I owe a lot to Lord Reith, the BBC’s first Director General, because his maxim “to inform, educate and entertain” has helped me hugely with my blog writing. I’m often asked how to write the perfect blog post and while there’s no such thing as “perfect”, I do reply that the best blog posts achieve one (or more) of three things – they inform, educate or entertain the website visitors. So what do I mean, and what sort of topics does that maxim encourage?
INFORM
Informative posts are those that tell your readers something new. They could be about a news story, either within your industry or in the wider world; a new project or client you’ve been working with; reviews of interesting products or services; reminders about forthcoming events such as training days, tax deadlines etc; your own unique opinions on topical subjects; or useful websites and web tools.
EDUCATE
You have insider knowledge of your market and unique insights into your specialist field. By sharing that knowledge and experience you educate your audience and attract new fans keen to learn what you know. Educative posts can be step by step guides, instructional videos or “how to” posts that answer a question. Never underestimate your skills and abilities, because what comes as second nature to you might be challenging for other people.
ENTERTAIN
This is where you can post all those videos of cute cats! Well ok, not exactly, but don’t discount blogging about things that are purely entertaining. Try to find a link to your business, however tenuous. For example, a while back I posted a video of a poem about the disadvantages of using spell checkers. Nobody learnt anything new through watching it but it was entertaining, and the link to my business was clear too.
If you’re struggling to write the perfect blog post, you’d like some advice on blogging or would like to hand the entire task over to someone else, give me a call on 01367 888229. We can meet for a coffee and brainstorm some ideas, and take it from there – there’s no charge for this initial session and no obligation to work with me afterwards either.
Photo by Paul Townsend from Bristol, UK [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
