Understanding the mechanics of writing a blog post (especially if you’re doing this for business) is sometimes daunting. I’ve seen lots of ways to do it, and have written a few posts about that kind of thing myself. In my search to find you interesting information to improve your own efforts, I came across something else today that I wanted to share.
I found this post by David Peralty to be an interesting guide on organizing your blog posts. He breaks it down into 7 distinct steps.
- The Idea
- The Questions
- The Research
- The Post
- The Call to Action
- The Pretty Additions
- The Publishing and Promotion
I don’t disagree with his methods. I do steps 1-3 slightly differently, or perhaps just a bit more organically, but the overall flow isn’t that far off from what I do. I think it’s worth your time to check it out.
Read the full post here.
Photo credit, RobinYap.com
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Thanks for posting the link it was a very informative article.
This looks like an outline for a business or project report. I’d like to think there is some room for creativity, improvisation, and inspiration. A “typical” blog can be typically boring.
Content is very important but being a little unpredictable and having some variety can hold people’s attention instead of having them just skim through your carefully articulated call to action. You don’t want today’s blog entry to like yesterday’s and the day before and so on. Readers will think you’re a one trick pony and after two weeks, they’ll think they’ve gotten everything out of your blog that they “need”. Keep their interest by changing things up! JMHO
@Liz - There are lots of ways to skin the cat. This is just one. I like your last line the most. : ) You’ve got a winner there.
First off, thanks for the link. The post was really more for those having issues with consistency in their writing or efficiency in getting posts out there. Some people find writing blog posts a daunting task, and so I wanted to break it down so they could hopefully make it through the process of idea to publishing much faster.
Thanks for sharing this link.
The post had a lot of information which I think will be useful to new bloggers especially.
Yes, thanks for sharing the link.When writing a new post I try to come up with a really good topic and “build my article” around it.The more focused, the better.I think many people write articles that are too general to raise any interest in the readers.
This is a very effective strategy and a nice simple layout that everyone can use and I certainly will.
Thanks
@Chris I don’t mean to be overly critical of this particular model. A template can be useful in helping readers know what to expect from your blog. I understand it is also part of this personal branding thing (as much as I dislike this concept of personality presentation).
I just (finally) read that book on Stickiness and one of their points was that you have to surprise people in order to get their attention instead of offering them the same old, same old. I’m not saying every day has to be radically different from the last, just that variety is important in engaging to the reader’s interest.
Like you said, this is just one model. A blogger building an audience would most likely fit the model to the message, rather than the opposite.
I think it is important to be artistic with blogs, incorporating video clips, photos, even poetry should it be appropriate. It would be a shame if blogs became as predictable as a press release…a missed opportunity in communications.
@Liz Great points. It would be a shame for blogs to lose their spontaneity, though I suspect there will always be innovators and passionate people exploring new ideas and approaches.
One of the greatest benefits I see in a blogging framework like this is in the initial steps of formulating ideas, questions, and listening to what others have to say on similar topics. Especially for beginning bloggers, that work can really help a writer to develop a voice and take risks because they feel more comfortable hitting publish.
I found his short list very helpful. I don’t know if I agree, but it’d be interesting to write a post using that template. Thanks.
Chris, thanks for linking to this. In the continual search for inspiration, how-to’s are super-helpful. Marvin the paranoid android states the obvious: we all have brains the size of a planet…focusing on “an” idea to blog/create about is sometimes the first and hardest thing to do! :-)