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How to lift your blog out of the oblivion of the Blogosphere.
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Blog, blog, blog, blah, blah, blah …
The Blogosphere
It’s easier to slip into oblivion thanstand out in the blogosphere
Everyday, 250 million photos are uploadedto Facebook; 864,000 hours of video toYouTube; and 294 billion emails are sentto just about everybody. And that doesn’tinclude Amazon posts, Pinterest pins ortens-‐of-‐millions of blog posts.
Fast Company, April 2012
Yikes!
How does one survive in the ever-‐churningblack hole of the Internet?
5 “must-‐dos” if your blog isto rise out of oblivion ...
“In today’s world we yearn tounderstand and the story must speak
to the heart, not the head.”Donna Jacobs Sife
At the other end of every blog is a personwho responds to you – or doesn’t – withan emoXonal connecXon. It doesn’t comefrom fleeXng fact-‐bytes and me-‐too self-‐promoXon, it comes from the emoXonalresponse of your audience. You must con-‐nect, not just technically and factually butemoXonally.
It’s about pulling customers in, not push-‐ing messages out. And it works when theyare interested in what you have to say andyou say it in an interesXng way–engaging,entertaining, informaXve, memorable.
#1: Connect emoXonally
If you do not create great content you aremired in the oblivion. There is a dearth ofgood content in the blogosphere, which isreplete with boring, bland and bad.
Blogging is like publishing. At its core theremust be a great story. And yet, few blogsare wri\en by professional storytellerswho create content that intrigues, edu-‐cates, delights and moves the audience toacXon. And if something doesn’t move,what’s the point of the story?
"One word, in intelligent wriXng isand always has been worth
a thousand pictures.”Christopher Hitchens (1949-‐2011)
#2: Content is everything
The first connecXon you make is like ahandshake, the beginning of a relaXon-‐ship. Aber that it’s the promise of the re-‐laXonship that keeps them coming back.It’s about who you are, your character,your values, what you think and of course,your facts. All captured by your ongoingstory. Every company is a story and everybrand and every blog is part of that story.
Build a be\er relaXonship and they willbeat a path to your blog.
“Customers are your future.”Michael Dell, CEO
Dell Computer CorporaXon
#3: Build relaXonships
We humans are hard wired for stories andthey are the glue of every relaXonship,from the personal to the commercial. Ifit’s commercial, like 60 Minutes, then yourinformaXon be\er be embeded in a greatstory. And if it is, it has a chance to be-‐come one of the ones that customersenjoy and value, and return to again andagain.
“It’s about four li\le words:Tell me a story.”
Don Hewi\ (1922-‐2009)ExecuXve producer, 60 Minutes
#4: It’s storytelling
Your blog can rise above the din and thedumb and hold audiences if you hold it toa higher standard. If the blog is about youand not them, then they won’t be listen-‐ing. Blogging should never be just a writ-‐ing of facts and the spinning of promoXon,it should be a story full of facts and pro-‐moXon that the customer finds interest-‐ing, appealing, absorbing, capXvaXng,alluring, charming, moving and ... well,you get the idea. A great story.
“It is not the voice thatcommands the story, it is the ear.”
Italo Calvino
#5: Blogging versus blathering
In business, blogging isn’t a hobby, an on-‐line soapbox or an amatuer wriXng forum.It’s business, it’s professional, it’s money. It’sa place where good enough, isn’t; wheremore is not be\er, only be\er is be\er.
With the potenXal to reach, engage andmove millions of people, blog wriXngshould not be relegated to anyone otherthan the best blog writers. Because it’s notan ad, newsle\er, newspaper arXcle, pressrelease or worse, a powerpoint – it’s all ofthose, wri\en as a serial story. It requires aspecial talent. Unless, just staying afloat inthe Blogosphere is “good enough?”
Tell your stories to David Hughes and let himlib your blogs from blather lost in the obliv-‐ion to stories that are at home in the mem-‐ory of your customers.
Good enough, isn’t.
"Good wriXng is clearthinking made visible."
Bill Wheeler
The Blogosphere
905-‐885-‐[email protected]
Meet David HughesStoryteller and ghostblogger
David has wri\en nine books, hundreds ofblogs and countless arXcles. He is aWriter’s Digest winner of Award of Meritfor FicXon (Sacred Corrup6on) and Non-‐ficXon Magazine Feature. His books, blogsand arXcles cover a broad landscape, frombusiness books and family memoirs to fic-‐Xon and current event blogs.
Like all good authors, David writes blogsfor the reader – customer – that arepacked with informaXon, insight, under-‐standing and inspiraXon. Talk to him aboutghostwriXng your blog. And how to turnyour blogs into a book.
“The only risk that is ever-‐present inwriXng is the risk of being boring.”
Christopher Hitchens (1949-‐2011)
More books about wriXng books and blogs.
Your Story Is A Gi.Why everyone and every
company should write a book
Notes from the Consul7ng FieldsHow to write a Fieldbook in real Xme
They’re quick reads. View at David’s webite: www.straightspeak.comOrder free copies: [email protected]
Everything is a story ...
“Stories are the single most powerful weapon in a leader’s arsenal.”
Howard GardnerHarvard University