WordPress blog design installation and consulting

A few excellent points for blogging use. I’m posting them here because I think you’ll probably find them handy, too.

• Write more “case study” posts. I don’t do this anywhere near often enough, but these posts can be gold for both you and your readers. That’s because a good case study not only answers the question, “Is this for real?” but more importantly, helps the reader answer for himself, “That’s great, but is this something I could do?” Case studies help your readers visualize themselves using your solution.

• Make your readers feel less alone. Ask someone (anyone) what their biggest fears are and chances are “being alone” ranks right up there. By writing about your experience, or writing about your customers’ experiences, or sharing a common fear or concern or joy or question, you help your readers find a connection that they are craving.

• Back up your claims with proof. What kind of proof will vary by what business you’re in; it could be screenshots, or statistics, or quotes, or photos. The ideas is simply to give people a reason to believe what you’re telling them, beyond “because I said so.”

• Be yourself and be honest. It’s more important to get people to care about what you’re saying than to get them to agree. You’re never going to get everyone to agree, anyway. And honesty? Seems like a “duh” suggestion, but there’s always the temptation there to stretch the truth (to look better, to make more money, whatever your motivation is). In the long run, though, your mother was right. Honesty really is the best policy.

• Give your readers a forum to brag. First you give them the information they need to be successful, and then you set up a place for them to talk about how they’re succeeding based on that information. You can use anything from comments to a full blown forum to a membership site to make this happen. Your readers look good because they’re succeeding, and you look good because you helped them get there. It’s a win-win.

• Use anticipation to create demand. People generally have boring lives (I’m sure you’d find my life pretty boring!). Think like a serial novelist or 24 writer and give your readers something to look forward to! Anticipation builds excitement and interest.

• Get your readers invested in your blog by featuring their questions. There’s nothing like being “a contributer” to make someone read and tell their friends.

I hope you find this little summary useful. There were many other thought-provoking ideas–I just focused on the ones that are specifically relevant to blogging.