Quick, what’s the one thing that’s all around you, gets more frequent every day, yet very few people really ever think about?
Content – yes all that stuff you’re feeding into your blog posts, your Twitter account and your Facebook newsfeed.
With so much content, why would you really want to create any more?
Because most of the content out there is without purpose and will quickly fade into oblivion.
But not your content. Not once you learn how to do it the right way.
You do know how to do it the right way, don’t you? If not, you may want to read on for a few tips.
1. Your blog post didn’t tell a story
Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah
If your blog posts rattle on and on without ever really saying much, chances are you are boring your followers to tears.
Think about what you remember the most – a great story right? And with every great story, there is a beginning, middle and end. So why not do the same with every blog post you create? Why are you writing it? What message do you want to convey? Now turn it into a story and let your reader see the ultimate purpose of why you put the blog post together in the first place.
2. Your content doesn’t have a purpose
Why are you writing blog posts in the first place? Is it because someone told you it was a great idea – even though it’s a chore for you? Or do you do it because you love writing and sharing with your audience?
Before you sit down to write, what is your purpose? If you said “I don’t know”, don’t write. If you said “to sell something”, don’t write. Both of these are the wrong reasons to write content, and in the long run will do you more harm them good.
There are only two reasons to create content: to educate people around you and build relationships with them once they find you. The rest will come as long as your content leads the way.
3. Your post is written for you, not for your audience
What are you writing? What do your potential readers want?
Ah, maybe you’ve never thought about it like that before, right? Trust me, the difference can be huge.
When you write, you want people to check out your products and services, sign up for your email and all of your other free stuff, and ultimately buy what you are selling.
When a potential reader is out looking around, they don’t want to buy anything, and they have no idea what they’re truly looking for. They usually start with a question and are simply looking for an answer.
The blog/content/company that starts by providing the answer, motivates the first time reader into clicking around and wanting more, that person will be the ultimate winner every time.
4. You write for SEO only
I need keywords. I need 400 words in this post. I need word density.
If you have a checklist of things you need to accomplish with every single post you write, I have one piece of advice for you: throw that checklist away.
SEO rich content is dying – nobody wants to read through content that is written for a robot – that’s what Google is, right? (Nope, I’m not saying SEO is dying; just the focus on creating content only for the purpose of SEO. The future of SEO is a whole other blog post.)
What people want is rich content that answers a question, solves a problem, makes them laugh, or leaves them wanting more. The more you do of that, the rest will fall into place.
5. You don’t publish on a regular schedule
What happens when I enter a blog and find great information, but I notice the last blog post created was August 18, 2012? Yep, I’m out of there. This person may be out of business.
What happens when I find a new blog and start to follow it to build a relationship; but this blog writer gets bored and quits writing. His content was coming into my RSS reader or my email regularly. I loved what he had to say and was seriously thinking about taking the next step. Then life happened for a couple of weeks. By the time I returned, his posts no longer came. And I forgot all about the existence of this company, product and service.
Publishing a blog post is nothing more than a marketing tool. If you do it, you reap the rewards. If you don’t, you lose all the momentum you gained up until that point.
6. You don’t think deep and wide and from every angle possible
So you have a “boring” business that no one really cares about. How will you ever be able to blog regularly?
I hear that all the time from companies like HVAC, plumbing, electric, roofing and more.
- Ever wondered how to relight your pilot light?
- Ever discovered a water leak in your attic?
- What about those shingles that blew off from the storm last night – is that a problem?
- What about the air quality in your home?
- Should you be worried about the new lead-free laws that went into place?
- How can you conserve water and electricity and reduce your carbon footprint?
Yep, people care about all this and more. In fact, every single day of our lives, something pops into our consciousness and we do a little investigating to find out how it applies to us.
This is why you care. This is why you should be creating content.
And if you’re not, I guarantee you someone else is.