Writing content your audience will love can feel totally overwhelming. Recently on Instagram, somebody asked me this:
“How do you sit down and write?? I know that sounds silly, but I've wanted to start a blog for a while… I'll come up with ideas and have a whole outline, then nothing….”
I think this is an issue that we all struggle with as bloggers or writers. Personally, when first starting out, I would have all the ideas, and then sit down to write, and nothing would come out because I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested in it. I had this mental block. Then I switched things up, tried to find things that I am currently going through. This allows me to feel more passionate about the topic as I write. It also makes it a whole heck of a lot easier to infuse my personality when I am excited about something.
A year ago I started blogging again after a multi-year hiatus, I really struggled to find my voice. I wrote everything very stiff and text book-y because that’s what I was taught to do in school. I worried about curse words or jokes people wouldn’t get. Ultimately I hated what I was producing and so did others. the page views and shares were low, and nobody was interested because I wasn’t saying anything interesting.
Now I am definitely not a fantastic writer. I have plenty of disclaimers throughout my site about typos and grammar. No matter how many times I proofread, there will always be a typo. I like to think they show my passion for the topic, I'm typing so fast and thinking so fast about sharing something with you all that I can't contain the excitement and overlook those things. One thing people who know my IRL always tell me is they can hear me when I am writing. For those who don't know what my voice sounds like in IRL, they give me the same feedback, they tell me it feels like we are in a conversation or hanging out. It's engaging. *seriously my heart is melting even writing this, thanks for the feedback guys*
I am not telling you this to toot my own horn, I am telling you this because I feel like it was the key that nobody told me when I first launched my business online in 2015. The internet is full of content, very useful and relevant content, but if I am zoning out after the first paragraph, does it really matter how valuable or useful the content really is?
No, because nobody will remember it.
So how can you be engaging on-line? 3 Tips for creating content your audience will love:
1. Real Talk.
Talk about real issues or questions that you are experiencing n your life. Are you teaching yourself a new skill? Are you struggling to tackle a topic or experience in your life? Write about it! Chances are if you are feeling puzzled by it others are too!
2. Know Your Audience.
Check out the demographics section in your google analytics. It actually will tell you what your audience is interested in! people that read my blog are typically interested in home, career/business advice, travel tips, and entertainment (tv/movies), and finance. Which makes sense since that’s what I primarily write about. Since I have a lifestyle blog, it’s especially important to understand what my audience is interested in because there are so many possibilities of what I can write about!
4. Answer Questions.
Write about questions your audience frequently asks you about! If people are asking you questions, chances are they see you as an expert in that space or like what you have to say, so use this opportunity to reach a larger audience with your expertise or voice! *Don't forget to drop me an e-mail or comment and ask me a question for “Ask Rachel“!*
5. Know Your Mission.
Get clear on your blog's mission statement. The theme of my blog is providing valuable advice based off my real life experience or research. I want to help other confused millennials navigate this whole “adult” thing. Each of my posts go through a similar formula, where I talk about either a question or topic, my experience/struggle with it, and close with a valuable solution or life lesson. This makes it a lot easier for filtering information or ideas into “useful or not useful”.
[RELATED] Writing Your Life's Mission Statement –> it'll help your write your blog mission statement!
If you are still feeling stuck, grab this list of content creation ideas I put together. You can use these for social media or blog posts!
This is a great post Rachel! The best advice I ever received when I started blogging was to make sure my writing was on a 6th-8th grade level. With graduate school writing huge papers with lots of big words was crucial for getting an A, but in the blogging world if you want to connect with real people then you have to write on a level that they can easily understand. Great tips!
These are great tips! One thing I try to focus on is really knowing my audience and trying to put something together that I know they will love and that will help them.
I am working on another survey now just to make sure I am putting out there what my audience wants to read!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!!
I think it is so hard to tetermine what your audience wants to see. I have found that posts that come from the heart usually do best!
Great tips, I shall definitely be following these!
I think knowing your audience is key! Doing questionnaires with them is so helpful!
Knowing my mission has helped me really figure out how to write content because I always know what my main purpose is – to show others how to pursue a vibrant life!!
One thing that’s really helped me this year is planning out (evergreen) content way in advance!! My fashion content I do closer to posting dates. These are some great tips!
xoxo A
http://www.southernbelleintraining.com
These are all great tips. I have been in a writing slump lately and I’m getting back into. These are all things I will think about when writing.
It’s usually the writing part that takes me awhile to get motivated to do! I’m good with coming up with a story in my head and taking the photos, but then it takes me awhile to put it all together!
http://www.sugarmaplenotes.com
You laid down some awesome truth bombs and real talk in this post and I loved reading all of it! Thanks for sharing, Rachel!
Love these tips! I often find myself hitting a wall or slump in terms of ideas. It’s so much easier when you’re passionate and knowledgeable about something. If you’re passionate, your readers will pick up on it and give good feedback!
These tips are so helpful! Sometimes I wonder if people are even reading my content or if it’s helpful. I will keep these tips in mind when writing my next post!
Thanks for the tips! I´m fairly new at blogging and trying to absorb all the different channels and media outlets :s !
Great tips! I recently sat down and narrowed down my mission and it’s definitely helped me get more direction and motivation!
Love this! I’m all about “real talk” over on my blog. I’ve always written what comes from my heart instead of trying to write for someone or a specific audience. It seems to be working for you! (and me, too!)
One of the best things I did was ask my audience what questions they wanted answered about my topic. It really put me in tune with what they were looking for and inspired a lot of blog post ideas!
Knowing your audience is so important. I always try to remember that I am writing for someone else, not myself and make sure that my post will be valuable to them.
My struggle is with knowing my audience. I cover everything from country life to photography to cooking and so forth, but I love all of these subjects so much I can’t really imagine narrowing it down.