I know. No one really says the word blog much anymore, do they? I was told last year it was a dated term. Best to replace with “article” or “post” or “resource.” Some of my favorite blog spaces have disappeared, replaced with Instagram stories and posts and dare I even mention it — Tik Tok videos. I like the word blog though. It might not be the up-to-the-minute way influencers make money these days, but you, dear reader, probably know what I mean when I say it which means we are still communicating, and that’s the point. And if you’re like me, still publishing your business or personal BLOG, bless your heart, we really do speak the same language.

We all strive to reach our audience for the purposes of entertaining, informing, and marketing no matter how we classify this space, or where we publish our regularly scheduled content.

Here are my top five tips to make those communications the best they can be.  

1. Word Count — these kinds of communications are more than a tweet.  This is where you can dive in deeper and still be quippy but with more words. Whether you’re sending your communications via email or posting them via social media, most readers will give you 500 words. If you’re talking about a subject that requires a little more depth, push that word count to 800. But anything more and you’ll lose your audience. Best to restructure and break your topic down into a series.  
2. Organization — use an outline (more on that topic later). If you’ve got 500 words to grab and hold your audience, write like a journalist, leading with your strongest points and following a logical order. While you might be tempted to save the good stuff for the ending or sign off with your most profound thought, blog level brevity really begs you to not bury the lead. Get the important stuff out at the beginning. Tell your reader right away why they need to read what you’re saying.
3. Use lists and headings — most blogging platforms and word processing documents have different headings embedded in their formatting. Use them. Use bold type, number your lists, and create headings with searchable words to draw your reader in. If what you’re saying takes five minutes to read (and I get it, two hours to write and edit!!) but your audience has three minutes to give you, make your blog skimmable so they get to the good stuff that applies to them.
4. Use a photo — this is hard for me.  As someone who focuses on the words, I am oftentimes so excited to hit the publish button that I forget to use some design and make it pretty. I don’t have a cache of professional photos to pick from. I don’t have any professional photos to pick from except for the family pictures we had done in 2019 and my daughter’s senior pictures from the summer. Instead (when I remember) I pull photos from free sites like Pexels or take a photo with my phone. Pro tip: if you’re relying on your own photographic skills, take a horizontal picture. And if you’re lucky to live with artistic types/teenagers, ask them to take it for you. And if you send your blog posts via email, invest in a program that allows you to include photos and gifs. 
5. Hashtags — this is a thing no matter how much I want to never learn how it actually works. It makes your communication searchable for people who aren’t your audience yet, but whose interests overlap with what you’re saying. This is a great marketing tool, one for which I am ill-equipped to teach. Find yourself a professional media manager and take their course or pay for their services and you will learn so much. I have friends who do this and their advice is priceless. Although, it only works if you use it.

With practice, your communications will help develop your voice and brand. Your personality will start to come through in your writing. Don’t worry about being so formal in these blogging spaces. But don’t forget to proofread!!

May the sun always shine on your blog communications, whether you’re influencing for money, marketing your freelance services, contributing to a community resource, or quietly plunking away on your own personal blog. And yes, I know I’m over my word count.