Authors: Healthy Living
Electric Pressure Cooker: Perfect Recipes To Get Meals On The Table In No Time (Clean Eating, Paleo, AIP, Gluten Free, Vegan, Healthy Diets, Nourishing, Cookbook) (32 page)
CHAPTER
TWO: CREATING CONTENT THAT ROCKS
Alright, for a moment – let us
think about your favorite blog.
Is there
a blog that you are always dying to read – that you check out even before a new
post is released?
Now, take a moment to think
about the things that you love in this blog.
§
Does
this blog have a cool theme?
§
Do you
love the font that they use?
§
Is it
their choice of colors?
§
Do you
like the fact that they have over five thousand Facebook followers?
Well, the blog may have all of
that, but chances are that you are solely captivated by the content. You love
to read stuff that you can relate to, don’t you? You love to read stuff that
adds value. You love to read through those mouth-watering recipes or DIY
household projects and can’t wait to try some yourself. You love commenting on
the blog post and sharing your results. In fact, you have even accepted the
thirty
days
de-clutter challenge and are fully
motivated to share your results.
In
simple language, your favorite blog rocks because it contains content that
rocks!
Try and create content that
can add value, that you are passionate about and that your readers can benefit
from.
My next suggestion for you is
to create a
calendar of events
for
your blog.
But, I
can only write when I am in a mood!
True, most bloggers start like
that. They decide to write only if they are in a mood to write. Mostly, the
result is an unorganized blog where readers do not know what to expect and when
to expect.
My suggestion here is that if
you are serious about blogging and looking to earn some money through your
passion, you must create a calendar of events. It could be a simple word or
excel document where you mention about what you would post every day.
Here is an example:
September
2015
Week one
:
·
Monday: Monday morning mantra – simple
30 minute
yoga for the week
·
Tuesday: Tuesday healthy tips – Healthy tips
from the kitchen
·
Wednesday: Wednesday Recipe – Healthy Wednesday
recipe – banana oatmeal with kale and orange smoothie
·
Thursday: Things no one will tell you about
hormones and PMS (yes, it is impacting your relationships but not anymore!)
·
Friday: Friday family fun: Fun exercises for
the whole family
·
Saturday: Tips to encourage your kids towards
healthy eating (bonus: healthy blueberry pie recipe)
·
Sunday: no post
You could even use different
colored highlighters to ensure that posts that are in progress stand out and
posts that have been completed and posted are hidden or highlighted in a
different color. I like to use a green highlighter for posts that are in
progress, a red highlighter for posts that are due but not started and a blue
highlighter for posts that have been completed.
Ideally, your calendar must be
planned at least two months in advance and posts should be written at least a
fortnight in advance. It may be necessary to shuffle things up a little,
however, make sure to stick to the plan as much as possible.
Adequate planning can ensure
that you are sticking to the plan even when on a break. Imagine, how cool it
would be to post something on your blog as you holiday with family on the
mountains or at the beach. All you need to do is pick up a post that you have
already written and plug it in there.
Now, you may think that it is
going to be difficult to come up with two months of awesome, brand new content.
Well, the key here is
effective
brainstorming
. Every
week, you must set aside some time for yourself. This is the time when
you will be at your peak capacity. Keep loads of colored sticky notes on a
table and write down your blog sub categories. Now, for the next half an hour,
just think about what your readers would want to see from you in the next
fifteen days or so. Write down whatever comes into your mind. If you cannot
think about anything for a particular category, leave it blank and come back to
it later.
Now, take all your sticky
notes and get organized. Use the next half an hour to convert these ideas into
catchy titles for your blogpost.
Remember, this method of
brainstorming is not cast in stone. You may like to brainstorm as you clean the
house or every day in the shower. That is totally your call. Decide on what
works best for you and work accordingly.
TIPS TO WRITING A GREAT
BLOG POST
Let me say this upfront – if
you dislike writing, then probably blogging is not meant for you. In order to
write a blog post, you need to practice the discipline of writing. Decide on a
time every day and force yourself to write a certain number of words – I like
to write around a 1,000 words at a time. This makes two blog posts a day – one
in the morning and one in the evening. Depending on your goals, you could
decide on your daily target and make sure that you meet it – practicing to
write a certain number of words every day will greatly elevate your writing
style.
A fantastic blog post means
greater traffic on your blog, more pins on Pinterest, more Facebook shares and
more tweets.
The impact of all this
?
All these help your blog to
grow.
Here are some of the things
that you must do as you write a blog post:
Your
post must make a clear point
: Sometimes, writers keep
writing about a number of things and towards the end, the reader gets lost –
thinking – “
well, what was he really
trying to say
?” To maintain the interest of your readers, write blog posts
that make a point. These posts can be easily summarized in one sentence.
Your
post must be visually appealing
: You must ensure that your
blog posts carry amazing images to go with them. With the advent of Pinterest,
this is an important factor for all your posts.
Your
posts must teach ONE simple lesson
: Now, I am not trying to
discourage you from writing about complicated projects and ideas. However, with
time I have realized that you receive maximum traffic on posts that are really
simple – just one simple lesson is all that people want to read through one
post.
