Rocking, blogging and rolling

Blogs are an extremely powerful marketing tool. Yet sadly not enough business owners and marketing professionals give them the attention and kudos they so rightfully deserve.

By developing a simple, but highly effective blog, you can:

1. Easily build professional relationships with potential and prospective customers
2. Provide feedback and technical support to your customers
3. Provide real-time answers to issues and topics
4. Gauge or obtain opinions

Furthermore, a successful and well-designed blog will dramatically improve your search engine rankings. Which means more hits, more enquiries, and much more business.

In this exclusive ‘how to’ article, the secrets behind writing a captivating and successful blog article are revealed. So read on and discover how to create a written masterpiece…

1. What do you really want to say?

OK, it seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many new blog writers sit down at a PC, sharpen a pencil or two, scratch their head, put the kettle, put the cat out… you get the picture.

So have a subject clear in your mind before you start jotting down your thoughts. And remember, blogs are a superb tool for expressing opinions and marketing your services and / or products – don’t waste the opportunity to get your point across clearly and succinctly.

What else do you need to think about?

Once you’ve got a subject clear in your mind, you need to start some brainstorming exercises and think about:

a) Why will people read your blog?
b) What will they want to learn?
c) What will they be searching for?
d) What will make your blog stand out and be of interest?

2. Think of a ‘witty ditty’

Sad but true: dull headlines are the number one reason for blog posts failing. Would you want to read an article with a boring strapline… no, thought not.

A catchy headline draws readers in and whets their appetites to read on. And determining the right headline can be the difference between a reader staying or leaving your site.

Catch your readers’ attention hook, line and sinker…

Once you’ve developed your witty strapline, why not think about some questions to carry on gripping your reader. There’s nothing like an appealing article to make people read on. So why not ask things like:

a) Who else wants to learn the secrets behind writing a great blog post?
b) Want to find out how to promote your newly-written blog?
c) How can you connect with your audience?

3. Time is money

Whether you’re a professional writer or blogging for fun… keep an eye on the clock.

If you’re a professional, well you should know by now that every second agonising over the perfect adjective means lost productivity. And if you’re a keen amateur, well surely you’ve got better things to be doing than spending two hours sweating over a few paragraphs.

What’s more, writing quickly occupies the mind and you’ll be far more effective upping the speed. But just make sure you take plenty of time away from your nearly-completed article before proofing and editing – a pair of fresh eyes is absolutely indispensable.

4. Juicy morsels so your readers will come back for more

You’ve already decided on your subject. So now’s the time to start thinking about whether your article can be split into two, three, or maybe even four separate blog posts.

Rather than cramming all your points into one blog post, why not create a daily or weekly series. This is a guaranteed way to keep your readers coming back.

5. Waffles for breakfast… not for blogs

Get to the point. OK, it sounds harsh, but honestly, if you start waffling on you’ll hear your readers’ heads thumping on their desks as they fall asleep.

Remember: readers want value, quality and solutions - not diluted, incomprehensible and jumbled information.

So don’t tantalise your poor readers with a superb headline, a great introduction, and then give them terrible body copy that rambles on and on about nothing in particular. Your readers want seriously appetising chunks of meat – and don’t ever forget it.

Creating an interesting, information-packed blog post might seem daunting at first. But practice always makes perfect. So keep writing and, when you’re happy with your article, try posting it and always ask for feedback from your readers. You might struggle at first to get readers’ comments, but keep plugging away because it’ll be worth it in the end – and it’s a great developmental tool too.

Good luck!