You’re sitting at your computer and you’re ready to post a new article on your blog. You open up your application of choice. Your hands hover over the keyboard as if they are supposed to direct themselves. You sit for about a minute and you realize that you have no idea what to write about.
Have you been there? I know I have. I’m constantly working on improving this routine. Being able to write interesting content consistently is key to running a successful blog. The good news is, dodging writer’s block goes hand in hand with writing great content.
There is a lot of mediocre content available on the internet and, hopefully, we can make a great impression on readers by writing valuable content on our own blogs.
There are a lot of useful tips available on how to improve your writing and how to enhance your creative skills. Many websites offer advice on how to attract readers. These sites list the details involved in writing a juicy post that will pull in more subscribers to your blog. That’s great, but I want to help simplify all this information by providing 3 simple tips that make it significantly easier for me to write better, and more frequent, posts on my own blog.
This 3R strategy will rake in those readers rapidly. All jokes aside, here’s the real 3R strategy:
1. Research
Do your homework people. I make the effort to do some research before writing a post. This effort will make it dramatically easier to write quality content down the road. Even just 15 minutes spent here will make a positive impact on the value of your post.
When you do a bit of research before you write your post, you already expose yourself to the kind of material people are looking for. You have a better picture of what people want to read and you give yourself multiple ideas to write about.
My blog is about productivity and personal development so there are countless resources I can use to enhance my content. The fact is, no matter what you are blogging about, there are always books, magazines, movies, shows, blogs or even personal experiences that can help pump up the material on your blog.
I like to stick with traditional resources, like books. I believe that publishing companies are quite diligent about reviewing and editing books. Books are usually written by well-known experts and contain solid evidence to support their claims. The same applies for certain magazines and authoritative websites.
Blogs and other informal sources are also a great source of information, but I feel like the posts on many blogs have quite a bit of fluff and they are usually based off printed material anyway. (I don’t mean to use fluff as an insult. I believe that this fluff is what keeps blogs interesting and has readers coming back for more.) However, when I do research, I’m looking for hard facts.
2. Recreation
Now we’re talking fluff. This is where the magic happens.
You want to be sure that each one of your posts have a bit of personality and entertainment value. Of course, depending on the nature of your blog, you may want to remain distant and informative. It’s up to you. People browse the web for information, but they also want to be amused. Otherwise they would have just picked up a textbook.
Add a bit of personality to your posts. Enjoy your own writing process. Have fun with your posts by adding bits of flair that are distinctive to you. Readers will enjoy this reflection of who you are.
Toss in some entertainment value. You can put in as little or as much as you feel comfortable. Just do something. Put up an interesting photo. Link to a relevant but funny video. Write in a joke, a quote or even a little story that explains your point of view. Personal stories are interesting, but throwing in a fictional story here and there will give you the ability to captivate your audience.
3. Reward
Lastly, conclude your post with a guide that solves your reader’s issue. A short list of steps that effectively summarizes your post and gives the reader the essential takeaway points.
If you’re not giving advice and you’re just providing information, be sure to conclude with cliff notes at the end. Give people the option to skim to the bottom. Yes, we’d like to have our readers enjoy our entire post, but it’s better to give them options rather than push them away from your blog. Gradually, people will spend more time on your site reading your content, and that is what counts.
Summary
I could also add another 2 R’s here: read and rewrite. Hopefully you already do both. Everyone is aware of the importance of proofreading, so I figured that it would be best to stick with the 3 steps mentioned above. Plus, I hope that the 3 steps I provided were more innovative than just “rewrite”. I wanted to keep it short and sweet, so it’s easier to remember.
Be sure to give your audience multiple streams of value. They want information, they want entertainment and they want a brief but effective solution. Give them all of this. Your readers will repay you for your hard work with loyal subscriptions.
I try to make the most of this strategy on my own blog. The truth is that I don’t always follow these steps, but whenever I do, it results in a noticeably better post. I hope this strategy benefits everyone out there who is struggling to consistently write quality content on their blog.
