4 ways to develop a blog post
Do you ever sit down to write a blog post and simply stare at the screen? I’m guessing it happens to most of us. Even if you have a general idea about what you want to write, coming up with the actual blog post can be difficult. I keep a list of post ideas in Dropbox but sometimes the struggle is figuring out how to organize what I want to share. Based on my conversations with other bloggers, I feel confident this is a fairly common issue.
Today I’d like to share with you a few ideas for approaching a topic and developing a post. These are not hard and fast rules rather they are a starting point for putting words on the screen. I’ve used each of these suggestions multiple times since I began blogging in 2006.
For the sake of simplicity, I’m going to use the same topic and describe how a post could be developed using each method. One of the topics on my post ideas list is “time management.” For the sake of simplicity, I’ll use that topic and identify four ways to develop a blog post about it.
Question and Answer
This one is pretty basic — identify a question related to the topic and share one or more answers. For our topic, let’s say the question {which becomes your blog post title!} could be, “What keeps you from staying on schedule?” Because so many of us have difficulty in this area, the question is definitely a way of drawing in readers. Identify two or three specific issues which can be hindrances, such as being online and getting distracted by other projects. When you do a Q & A-type post, it is important to end with an actionable step to help the reader. In our example, I might suggest setting a timer for time online.
Resources
Resource posts are a great way to share useful information. Remember resource posts can be more than just a list of books. For our example of time management, you could provide a list of great productivity apps, tips for identifying priorities, or a printable checklist for a morning routine.
Storytelling
Never underestimate the power of a good story! Using a story to illustrate one simple point can be very powerful. Perhaps you had a day where you accomplished nothing you needed to do but you were able to spend extra time with your children or a friend. This can be a great example of not allowing your schedule to control you.
Quotation
I admit I love a good quotation. For example, one of my favorite quotes about time management is by Henry David Thoreau, “It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” A compelling quote on a beautiful image is powerful! Adding a great question at the end creates an opening for great conversation in the comments of your blog.
While this is certainly not an exhaustive list of ways to structure posts, these are four of my favorite springboards to getting words on the screen. Sometimes, we just need a little inspiration and perhaps one of these ideas will help you get that next post started.
