CREATING A BLOG

1. CREATE A BLOG TOPIC

 Pick something you’re passionate about.

 Pick something your readers are passionate about.

What does your audience care about? It’s important to
know so you can engage them. And don’t be afraid to
go negative (e.g. Ten “Healthy” Foods You Should
Always Avoid). The human negativity bias is legit.

 Get inspired by research. Some of the best articles

written germinated when ONE grew curious about a
subject and decided to explore it.
CREATE A BLOG TOPIC
 Get inspired by other writers. Don’t plagiarize or
blatantly copy ideas. But you can take a look at what
your competition is writing about and put your own
spin on these subjects. What new information or
ideas can you bring to the table?
 Keep a log of every topic idea that comes your way.
You never know when you’re going to be stumped by
the question “What should I write?”

 Here’s a tip: bookmark to store clips and notes. Use

your clip file for inspiration whenever your idea well
runs dry.
2. PICK ONE CLEAR ANGLE
 Avoid a broad approach—get specific.
 Think about the best approach to your topic.

If you want to explain how to do something, a

step-by-step how-to article could work well.
Want to write about your favorite
autobiographies or offer your best tips for
throwing a memorable dinner party? Consider
a listicle. There’s nothing wrong with a
straight-up essay, either, as long as it’s well-
organized.
3. GET ORGANIZED
 Many bloggers make the mistake of not
organizing their thoughts before they begin,
which leads to “and another thing” writing.
You’ll continue adding thoughts in a random,
incoherent fashion. Articles like that don’t get
read and shared, they get ignored.
 Do an outline. Writing your blog post easier,

it’ll help you make your message focused and

clear for your readers.
4. OPEN STRONG

Writing a great opening paragraph is very

important.
5. STRONG HOOK

 -about two seconds to hook

 - Consider using a little foreshadowing in

your hook
-Think of your opening paragraph as an
advertisement for the rest of your blog post,
the thing that keeps your reader on the line.
6. Write naturally

 consider writing in the first person and including some

relatable anecdotes. (Like my “And another thing!” tale.)
Whenever you can, tell a story, whether it’s your own or
someone else’s.

 If you don’t have a story to relate to your readers, you can at

least infuse your article with your personal style.
 Instead of writing like you’re churning out a dry research
paper, write as though you’re telling a friend about some cool
new stuff you’ve learned.

 Use your own natural, conversational tone. Keep your language

simple and direct. In other words, just be you. No one else can.
7. WRITE EMOTIONALLY
 Remember what I briefly mentioned about the
human negativity bias?
 Our brains are wired to look for danger, and so we’re

naturally drawn to warnings and other information

that’s skewed toward the negative. (In fact, the
media uses the negativity bias to capture our
attention because it works so well.) Using negativity
is a kind of emotional writing.

 But that doesn’t mean you have to be a constant

downer in order to keep your readers hooked. You
can create interest just by using emotional language
to write on topics your readers care about.
8. CLOSE STRONG

 write a killer close that will help cement your post in your reader’s mind,
create engagement, and encourage social sharing.

 Wrap it up with a summary paragraph. This is by far the most traditional

approach. Summarize your conclusions and add some closing thoughts.

 Fish for comments. When you wrap up with a compelling question, you
encourage your readers to have a say. This can help you build
community around your blog.

 Ask for a social share. It never hurts to ask people to share your article if
it resonated with them.
 Now that you’ve drafted a memorable post, edit. Clean up the clutter
and eliminate wordiness. And don’t forget to use proper grammar,
spelling and punctuations.