You have great information to share, that will help people and make a difference in their lives. Writing high-quality content and publishing it consistently is a good start, but it's not enough. You also need to make sure your content is seen, read and absorbed by as many people as possible.
It's important to recognize that people have different reading styles. Some prefer to skim for an overview of the topic (they may come back for a closer look) and others like to delve deeper.
For that reason, I like to use the drill-down writing strategy, where you start out with a broad overview of a topic, and then drill down in subsequent pieces (I mentioned this in a post of tips for writing your website pages).
This strategy helps me achieve three important goals:
- Reach more readers – By publishing a variety of content in different styles, it's more likely that my visitors will find something that suits them.
- Solve writer's block – By expanding on articles I've already written, I always have a starting point for my next article.
- Focus my writing – By recognizing which phase of the drilling process I'm in (see below), I can guide myself to either stay broad or to hone in on one main topic and its supporting points.
Time for some drilling!
How to drill down your blog posts
While not every blog post will fit into this model, these simple strategies could keep you busy for a long time!
Phase One – Choose a relevant topic that addresses a key problem your ideal client is grappling with. Then craft a broad overview of the topic (e.g., Ten Leadership Strategies You May Have Overlooked). A top 10 list is a great format for this phase, or you could write a thought leadership post.
Phase Two – Drill down and expand on some or all of the elements you discussed in Phase One (e.g., if listening was one of the skills on your list, you could expand it into Listening Skills for Effective Leadership). Mix and match your article formats, or choose a unified structure and present the collection as a series. BONUS: Compile all of these pieces into one flagship product. I did this with Ten Ways to Thrive as a Creative Artist.
Phase Three – Dig a little deeper. Find another aspect of the same topic (or a related topic) and start again (e.g., Essential Listening Skills for Work and Home).
When you balance your blog with posts that accommodate different learning styles and preferences, you'll keep things more interesting for you and your readers!