YOU are the ultimate selling point of your blog. Your blogging voice is what tells people who you are, what you stand for, and ultimately makes people decide if they want to read on or click away. Which can make you feel the pressure to be stand-up funny, or whip out your “jazz hands” and tap shoes and dance your way into readers’ affections….
But you don’t have to.
There are subtler ways to be endearing – and they all involve just being you. Contriving a personality won’t work – a blog is best when it flows naturally and measuring your every word will be a tough call.#
Shouting at your laptop won’t help…..
Not to mention, you won’t enjoy it. The number one ingredient of a successful blog is passion – and you won’t have that if you’re tied-up with faking your blog’s persona.
So how do you find your blogging voice? Here’s my A-Z of tips:
A: Authentic: Be yourself, write from the heart & gut
B: Bright: Don’t blog when you’re down, keep your outlook sunny
C: Creative: Even if your point isn’t original, think of a unique way to say it
D: Dialogue: Talk to readers, get a conversation going
E: Expressive: When it feels right, express humour, emotion & anecdotes
F: Focus: Be clear on your blog’s mission and stay true to it
G: Grow: Learn from popular posts & dish up more of the same
H: Helpful: Identify readers’ problems & help solve them
I: Intuitive: Know your reader & tap into their interests
J: Jest: Where appropriate, have fun with a lighthearted blog post
K: Kudos: Earn respect for handling a difficult issue sensitively
L: Love: Make sure your love for your blog & readers shines through
M: Motive: Be open & honest about what you want to gain from blogging
N: New: Be topical, pick up on news and be among the first to discuss
O: Outrageous: Be provocative, open debates no matter how thorny the issue
P: Personality: Let your personality and “uniqueness” shine through
Q: Quality: Don’t churn out mindless content. If you haven’t got time, don’t blog
R: Relevant: Stay tuned to your readers’ needs and don’t go off piste
S: Simple: Don’t swallow a thesaurus, keep language natural and chatty
T: Timely: Keep an eye on news and calendar dates & anticipate what will interest your readers
U: Uplifting: Readers will stop coming back if you depress them, so lighten up
V: Valuable: Give something of real value – tips, advice, competitions
W: Warmth: Empathise with readers, suggest you share their concerns
X: Xtra: Respond to readers’ comments & go the extra mile to make them feel special
Y: You: Your personality should shine through, but not every detail of your life
Z: Zest: Passion is what keeps blogs alive so makes sure your zest is obvious
I’ve had great fun rediscovering my blogging voice over the last few weeks with the merger of my two websites and the full blog audit that I completed in September. I want to make digital marketing fun and accessible and also let you into my crazy work at home mum lifestyle.
How would you describe your blogging voice? Please leave a comment below.
What a lovely list of words! Social Media is all about personality and there’s no easier personality to put across than your own. Wholeheartedly agree 🙂 Will share on Twitter.
Lovely post and useful. I think you have to think about so many things when blogging. I like to think I am suthentic and honest and I like to try and imagine the person I am talknig to is right next to me.
Thanks for this. Much more useful than anything from Sophie King 😉
This is a very useful blog and thanks. I love the tips and will show to some of my friends…..
[…] have identified for your market needs to come across in the colours and design of your site, your language when talking to people and the whole user […]