Your
posts must evoke an emotional response
: Most posts that
generate traffic are the ones that make people feel a certain way – they could
make you happy, sad, angry, empathetic, grateful or encouraged. Make sure that
people are able to relate to what you write and your post generates an
emotional response.
Your
posts make your readers go WOW
: It is better to share one
blog post that generates a WOW response than post many that do not stir up any
feelings or conversations. Write about things that you are passionate about and
that your readers can’t help but pay attention to –
they must be able to stop everything and just focus on your post
.
Your
posts should encourage and empower your readers
:
Imagine sharing a really nice picture with a really complicated recipe. Since
the picture is nice, it definitely attracts attention. But the recipe? Well,
your readers lose interest the moment they begin reading it. It is too
complicated to follow and they cannot relate to it.
They don’t see themselves preparing that dish!
How about including some tips
that can make the recipe simple? You could even write about the difficulties
that you faced and the steps that you took in in order to overcome those.
Your readers have to feel that
they CAN do it too!
Your
posts must be unique and interesting
: Your posts must have
something amazing, new and interesting to say. Ideally, after reading your post
your readers must be able to look at a problem in a manner that they have never
done before.
One of the most important
things to remember is that you must create killer content each time you intend
to create a post. Your content should be able to draw traffic to your blog –
you must therefore write posts that get loads of comments, Facebook shares,
pins and can get easily optimized for search engines.
In a nutshell, this would
mean:
Amazing content = Killer blog
post = Viral traffic = Great money
Reviewing some of the key
action items from this chapter:
§
Create
a calendar of events and use it religiously
§
Schedule
a brainstorming session with yourself every week
§
Write
every single day – whether you like it or not, discipline is the key
§
Create
killer content that can get viral traffic
CHAPTER
THREE: KEEPING IT CLEAN – PLAIN AND SIMPLE
Well, we live in a visual
world and we like to see everything well organized. Here is the bitter truth –
you can create an amazing calendar, write awesome content and maintain an
incredible level of discipline. However, if the entire package does not sell
….well
, you are doomed.
Imagine a reader visiting your
blog. Now, this is what they notice – there are five main colors, with some
really pretty flowers in the background, colorful stripes in the header and a
long footer that makes absolutely no sense. So, even though they are reading
killer content, they are distracted by too much information available on your
blog.
Your site may seem to be the
most appealing site on earth to you, but it is definitely not pretty if your readers
find it cluttered.
I would suggest a clean,
simple, organized, easy to navigate design with fewer colors and more white
space.
If you have been blogging for
some time now, it is time to take a step back and reflect upon the following
questions:
§
Is
your blog too cluttered or unorganized?
§
Does
your navigation make sense?
§
Can
your readers locate what they are looking for?
§
Are
your fonts easy to read?
§
Can a
newcomer visiting your blog get an idea (in thirty seconds) of what your blog
is about and the kind of posts they can expect?
§
Do all
your posts have a clear call to action?
§
Are
your images high quality, appealing images?
The navigation toolbar in your
blog should make things extremely easy for your readers. They must be able to
find posts that they are looking for in just thirty seconds.
Take some time to create
categories and then fit those categories into subtopics.
Categorize every post and
eliminate categories that do not make sense. Highlight your best content in a
manner that it stands out. How about including a ‘most popular posts’ section
on your sidebar?
Wrap your content in a
tasteful manner – a manner that people want to see. This means that your
content must be presented in a neat and organized manner.
Here are some great and neat
blog designs that I love:
As you notice the below
designs, you will see that none of these blogs look alike.
The only common thing in these blogs is that they let their content
show through
.
As you get to creating and
maintaining your blog, you must understand the importance of images that you
will use on your blog.
Here are some photography
rules that you must stick to:
http://www.ahaparenting.com/blog
Invest in a good camera
:
Investing in a great camera is extremely important – your camera must be able
to provide high quality images that your readers will drool over.
Be aware of the lightening
: Good
lightening is immensely important as you get ready to click a picture. Try and
get most of your shoots in bright, indirect light.
Get a clean background
: As
you get ready to click a picture, make sure that the background is not
distracting. A clean, organized background is important for a great image.
Try and make your images
Pin-worthy
. Remember, when used correctly, Pinterest is
more powerful than Facebook, Google+ or Twitter.
Pin-worthy posts are always a
combination of great content and captivating images.
Colorful images capture more
attention than monochromatic ones. Warm colors are more likely to be re-pinned
than cool colors. Close up shots and pins without faces stand a greater chance
to be re-pinned.
Now, here is the thing –
people collect and pin images they like – only because these images look super
appealing to them. Converting your pins to page views implies that you have
gone a step ahead and used Pinterest to the fullest.
Here are some examples of
great images – the ones that are generally re-pinned and generate more traffic:
Source:
www.pinterest.com
And now, time for visiting the
action items from this chapter:
§
You
must revisit your blog design and develop a plan on the changes that you would
like.
§
Ensure
that your design is simple and clean – free from unnecessary clutter.
§
Create
a well thought out navigation bar that tells your readers where to find stuff
that they are looking for.
§
Create
pin-worthy blog posts - using content that rocks and high quality images that
attract attention.