It’s a catch 22: you can only discover and hone your concept and style in the process of blogging, but you haven’t started blogging yet because you can’t seem to hone your concept and style. You have great ideas, but you have a hard time putting them down on paper in an organized fashion. Let me help you: Blogging Lesson #1 is Just Start Blogging!
Writing a blog is not writing a book. If you write a bad book, that can put a taint on your reputation that follows you for years. But if you write one bad blog post (or even a year of bad blog posts), it will soon get buried under the many, many posts that follow it, as long as you KEEP MOVING FORWARD!
So, just start writing! Don’t worry about whether it is perfect or not. Your style will develop, your concept will develop, and your ability to discern what people need and how to give it to them will develop as well. But these things will only develop for you on the job; you’ve got to be doing it in order to discover how to do it! [If you’re looking for some advice on how to design and create your blog, you can find it here]
However, I can give you a few guidelines that will give you a head start! Are you ready? Here we go:
Your posts should be . . .
- Geared toward helping people, rather than yourself. Don’t share your goals and objectives, or ask for people’s support. If you make your blog about you, you will be its’ only reader. If you make it about helping others, others will read it.
- Around 500 words. You can go a little higher or lower if your content is really good. But don’t exceed 700 words. Ain’t nobody got time pho dat! People who read blogs are looking for a quick infusion of information, wisdom, and whit. Whatever you say in your blog entries, say it concisely.
- Thematic. Try to hone in on a concept that people can instantly see by looking at the title of your blog so that they know what they can expect to receive from you. For instance, the title of my personal blog is Benjamin Israel Robinson: Spirituality & Leadership. What that title tells people is that my posts are going to help them draw closer to Christ (spirituality) and move forward in life (leadership).
- Personable. Don’t just give people wisdom and data; give them your life. Tell your story. Relate your posts to real life so that people feel privileged when they read your posts. When people read any of your entries, they will immediately search for the answer to one prominent question: what does this have to do with me? That question can also be stated, why do I need to read this? You need to answer this question explicitly if you hope to draw readers to your blog.
So now I’m going to give you a homework assignment: Write at least one 500-word blog entry per week, starting today. Make it a life-long practice. I guarantee that it will be a practice that yields a substantial return on the investment of your time and energy.
If you have a specific question about developing your personal platform, please feel free to leave me a voicemail by clicking the voicemail tab on the right, or just leave me a comment below. This post was actually written in response to a question I received via voicemail. Blessings to you as you strive to give the world what God has given you!
