How to write a blogpost on multiple platforms

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Looking for tips on how to write a blog post, you’ve come to the right place.

From Tweet, to Treatise, to Tome, length will be a consideration.  A blog should be like a length of twine, just enough to wrap up the package.

No one can tell you how or what to write, no one can tell you how or what to blog about. There are basic guidelines and pieces of advice to keep in mind so that your blogs are professional, on topic, and interesting. Below are some suggestions to consider:

How to Define your Blogging Voice

Define your blogging voice by considering your target audience.  Write about what you know or have researched.  To write a blog post is to step up and make a statement.

• Knowledgeable or advanced readers – if you plan to write for an audience that has the same, specialized or advanced level of knowledge, try to avoid redundant explanations of industry terms.

• Writing for beginners in your industry – don’t assume that your readers know what the heck you’re talking about. Take time to write a couple of informative posts that address important topics, concepts and vocabulary you’ll be addressing in the future. These will serve as education tools for your readers.  They can refer back to these whenever necessary.  You can embed hyperlinks to them when you write a blog post in the future.

• Writing for a mix of advanced readers and beginners – Expect to explain very technical terms briefly, maybe a sentence or two.  Embed links to other informative blog posts as mentioned above.  You can of course link to external resources.  This way you will be providing ample information and technical literature for beginners without frustrating advanced readers with drawn-out explanations.

Write a blog post for facebook and suchlike

Consider writing as telling a story. Write a blog post that is a story.

A story captures the reader right away. A great story flows, from a feeling of “what’s next!” to a resolution that doesn’t leave the reader feeling let down. A good story generates laughter or empathy or some other emotion. Have fun with your story, or be serious.

People have always loved stories. Tell them a story as a series, or to generate leads. Just write a blog post that is a great story.

You Do Have A Story Already!

It’s the story of your business, even the hum-drum things that happen in it every day. It’s the learning moments where you learned something about yourself, your business, or your readers. Your story can be personal and inspirational, and should be told in that way. Use what you know best: your business, your experience, your hobbies, entertainment.  What the story can tell your audience that will have them nod their head and think “I know exactly how he felt.”

Write a blog post for a business.

There is no shortage of different types of content you can create to feed your business blog. Thought leadership-based content, commentary on industry news, data-driven analyses, list-style posts … the options are numerous. But one type stands out from the rest. It’s a business blogging classic. It’s … the how-to post.

How-to posts are favored by bloggers and readers alike. They’re valuable and helpful, they make great pieces of evergreen content that stand the test of time, and they’re an inbound marketing staple to reap the benefits of educating your prospects. As a matter of fact, analysis of content published on this very blog reveals that how-to style posts generate an average of 55% more views than all other types of posts on our blog. For all of these reasons, it behooves you to become really great at writing them. And what’s a more fitting way to learn how to write a stellar how-to post than a how-to post itself? Oh man, this post is about to get really meta …

So put on your teacher hat, and read on to learn how to write a how-to post like a blogging pro.

Choose Your How-To Topic

Actually, why don’t you spend some time brainstorming a list of how-to topics? Like I said, how-to posts are an inbound marketer’s business blogging staple, so why not take the opportunity to come up with a backlog of ideas? Step into the shoes of your marketing personas, and think about what they’d like to learn how to do. Talk to your customer team — you know, the people who talk to your customers day-in and day-out and understand their needs as they pertain to your business and industry. What do they want — or need — to learn? Chances are, the questions your customer team gets asked the most will make great how-to post fodder.  Then when you write a blog post that addresses those concerns you’ll know that it will be read.

Okay, so you’ve got your topic and a working title to get you started. Your next task to tackle is a bare-bones outline. In this, you’ll list the individual steps your readers will take to do what it is you’re teaching them how to do, from start to finish. You can even do this directly within your blogging tool, making each step a header so you just have to go back and fill in the blanks later when you start writing. You can even add sub-headings to certain steps if it’s helpful to break it out in that way, or just jot down some specific tips pertaining to that section.

Write a blog post for a scholarly journal or professional magazine.

These will typically have significant restrictions and requirements for posting of any material.  Often membership is vital, and one can expect that material submitted will be peer reviewed.  If fact if you are interested in such platforms in which to write a blog post you are probably well versed in the requirements.  Suffice it to say that the casual blogger is unlikely to want or be able to post in such venues.

If you have been following along, then to write a blog post is really pretty natural.

You have things you’re interested in, you have life experience, skills, information to share, teaching to impart.  In short there are many stories in you.  There are people who want and may need for you to share.  Why deprive them?  Write a blog post every day and get paid for it!  This is way better then being tied down like a syndicated columnist is.  Click this link to see the free presentation video.  Watch through to the end for a bonus.  Get blogging and begin earning!