By: Val Wright, President, Val Wright Consulting
If someone offered you a chance to write a blog post would you eagerly say “I’d love to!” or physically wince at the thought of putting your ideas in writing? At the Advisory Board meeting for Women of The Channel last month we were talking about how can we encourage more community members to write a blog post for the community and so I offered to write a blog post about writing blog posts with ease!
When I first launched my business 11 years ago and started my VAL-uable Insights publication it took me 37 hours to write my first edition! I then decided to set a timer and see how rapidly I could write my second edition, that time it took 37 minutes and now I aim to take less than 60 minutes each time. Since then I have not only learned how to rapidly write with impact, I’ve also helped hundreds of executives and their teams use writing as a way to showcase their brilliance.
In my third book Words That Work, I share the Exemplary Executive Communication tool that describes the three crucial parts of communicating with impact, Preparation, Content, and Delivery which can also apply to writing blog posts.
Here are eight steps you can follow to write the first of many blog posts:
Preparation: the often skipped essential steps to writing meaningfully
1. Why bother?
First ask yourself why you want to write. This will become your motivation and reminder about why you want to dedicate time and prioritize this above other activities. Is it to practice story telling, share your expertise with a broader audience, improve your company reputation in a new field, secure new partnership deals, highlight your customer successes, or because perhaps because you are a best kept secret as you haven’t yet shared your brilliance with the world.
Whose attention are you wanting to capture? Get really specific as this will help you write meaningful content that is relevant. A specific industry, a particular job function, a certain level of seniority, a stage of career, or regional location are some ways to define your audience. Some examples could be:
- “Managers of teams in the channel with a cyber security expertise
- “Leaders of global teams”
Content: the core of your idea and message
3. Your title matters more than you realize
When I first started writing for Inc Magazine my editor shared a surprising price of advice. “Val you need to spend 50% of your allocated time on the title vs the actual article”. While this advice seemed over the top at first I soon realized its power. If your title isn’t captivating then no one will get to read your wisdom. Some title tips:
- How to titles are compelling and help the reader know just what to expect
- Use “You” in the title to hook in your audience
- Listicles work (yes that is even a word) - this article is a listicle. It’s a numbered list of advice about a particular topic
4. Tell your unique story
Use real life examples from your experience. No one can beat that and it is unique to you. The overly used examples about Apple, Amazon, Netflix etc. have been told over and over again and don’t need retelling focus on original stories from your experiences.
5. News Hacking is fascinating
Finding a timely angle on a current event lets you get your point across especially when it highlights your expertise. Jen Waltz did a brilliant job of this in this recap of the CrowdStrike Outage. Bonus points for Jen also having a newsletter on LinkedIn to share with a broader audience.
Delivery: the art getting your message across and acted upon
6. No one will ever thank you for being verbose
Why use a paragraph when a sentence will do? Why use a sentence when a word will do? Why use a word when blank space will do?
7. Answer - So What?
What was the impact on your business, profit, revenue, customers, partners, or your career? Make your stories meaningful.
8. End with a call to action
Try writing your first big post today. Set yourself a timer, write it without overthinking, find your Perfectly Productive Place without distraction and just write. To give you an extra boost, the first ten writers who send me their blog I will review it and give you feedback and suggestions. Email me [email protected]. I can't wait to hear your brilliant stories. You can send blog posts for the Leadership Network to [email protected].
