I am out on vacation this week, so I asked my friend, writer and social media guru, Julie Roads of Soc Media 101 and Writing Roads to guest post, or actually to allow me to re-post of her outstanding articles. I think you will really like this as I know a common issue is finding topics for your individual and business blogs. Enjoy!
Blog content: trunks, branches, leaves
I just came across a post by Ari Herzog where he answers the question, ‘Should bloggers only blog about one topic or is it okay for them to talk about a lot of different things?’
I was relieved actually to see that his answer was quite liberal; he (with quote help from Jake Halpern) said that bloggers need to blog about what interests them. If the topics start to spread, so be it.
But, I have to add something to that. I agree that if you aren’t writing about your passions, then the writing will fall flat. Still, I think there has to be a tie that binds. It could be an industry, a product, a service, a genre, a person, a group, a pair of pants…something.
When I talk to companies/business about blog content strategy, I use the image of a tree. The blog’s main topic, your main theme is the trunk of the tree. All of the posts that you write are the branches and leaves of the tree.
Some posts will literally spring from the trunk, like those first two or three branches that separate and grow up and out.
Some posts will be quite far removed from the trunk, they’ll be those teeny tiny branches, fifty feet out, reaching into the sun – but they will still be connected to the trunk, they’re definitively part of the same tree.
And then you’ve got the posts that are everything else in between. But there’s always a connection, no matter how small.
Why is this important?
- You don’t want your readers to get lost or confused. Make them feel good and smart, not disoriented and dumb.
- You want to have a point. Otherwise you might end up sounding disoriented and dumb.
- If you’re blogging for business, it’s good to have a tie back to your product, service or industry. If your blogs purpose it to showcase your talents as a dance coach, I’m not sure how talking about the many ways to cook an egg will help you.
- You’re building a relationship with your readers. If you always blog about painting and suddenly throw in some posts about roller derbies, they’re going to feel a rift in the relationship. They might even feel abandoned and leave you comments like, ‘I don’t even know who you are anymore.’
I’m all for expanding your content. The more branches you create, the more likely you are to catch the web traffic blowing by in your tree. Just do your readers a favor and maintain your core connection.
Image credit: joiseyshowaa
Cross-posted on Soc Media 101
