Assumption: You’ve signed up for a blog platform like WordPress or Blogger. What next?
I thought this week I would expand on what I’m calling The Content Development Engine. I think most people who want to start a blog or engage communities online get intimidated by ‘how to create good content’. This requires time and effort, but you can cut back on both considerably if you have a good content strategy. So my goal for this course is simple: help you create a framework that makes creating quality content easier and faster.
How is it that the best bloggers and marketers out there seem to create engaging content seemingly out of thin air? We’ll discuss the answer over the next two weeks. Day #1 is all about the fire of any engine: PASSION.
Ask yourself this: what would you do if you weren’t paid a dime for it? Your blog needs to be about this. Period. If you’re interested in doing business online, believe me when I say business won’t come unless you show people passion. People want content that is provoking, engaging, entertaining and valuable. That’s not going to come unless YOU are on a quest to become an EXPERT. And you can’t be an expert unless you really care about what it is you’re communicating.
So today the exercise is very simple: think of the one thing you want to create content around. What do you want to be an expert in? Even if it’s something crazy (like how to play Mafia Wars on Facebook) - make sure it’s the real deal.
Here’s the next clue: You don’t have to be an expert now. And maybe you’ll never become THE expert. But your whole blog is about your journey in becoming an expert. So if your blog is about training for an ultra-marathon, consider this the first step. The only pre-requisite is that it excites you every day (or at least pulls you through the odd but inevitable funks).
I said today’s exercise was simple, but I was totally BS’ing. Propoganda. Whole books have been written about finding your passion and most aren’t worth a dang. But if you know what gets you out of bed every morning, let’s write a blog about it. You game?
Marketing Take-away: define your passion. The world is wide open.
Deliverable: List one thing you want to write about. If you’ve got a bike store, wouldn’t biking be a natural?
What are some ideas you have? Leave a comment below.
And if you haven’t yet, sign up for WordPress today to make a blog. I dig it. You will too.
Go to Day Two here.
