what is your message? 3 questions to ask yourself

One of the first questions I ask my blogging clients is this:

What is your message?

For many of them, the answer is vague and uncertain. And that is where we always start. Clearly identifying your message lays a solid foundation for your blog. Without this, your blogging will often end up wandering and your audience will be left wondering.

Knowing your message provides you with clarity about what to write and how to engage your audience.

Often your message becomes the tagline for your blog or website. For example, Holley Gerth’s tagline is “coffee for your heart.” Holley is an encourager who engages her readers with meaningful insight about life and relationships. Her blog posts read like a conversation with a friend in a coffee shop.

Ruth Soukup’s Living Well Spending Less blog is equally encouraging but more practically focused. Her tagline is “the adventure of finding the Good Life on a budget.” As the name of her blog and her tagline clearly state, the message of her blog is focused on providing practical information and financially accessible tools for living the good life.

So, how do you identify your message?

Now is a great time to get out a pen and some paper. Read over the three questions below and take the time to write out your answers.

What do you love?

Think about the things you enjoy doing, the relationships you make time to invest in, the dreams in your heart.  Write out what you love … the things, relationships, and goals that matter most to you.

What are you good at?

Think about what comes naturally to you. Maybe you are a great planner or natural organizer. Perhaps you have been told you are good at explaining things in an easy-to-understand manner. Are you a great listener? Make a list of the things you are good at. Even those things that seem insignificant are important to identify.

Finally, what could you talk or write about all the time?

Think about your recent conversations. Is there something you love to talk about and share with others? Maybe you are passionate about healthy living or raising awareness about human trafficking. Perhaps you could talk about your love of gardening or simple life hacks all the time. Write it down … as crazy as it may seem.

Here is what I’d write for myself:

What do you love? Spiritual disciplines, family, homemaking, time with friends, reading.

What are you good at? Leading Bible studies and encouraging women to grow spiritually, creating a warm environment in our home, absorbing and explaining ideas from books I read.

What could you talk or write about all the time? Ideas for growing spiritually, simple ways to manage my home, books I love, and encouraging women to let go of expectations and live in the fullness of life Christ offers.

Your answers don’t have to be in depth. Simply identifying what really matters to you is the point. A couple of years ago I had a branding coach help me with this process and we developed my message: Permission to Live Well. Whether it’s helping the ladies in my Bible study group understand more about Scripture and how to grow in Christ or sharing ideas for creating a cozy and relaxed environment at home or even reminding my friends and readers {and myself!} that some seasons of life bring more challenges than others, my one desire is always to give women permission to let go of others’ expectations and their own fears so they can live well.

Knowing your message gives you clarity and focus in your writing and allows you to explore various topics and interests with a focus that helps your readers know what to expect from you every time they visit your blog.

Have you identified your message? What is the hardest part of this process for you?