Blogging while in quarantine: 3+1 qualities of a good blogger
Since mid-March, till the moment I’m writing, each of us is trying to adapt to the so-called, “new normality”. The novel Coronavirus has brought radical changes to our every-day lives, while our professional careers are being challenged more than ever before. We are living in such turbulent-unprecedented times, in which we are supposed to “balance” and “keep walking”. But, how can we manage to stay positive? First and foremost, our mental health should be considered as a matter of high significance.
Prioritize your mental health by expressing yourself freely. Focus on your passion and start talking & sharing meaningful knowledge about it.
Building your own blog is a creative & cost-effective way to share insights and exchange opinions about your passion or expertise. Blogging is a serious endeavor and you have to put time into it to do it well. Once you start posting your very first pieces, a community will start growing around your topics and you will soon realize that there are a lot of people out there who share the same passion as you do! By sharing frequently your unique thoughts & angles on topics related to your passion and participating actively in highly valued conversations, you increase engagement rates and you’re gradually getting positioned as a thought leader among your peers.
Sharing knowledge and useful insights on specific topics not only does contribute to establishing thought leadership, but it also plays a crucial role in our mental health. Since, we’ve been “locked” at our homes, due to the COVID-19 widespread, spending time on writing about our passion or expertise benefits the community and alleviates significantly our internal world at the same time.
So, after all, what are the qualities a blogger needs to have to start on the right foot with his blog?
- Ability to “listen” to your audience.
Before starting with your blog, make sure you are on the same page with your audience. You should have a deep understanding of their tastes. A good idea would be to join the blogging world by engaging with other people’s blogs first. Pick a handful of blogs relevant to yours that have significant reach & influence, and identify the community’s behavior within these blogs. Last but not least, using an empathy map is also considered quite interesting and effective.
2. Passion for the topic.
No idea, no matter how good, is truly unique. Nonetheless, you have unique experiences. You have a distinct voice. When it comes to choosing your blog’s niche you’d better ask yourself the following question:
“Do I enjoy learning about this topic?”
Whatever topic you pick, you need to love it and be naturally curious about it. If not, you will run out of ideas quickly.
3. Authenticity.
The blogger has to come across as a real person with a genuine engaging voice. Develop a natural and personal voice. Corporate jargon and dry brochure-like material have no place in your blog. Be yourself and keep your writing simple and real. This is how you’re going to win over your audience and build trust.
EXTRA TIP:
In case you want to elevate your writing a little further and create even more engaging content, try to “play” with the combination of meaning & fascination.
Meaning is the informational aspect of your topic. It implies an extra level of value that makes people treasure you. Meaningful & purposeful content is the chief foundation.
Fascination, on the other hand, lets your creativity roll out. It is the entertaining aspect of your content that makes people want to engage and share your content. One way to achieve fascination is to make an associated connection between something cool and an important topic that might otherwise be pretty boring.
If you found the above approach helpful, do not hesitate to share it with your network!
Feel free to share your thoughts at the comments below:)
