Last week, Jaime Almond (pictured right) and I got to chatting about blogs and what sorts of content is good to have on them.
Jaime: you are definitely the best blogger I know
me: really? what makes me so good do you think?
Jaime: you are very creative with content you do different styles of posts – like chats, comments etc you highlight what others are doing, you went from zero to blogger extraordinaire in like a month . . . well instantly, but after the first month you had a ton of content
me: hmm! i hadn’t thought about the importance of different styles in blogging. let’s do another brainstorm – what matters most in blogging!
Jaime: engagement – so connecting with your audience in a way that opens a conversation. new bloggers can give up because they don’t get lots of comments straight away.. it takes time to build a following
me: i think having lots of internal links in your blog so they can find other blog posts on your site that are in a similar vein
Jaime: relevance.. it has to be relevant, interesting
me: what are all the different blog formats you can think of?
youtube videos
Jaime: interviews
7 steps to __________
event listings
me: screencapture videos of things on your computer, before and after case studies
Jaime: highlighting someone
tips
me: a highly opinionated rant about something, commenting on current events and tying it into the work you do
Jaime: oh yeah everyone loves a good rant.. drama is intriguing
me: reviewing a book, movie or something. chats like this!
Jaime: your best content. thought leadership – ie universal truths for your audience
me: some sort of question you put out on a controversial topic: like when i put out ‘is conscious marketing bullshit’ i got an epic response of people weighing in to share their take on it, a critique of your own industry
Jaime: Questions are the key. I think every post should end with a quesiton. oh.. on delivery of the content.. it needs to be easy to read.. have clear headers to break up content, include pictures…. blogs must be good for scanners
me: yes! i’m a huge fan of including a really compelling picture at the top of every blog. it really transforms it. and i think it’s good to mix up the length. once in a while write an epic long one. other times – put out something that’s a couple of paragraphs.
Jaime: so people go online to research and be educated, they also want to socialize, and finally they want to be entertained.. so finding the balance between all of these competitions
me: right.
Jaime: critiques – that could be like a case study, or it could just be a before and after
me: yay. i’ll put these on my blog next week. woot!
Jaime: before you do, you should ask your readers.. do a survey about what they like on blogs on your blog also ask what they would like to see
me: might just do that!
Jaime: then you could use actual data – also ask them what their favourite blogs are and why.
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