Many of our clients struggle with blogging and while there are often a number of issues at play, it seems that one of the biggest problems is that people are not always entirely sure how to actually write a blog. So today I thought I would jump in and provide some assistance around blogging. There is a lot more to it than we have space for here, so please contact us if you want more information.

What is a Blog?

A blog is a kind of article, about 400-1200 words long, that shares information, ideas, opinions, and more with an audience. Think of it as a way to serve your ideal clients while confirming your thought leadership and brand reputation. Here’s how to write one:

Step One

Make a list of your ideal client’s top 10 problems.  And voilà, you have a list of topics for your next 10 blog posts. If you want to get fancy, list three ways your business solves each of the 10 problems and then you actually have your next 30 blog posts. But 10 is a good start.

Step Two

Create a structure. Long ago I stumbled upon the research of Harvard Professor Dr. Bernice McCarthy. She studied audience engagement and she created something called the 4-Mat System. It takes into account the fact that different people need different information at different times in order to process and engage with your information and I use this technique for almost everything I write. It’s easy and it’s guaranteed to engage the members of my reading audience. Here’s how it works:

Type the following headings on your page in this order:

WHY
WHAT
HOW
IMPLICATIONS

Then slot information pertaining to each category under the appropriate heading. Here’s an example based on this blog post:

WHY (…am I writing this blog?)

• Many of our clients struggle with blogging
• People aren’t sure how to blog

WHAT

• a blog is a kind of article
• it’s about 400-1200 words long
• it shares information, ideas, opinions with an audience.

HOW

• Step One
• Step Two
• Etc.
• Make sure you include a call to action (“Contact us for a free consultation about how we can end your blogging blues,” “Download our free results-based whitepaper” “Sign up for our newsletter and never worry about blogging again,” etc.

IMPLICATIONS

• Blog consistently, and with a focus on your clients, and you will generate more leads, confirm your thought leadership, give people more reasons to know, like and trust you and increase your search engine results

Step Three

Organize your factual information in a logical order and turn your points into sentences.

Step Four

Add a short introduction and a brief conclusion.

Step Five

Post your blog to your website and tell people that you’ve written it.

Does that sound manageable? Our new website (Coming Soon!) will have more resource material available to help guide you with your blogging but if you would like to know more now, shoot us an email at info@crossmancommunications.com to schedule a free consultation with us.