A Blog is not a Newsletter.
It is a conversation starter. Here are my top 10 tips:
1.) Use a catchy title, one that makes someone stop and say “I just gotta read that!” Summarize your point in the title if you can.
2.) Keep it short! 250 Words is best. (400 tops! People are in a hurry and you’re lucky they are reading at all! ) A lot to say? Break it up into a few short posts. More blogs with fewer words posted through the week will do more for a business than just one blog a week or month.
3.)Tell your opinion and keep your audience in mind. Blogs are about connecting to real people, not companies. Read it and ask yourself, does it sound like me if I was talking?
- Write what happened and how you feel about it.
- Tell your opinion on a photo or video.
- Refer to something you saw or read and tell opinion on it.
- Show that you are an expert in your field through behind the scenes stories.
- Be brutally honest but have a good message to make people want to come back for more.
4.)Be Yourself. Make people cry, laugh, or shock them. The ones who will like you will REALLY like you. Let’s go for RAVING fans.
5.)Forget everything your English teacher taught 
you. (unless your blog is about grammar!)
- Write how you speak. This is YOUR voice.
- Spell check is a good idea. Don’t take me literally, I don’t want your English teacher calling me up!
6.) Create lots of space to be easy on the eyes. (photos, bullet points , and short paragraphs, and single exclamatory pauses keep readers attention.
7.) Be consistent with your writing personality and message.
8.) It’s great to further define keywords with hyperlinks to other websites for added depth.
9.) Ask a question of your reader to prompt conversation. Blogs are like Facebook (micro-blog) where we love comments! (wordpress.com has a cool “like” thumbs up and down button, too)
10.) Write with your heart, then go back in and insert keywords related to your company later.
Do you have additional advice on writing a blog? What have you loved and hated about blogs you’ve read?
Whew. This blog is 365 words. Close one!
Tags: blog, Cara Mandart's Blog, community, engage, Facebook, wordpress
Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! http://ow.ly/12cQh
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Great tips, I’m terrible with the keep it short part…. I try… I try… and then I give up and figure people will read it or they wont! : )
Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! http://ow.ly/12cQh
Blogging? Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! – http://tinyurl.com/ybv7×2t (via @Caramandart)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
i found a few grammar blogs, but i stand firm in my tips on blogging LOL http://ow.ly/12iMi
What do you think? Blogging? Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! http://ow.ly/16t0JA
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Blogging? Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! – http://tinyurl.com/ybv7x2t (via @Caramandart)
Blogging? Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! – http://tinyurl.com/ybv7x2t (via @Caramandart) thx for the RT! @WritingonLife
What do you think? Blogging? Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! http://ow.ly/16t0Jz
What do you think? Blogging? Forget What Your English Teacher Taught You! http://ow.ly/16t0JA
Blogging can be an art. Another good thing is create a niche your passionate about and write about it. It’s difficult to consistently write good blogs about things you’re not passionate about. It flows more natural and that’s what people want to read.
Great point about writing about passion and then it won’t seem like a writing task at all! Passion can mean things that interest you, things you are knowledgeable about or even things you see and disagree with!