Overview

When you build a blog or a social networking site the purpose, of course, is to get people to follow you, join your site, and build your profile as an expert in your chosen discipline. 

But how do you decide what to write about and how to write it?  What can you do to promote it?  How can you determine if it will meet your professional/business needs?

We will answer these questions and provide other tips in this chapter that will help you write persuasive and interesting online content. Among the things we’ll discuss are:

≈                What to Write/Include

≈                How to Write It

≈                How to Use and Create Titles – Your Basic Promotion Tool

≈                How to Maintain a Professional Image

≈        Where to Go for More Writing Tips

Some people start social communities because they have a passion for a topic or an area.  Others do so because they need or want to build their online brand to help them sell their product or service.  Still others do it because they want to be seen as a knowledgeable individual in professional circles as part of an integrated strategy to protect their general employability status.  Whatever your reason for building an online community, my observations have been that the only way these communities flourish is if they are founded around a topic for which the creator has passion.

Only by providing useful information will people care about your online community and want to be a part of it, either actively or passively.  The key is to remember “what’s in it for them”.  With this in mind, the only true rule is to provide unbiased, useful information that is thought provoking.  In my opinion the information should be a combination of original content and exceptional content provided by others – with full credit given to the author, of course. 

What to Write/Include

You have to keep your purpose in mind when selecting topics.  But here are some ideas concerning what to write.

It all hinges on Useful Content.  Ask yourself “What information do my target readers want most?” and then give it to them.  This will be highly subjective depending on the perspective of both the reader and the author, but overall content should add value to their lives or endeavors. 

Examples include:

Information on the latest trends.  Review new products.  Give your take on a popular news topic relevant to your community and what it means to them. 

Satirical posts.  Stories, anecdotes that inform, but are mainly for fun.

Discussions.  Know about hot topics?  Write a conversation starter that will inspire thoughtful interchanges between the readers.

Educational articles.  These pieces are designed to teach the reader something they did not know, to provide a different perspective on a topic, or to further educate the reader on something that is changing.

Resources.  Links to other sites that are well-written and informative.  Government resources, non-profits as well as other related communities are some examples.

Many of the successful sites contain a mixture of all the above.  This appeals to more readers and adds breadth and depth to your site when new visitors come upon it.

My final advice – from time to time survey your members and prospects to see what they would like to see in their online communities.

How to Write It

People don’t read online copy the same way they read books or print articles.  The Internet offers a vast array of resources no matter where you are.  To get noticed, your copy must be written so people quickly get a sense of whether or not the piece contains information they consider useful – or they will move on to the next site.  Try to include some of the following tactics in your posts.

≈        Be succinct – Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, summarize what you told them, and then in closing remind them what you told them.  These are the basic rules of journalism – and let’s face it posting online is a form of journalism.

≈        KISS – Keep it Simple Simon.  Write as if you were talking to your readers.  Use words that sound intelligent but that are simple and will not require the reader to leave your post to look up words or phrases. If you find it necessary to use a “BIG” word, link to a definition that opens in a new window. This way, the reader will still be on your site when the new window is closed.

≈        Lists – people are much more likely to read and absorb bullet points than the entire text.  One good thing about the Internet and many blogs is that you can embed links in key words to take the reader to a fuller explanation.  This way they can dig into those topics that interest them.

≈        Formatting - Use bold, CAPITALS, italics, underlining, teletext, text boxes and color to draw your readers to your main point.  Use headings and subheading as well.  This makes it easier to set up a series of hyperlinks as mentioned above.   Include lots of white space.  The eye does not like too much content jammed into one space

≈        Pictures – Some people only want text, but research confirms that most readers are drawn to images.  So mix it up, include some images, graphics, and charts where you can.

≈        Use anecdotes to make your point, but don’t bury your point – Nothing illustrates a point better than a well placed anecdotes, BUT make certain that the point (what you are going to tell them) is the opening of your post so that they will want to read on to enjoy your witty anecdotes.

≈        Use a series so as not to include too much information in one post - If your topic is complex, consider breaking it in to easy to digest chunks of information.  Then write an intro piece about what the series is going to tell them and include a link to the first post.  End each post with a preview of what the next post will tell them.  This is a great way to generate repeat visitors. 

≈        Plan ahead – consider developing an “Editorial Calendar” for the next several months.  This way you can post a teaser at the end of each post enticing your readers and members back.

