Blogging, in general, is about sharing information. There are many ways to do that in writing and it certainly depends on the type of information you share but no matter what the purpose of your writing, it should, in my opinion, accomplish a few goals.
First, it should be timely. People don’t want to read about things that happened 2 years ago unless you happened to find Jimmy Hoffa or discover evidence of a second gunman. I tend to get inspiration from social media. I don’t mean that social media alone as a subject inspires me, I mean that I use social media as a tool to find out what’s going on in the world, what people are talking about, and how those things may apply to my industry or profession.
Second, other than the fundamental goal of sharing information, I share how the current event, news article, etc. applies to social media, digital marketing or the automotive industry and what kind of takeaways or lessons can be learned from it.
Third, and sometimes most important, I try to be entertaining. Sometimes I aim for profound but that’s quite lofty unless you’re Seth Godin who could probably share his grocery list in a profound way. My ability to change lives through my writing is something that, while I would like to think I do, is probably minimal at best, delusional at worst (or vice versa). You can be the greatest thought-leader in the universe with the most intelligent and timely insight but if your message is only being heard by your goldfish, you might as well go play some video games.
I’ve read some super smart, well-crafted blog articles that are visionary and enlightening that, at the same time, make me feel like I was forced to read the ingredients of every box of cereal in the grocery store. Dry reading (get it?) isn’t going to capture your audience and keep them paying attention. If you’re lucky, they’ll read the first paragraph, get bored, and click on the “Read Later” button that sends your wisdom into the desert of Instapaper that will, ultimately, never get read.
So, listen to your audience, no… really.. listen. Don’t write what YOU want to write, write what THEY want to hear but, at the same time, do it in a way that makes them want to keep reading.
If you don’t care what your audience thinks, why should they care what you have to say? Write for your audience, don’t write to them.
