From now on, before you start a blog post or any bit of content, ask yourself these 3 questions:
What’s the value?
Picture your readers and their attention spans. What are they getting in return for their time and energy? Advice? A good laugh? A secret?
Whatever you give must help, inspire, entertain, mesmerize, educate or inform. Or at least make them smile. Mindless chatter and fluff waste everyone’s time, especially yours.
Will it be remembered?
Are you going for popular or powerful? Do you tend to move with the masses or do they move with you?
If your content is time-dependent, add something to make it timeless. A story. A question. Your vision. Truth.
Is this me?
Are you fairly represented in your content? Do you feel comfortable and natural when you write it?
Don’t just blog to appease others. You’re helping yourself, too. If it feels awkward or forced, ask yourself why you started in the first place.
If you’re in it just for the money, you’ll fail. Money is only as remarkable as the person behind it.
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So, can your content pass this simple test every single time?
I hope you answered yes.
Trying to figure out how I answer yes or no to the first question in bold.
I hope my readers get advice, a laugh, and something learned each and every time they visit.
But then again for me… I’ve always thought my blog was just a little place on earth for me to rant. I didn’t start on blogging with the intention of saying a few words here and there.
Just found your blog via IttyBiz. Thanks for this post–a great way to focus when deciding what to write about.
Thanks, Nancy. I tried to keep it as to the point as possible.
Hi Nancy,
I found your article very useful! I find it is good to have a solid guideline to keep in mind before getting started.
Thanks and I’ll be keeping up with you and your blog.
Your friend, Terry Gibson
@marieterry2010