In a series of blog posts, we've been exploring the parts of the Blogging Tree, which are all the various elements of a successful blogging practice. If you've been following along, you've already clarified your business (and blog) goals and mapped out your blogging plan. Now that you know what you want blogging to do for your business, let's look at what your blog will do for your readers.
Naming your blog categories
Your blogging tree will have 5-7 large branches, which are how you'll start to reach out towards your readers. These branches are your blog categories (I pared mine down to eight before I published this post). Your category names are an important way to organize your blog, plan your writing and guide your readers to the information they need most.
When considering your categories, identify the most pressing problems of your prospective clients. Consider topics that are broad enough to give you some variety and options, but specific enough that they'll be relevant to the exact people who are your ideal clients.
Blogging will be most enjoyable and sustainable for you if you find the intersection between the biggest concerns of your readers and the topics that interest you and that you know the most about. By writing about those themes in your own authentic voice, you will attract your perfect clients.
Balancing out your feature articles
Once you've named your categories, plan feature articles that will cover each topic. With my weekly blogging method, you're only writing one feature article per month – that means you only need to come up with an article for each category once or twice a year!
In the first post of this series, I told you how to match different styles of blog content with your particular business goal. For example, if one of your goals is to establish yourself as an expert in a particular field, write some "how to" articles that teach your reader something they can do on their own. They'll remember who to come to when it's time for professional help!
If you're also trying to educate your clients about what you do, share some of your clients' success stories and describe your role in their success. You'll find more sample goals and corresponding article styles in the original post.
Are you starting to see how your blog will come together? In the next post, we'll dress up your tree with more attractive features that will draw in your prospective clients.
Linda Dessau, CPCC, is the author of Write Your Way to More Clients Online and the founder of ContentMasteryGuide.com. She offers ghostwriting, editing, training and consulting. If you want better results from your online writing, contact her today to learn how she can help.