How to Use and Create Titles – Your Basic Promotion Tool

Problogger.net provides the following advice on titles.  I am inserting their post here because it is truly outstanding and I can’t think of anything that I would add or modify.  (By the way, I am practicing what I preach – referencing other professionals is a good way to build credibility and convince the reader that you are interested in giving them the best information you can find, giving them another positive answer to the question “What’s in it for me?”.)

Titles are mini ads for your message and will not only help to grab people’s attention as they scan the web, but will also help you get picked up in RSS feeds and other search engines.

1.      Keep it Simple - Most research I’ve seen into titles seems to argue that the most effective titles are short, simple and easy to understand. While breaking these rules can help grab attention (see below) they can also confuse, frustrate and put a glazed look in the eyes of potential readers. Shorter titles are also good for Search Engines - keep it under 40 or so characters and you’ll ensure the whole title appears in search results.

2.      Grab Attention - Good titles set your posts apart from the clutter around them and then draw readers into your post. Grabbing attention might happen using tactics of ’shock’, ‘big claims’, ‘controversy’ or even ‘confusion’. While these tactics do work at getting people in - it should also be said that they can do more damage than good if the rest of your post doesn’t live up to the promises your title makes. By all means try to grab attention - just ‘trick’ your readers into thinking you’ll provide them with something you can’t give them.

3.      Meet a Need - An effective title draws people into reading more because they feel you’ve got something to say that they NEED to hear. Indexes like del.icio.us illustrate just how effective this is. Quite often the articles that get to the top of the list are ‘how to…’ or ‘tutorial’ type articles that show readers that they will learn how to solve a problem or need that they might have.

4.      Describe - Some readers will be drawn into a post by a cryptic title that doesn’t tell them much about what they’ll be reading - but the majority of readers need to know something about what they’ll find if they read further. Titles should describe (in a word or few) what readers will get in the main post.

5.      Use Key Words - As I mentioned above - titles are a powerful part of SEO. If you want to maximize their power you need to consider using the keywords that you want your post to be found within your title in some way. This of course is challenging when you are attempting to ‘keep it simple’ and to also ‘grab attention and intrigue’ - but it can be done. Words at the start of titles are thought to be more powerful than words at the end when it comes to SEO.

6.      One last tip on titles - Take your time with your titles. Many bloggers pour a lot of effort into writing engaging and interesting posts - but then just slap any old title onto it without realizing that in doing so they might be ensuring that their post is never read.”

How to Maintain a Professional Image

Remember why you are posting online and building a community of followers.  Constantly work to ensure that the content you publish is as free of errors as is humanly possible.  Make sure that it sets the right tone and promotes the image you want to promote both personally and professionally.  Survey your readers/followers whenever possible to see what additional value you can deliver.  This is the only way that you will sell yourself as an expert and by extension get a job or sell any products or services you want to market. 

For example, a recruiter I know sells a book for job seekers.  She knows that people are unlikely to buy her book just because of who she is.  So she developed a series of tips for job seekers that are free based on her many years of experience in the market.  Once people read these articles and see the type of insight into the job market her career can provide, they are much more likely to purchase her book and possibly the coaching services members of her team provide for a fee.

Likewise, if you are going to be engaged in a job search, you want to be quoted frequently in other peoples’ posts as well as having your own posts.  Comment on relevant discussion boards and at the end point people back to your site.  Make it easy for them to see why they should interview you.

Finally, maintain an overall positive online presence.  If you have something negative to say – DON’T.  You never know whom it will offend. 

Where to Go for More Writing Tips

Sources for this chapter can be found at:  ProBlogger.net, Wikihow. However, much of what I’ve written is based on my own personal experience. Don’t hesitate to seek input from others. This is where I have found my best suggestions that have helped me to improve my writing style. We all know someone who has a passion for writing and critiquing writing. Ask for their opinion and feedback. You’ll be glad you did.

Google Conversion University: Google couldn’t be more generous to SEOs and web marketers when it decided to launch Conversion University. Articles have been posted to provide more information than ever with such topics as Acquisition, Onsite Behavior Analysis, Outcomes, Videos and more. Here are links to  several articles on writing times.  Five Objectives of Website Copy, Five Tips for Writing Effective Web Headlines and Design Your Website for Increased ROI

Conclusion

Now that I have given you some sense of how to decide what to write, the way to write it, how to use titles to promote it, and how to use it to get the desired result from your labors, go to it!  Remember, find a topic about which you are passionate, make your content relevant, write in a style that is friendly to the Internet, optimize your titles for maximum effect, and always be mindful of the image that your community presents to the world at large.