful information, but short posts that get to the point and have a big impact are good too. Don't be set on one post lenth. If a post gets so long that it takes 20 minutes to read, you might narrow the topic and split it into two posts.
11. Make it worth talking about. Don't just write what everyone else writes. Write about something that's a bit (or a lot) different, or in a way that's different. Write about something that people will want to respond to, pass on,, talk about with others. Be bold and be different.
12. Link often. Don't be self contrained. Don't be afraid to send your readers to other good posts or blogs, because they'll appreciate it and so will the other bloggers. Be a part of a wider conversation. For example, my favorite blogs about blogging: Problogger, Copyblogger, Daily Blog Tips, Chris Brogan and Chris Garrett
13. Feel free to tell stories. Not every post should be a "story" postm but a well told story captures the reader and conveys information in a time-tested form. A good methos to try out is starting a post with a relevant story.
14. Establish why a post is important. The intro of your post- the first 3-7 paragraphs (roughly)- should not only grab the reader's attention but establish why the reader should even care about the post. Show why the problem is a problem, and why the reader needs to read the rest of the post.
Read the best, and mimic them. The best bloggers break all of these rules but do it so well. For example, Dooce, Textism and Idle Words rarely make things scannablem but they're oh so readable. Read widely, not just within your niche: check out Daring fireball, Merlin Mann, Paul Graham, Justin Blanton, Shawn Blanc, Patrick Rhone, just to get started.
So with the information I found I will be able to continue to write for you guys, and myself, on a weekly basis and make sure tht everyone gets something of substance for their own use as well.
Remember, you are in public relations. You are a writer. Writers write.
Keep practicingm do research, and become an expert on what should be your expertise.
Posted by: Jeff Miele
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