Have you ever had one of those great ideas that just comes to you?  Then, only a mere five minutes later you have completely forgotten.  The truth of the matter is that this situatin happens to amateur bloggers day in and day out.  They come up with these great blog topic ideas and then they get lost in translation or they don’t even make it to the first draft.  However, to help you figure out how to make it from A to B without the hiccups, here is a beginner’s guide to create a phenomenal blog post.

Tie a String, Write It Down, Put an Alert on Your Phone…Just Don’t Forget!

You are the authority in your industry.  You are the one that employees and team members respect and revere.  Well, even if you aren’t all that and a bag of chips, you do have ideas and thoughts.  In fact, you (most likely) think about what your clients want to know about your products and services.  So, when you get one of those ideas, make sure that you write it down or make a note of it somewhere.  If you fail to take this very simple and amazingly efficient step, you are wasting fantastic ideas.

Now that you have an idea written down, take it a step further and think about that topic from your audience’s perspective.  What do they want to know about that topic?  Is there something of value that you can provide to them that nobody else can (or has)?  What can you do to make the topic a must-read and sharable throughout your audience’s sphere of influence?  If you slowly walk your ideas through this process, you will undoubtedly have an outstanding start to your blog post.

Complete Research and Establish Structure to Ensure Fluidity and Validity

Yes, while you are the authority within your industry, there are other opinions and thoughts revolving throughout the wide world of the web.  That means that you want to have as much credible information and perspectives as possible prior to constructing your position or post.  By doing the necessary research you can further develop your article, originate or create a different point of view, and/or gather statistics that can verify your viewpoint.  Now, the one thing that you must do within your post (especially if you are quoting directly or using proprietary information like research statistics) is to link or cite the source of your information.

Anecdotal Points Add Perspective

Simple research, most of the times is just not enough for a blog article.  To be honest, your readers want to see a bit of personality or some other form of human experience rather than a lot of regurgitation of facts, figures, and statistics.  So, to add value to your blog post and to establish a resounding voice amongst your competition, provide your readers with some of your personal/professional happenings.  Not only does it help the audience relate to you, but they can also develop an understanding of your perspective (which is also a sign of buying behavior) which leads to positive comments and feedback for your site/post.

Let the Topic Cool Down Before You Publish

For me, when I finish a blog post that I know is going to be a hit with our audience, I get excited and have a hard time not pushing that “Publish” button.  If you have ever gone through that experience, you know that you want to get the information to your readers as quickly as possible.  However, you need to take a step back and let your excitement cool down a little before it goes out to your readership.  In other words, save the draft and schedule a reasonable time to come back to the post when you have fresh eyes sot hat you have a better (and clearer) point of view for your edits/revisions.  Now, when you make those revisions and edits, make sure that you are not giving up the key to the city within one post…after all, you want people to come back for more, right?

Interaction Creates Interest and Buying

Finally, your blog article is published.  That means you’re done, right?

Oh so very wrong!

As much time and effort you put into your post, you have a little more time to spend on enhancing the overall readership and blog experience for your audience.  To be more specific, after you publish your post it is now your responsibility to spark a conversation, discussion, or debate about the topic.  Yes, social media can be a tremendous asset to your blog marketing campaign, but make sure you also ask a question at the end of your blog post…something that can be easily and readily answered by your audience.

Now that you have an understanding and some working knowledge on how to take the trip from A to B with a superior blog post, why don’t you try and compose your first comprehensive article by following the steps above.  And, make sure you let us know if it worked for you, what comments you have, if you’ve used something different, and the overall experience.

Need Help?

If blogging is something that you are interested in but don’t know how to get started, contact us today to schedule your free marketing analysis.

Sources:
“The Essential Step-by-Step Guide to Internet Marketing”-E-Book
SlideShare.net
Image Source: HubSpot, “The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing”, E-Marketer.com