Now that you realize you should be writing a blog, you need to get started. The content of your blog is an important factor in acquiring a target audience. As I continue to work with several different businesses, I am always surprised at the amount of information they have, and yet, do not share. Let people know you are an expert. The information you share goes beyond the services you offer and your background, it can speak volumes on the unique ideas that you bring to them. Publishing your first article or item is a great milestone. Fortunately, there are several basic guidelines, which can make your content more effective to your audience, adored by the search engines and respected by the world of blogging.

Publishing Effective Content

Before you begin to write anything on your blog, you should know who your target audience is and what they want. If you see these factors as irrelevant for your blog because your blog is not business oriented in any way, you must remember that if you want readers, then these factors are really relevant.

Always remember that where there are readers there is something interesting to read. The only reason why people read is because they want something. If you really want to achieve some kind of massive readership, you must strive to make your content interesting and actually what readers want.

Communication is Key

First of all, keep in mind that communication is the key. More so, your communication must be authentic.

The time when you publish your content is also the time when you let your true self surface. Blogs are personal in nature and communication is the key to being personal. The fact that each blog is unique because each writer is unique is enough for you not to worry about future similarities with other blog entries. Keep in mind that whatever topic you are blogging about must incorporate your personality into your writing.

In order to create a loyal target audience, it is critical for visitors to trust you and relate to you. It does not mean that they know you personally, but you must connect with your audience in an authentic manner.

After establishing your communication with your audience, the content must also be credible. The blog must have authenticity even though credibility takes a lot of time to build.

The moment you begin publishing your content, which is of high value and useful to the readers, you also start establishing your authority. There will come a time when your readers ask you for advice or seek your opinion; this is the time when you have achieved some kind of credibility and you must use this to continue to build your reputation.

The Blogger’s Block

Blogging is writing, but uses a different medium. There are several methods to fight blogger’s block. Always remember that your blog platform, especially WordPress, exists to serve you and not to frighten you. Blogging is not about prolific writing skills, or a journalism degree. It’s about the fact that you have something to say and you want others to hear it. However, if you are feeling stuck on an idea, there are several suggestions that you can apply when creating the content for your blog.

Firstly, you can try visiting other blogs. Visit those blogs that interest you and pick ideas and topics from those blogs that might be worth blogging about but keep in mind the relevance of the topic and your readership. You can also use an editorial calendar to help you schedule posts and develop ideas. Some other ideas include:

• make note of conversations you have had with clients and what topics they seemed interested in
• current hot topics in your industry
• experiences you have had helping others (probably wise to not mention names)
• conferences you have recently attended
• speaking engagements