Sometimes the bloggy world can be a little bit Groundhog Day, don’t you think? Heaps of clever people are writing about the same kinds of things and publishing them in similar ways. It’s not a bad thing, because blogging definitely does have its own language/layout/meme-based themes. There’s a nice sense of cohesion and a feeling of belonging when you follow along with the bloggy order of the day.
Still, there’s something to be said for diverting from the usual path and evolving your content/writing into something a little more surprising. Yes, you might be blogging about things that have been blogged about before, but if you serve up that content in interesting ways, your readers will find it more of an eye-opener than an eye-roll. That’s got to be a good thing, right?
Here’s some examples:
Perhaps instead of writing your post you might want to video it?
Perhaps instead of writing a review of that film you just saw, you might want to pull together some related cute lifestyle or fashion products and use those as the focus for your post?
Maybe your post could be a podcast recorded and embedded via Soundcloud instead of the usual 5 paragraphs of chat?
Could you make a playlist the focus of that road trip you took?
Is a printable or downloadable graphic a better way to illustrate that advice related post?
Will ten beautiful photos do the work of that one run-of-the-mill post you were going to write?
Could your post be a GIF?
Maybe you could get your Mum’s perspective on that family dinner you were going to post about, instead of your own?
Can you create an original artwork to illustrate your writing?
I could go on and on, but I think it’s always good to think of cute, quirky, unexpected ways to bring your posts to life. If you’re not gifted in the design or multimedia stakes, perhaps you could collaborate with another creative who is? Swap skills, even?
If you’re going to focus purely on a written post, think about how that post could play out. You don’t always have to tell a story in the traditional way. Take some time to think about how you might craft something that’s unique to you, but still compelling and a delight to read. Maybe you start your story at the end and work back to the start? Perhaps you could put a funny spin on your post instead of playing it straight? Here’s some examples of different ways to tell a story, in case that is helpful.
You can also follow the quirk in other ways, by trend-spotting for instance and staying ahead of the pack. Being the go-to for interesting new stuff is a demanding role, but it also pays great dividends in terms of blog traffic and loyalty. Think about blogs like The Design Files and Studio Home. They create original content, based of fresh faces, trends or ideas and their readers check in daily to share in these finds.
I guess the overarching theme here is that effort and uniqueness pays dividends. If you can’t really be bothered putting in a bit of extra effort now and then, it’s probable that your readers might feel the same lack of enthusiasms for your little patch of Blogland. While some successful posts are quick to write and flukeishly popular, it’s mostly the hard yards that pay off and readers really do notice when you go the extra mile.
And… to help you WRITE better, here are six steps to a beautifully structured post…
At this stage I’d add a seventh point too: Illustrate with an appropriate image you’ve created yourself or an extremely high quality stock image (if you must) to put the icing on the cake and make things super beautiful as well as super readable.
Now perhaps this seems super structured and it’s a bit hard to imagine where your ideas fit in to these steps? Make sure you sit down with a pen and paper and brainstorm your post first. Write down your core idea or reason for writing the post and then go crazy writing down all the bits and pieces, words, phrases, people, places, blogs, books that relate to that idea. Getting it all out and physically writing it down is a great first step to crafting something super-readable.
Once you’ve brainstormed your idea, start squishing it into some sort of structure, making sense of where the important things fit best. This is actually MUCH easier if you’ve got a bunch of ideas and a simple framework, so you should be able to go forth more confidently and concentrate on your voice a bit more, rather than the blueprint.
Don’t forget to proofread and spellcheck your work for best results (or get a wordy friend to do it for you!) Sometimes all that writing gets in the way of correct grammar and spelling, so give things the once or twice-over before you hit publish.