Once More, With Feeling: Producing Consistent, Quality Blog Content
Enzo F. Cesario
Article Title:
Once More, With Feeling: Producing Consistent, Quality Blog Content
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Article Description:
Quality is a key element in good blogging. If the material
isn't interesting, it isn't going to be read. Of course,
there are different standards of what is interesting. But
what is it that makes content quality? How does one get
those good ideas and, more importantly, convey them week
after week with a steady updating schedule?
Additional Article Information:
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834 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line
Distribution Date and Time: 2011-08-29 10:15:00
Written By: Enzo F. Cesario
Copyright: 2011
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Once More, With Feeling: Producing Consistent, Quality Blog Content
Copyright (c) 2011 Enzo F. Cesario
BrandSplat
http://www.Brandsplat.com/
Quality is a key element in good blogging. If the material isn't
interesting, it isn't going to be read. Of course, there are
different standards of what is interesting. Some people find the
day-to-day tweets of a celebrity interesting, while others can't
get worked up about anything other than a discussion over
literature that more closely resembles a bare-knuckle brawl than
academic discourse.
The celebrity effect can be discounted � it isn't necessarily
that Lady Gaga or Stephen Fry's tweets are composed in a
particular way. It's the careers these stars have had and the
interest in what such a career celebrity is saying that draws the
people. Since most writers (and in particular most bloggers) are
not cult celebrities, the focus on quality content is a safe
focus to assume.
But what is it that makes content quality? How does one get those
good ideas and, more importantly, convey them week after week
with a steady updating schedule?
Worth Arguing Over
A good idea is one people can take sides on. Talk radio is based
on this premise, as is the modern media system. Controversy sells
brands like nothing else in this world. Rockstar Games doesn't
mind that parenting organizations despise its popular Grand Theft
Auto series � the controversy generated by people arguing over
the merits of the game is free advertising, release after
release.
So pick ideas that people can have an argument, or at least a
spirited discussion, over. This involves including concrete
details whenever possible. Don't argue over "Obama's
healthcare plan;" rather, pick a specific portion of the plan
and state why you are for or against it, with supporting
reasoning. Then, encourage the discussion. Respond to those who
disagree with you. Promote and highlight arguments over key
points. Cater to peoples' innate need to share their views.
Watch Videos, Share Videos
Embedding videos from assorted hosting sites is absolutely no
work at all. Most video places include blog-embedding code so
people can do this very thing, and there's no reason at all not
to do so.
Providing a good video is a mental shortcut that can help foster
high quality content. If someone makes an insightful video on a
topic, including it can provide good discussion and your actual
blog entry can be an overview of the thoughts the video brings
up. Alternatively, this is a good way to find someone with faulty
ideas and provide a correction to their premises, again point by
point. Entire blogs and video blogs have been made on the concept
of lampooning or correcting the fallacies in other videos, so by
no means should you ignore this potential feeding ground.
Participate in Other Blogs
Your blog should have a list of other blogs you visit, and you
should be an active commenter on those blogs under your own name.
This is free advertising, particularly if you include a link to
your blog in your username. This is a common practice, and isn't
spam. However, mentioning your blog and shoehorning it into every
little conversation even if the topic under discussion is not on
your blog at all IS spam, and will be received poorly.
And other blogs are great places to find ideas, particularly if
these blogs are full of great discussion and content. Someone
might share a good idea that you can bring over to your blog and
write your thoughts about (of course including a link back to the
original blog). A writer might say something you particularly
agree with or vehemently oppose, but either way, if it gets you
thinking, you now have something to blog about.
Resist the Urge to Navel Gaze
Some blogs take a turn for the surreal and super insightful.
Sometimes this works, but often it does not. In his
posthumously-published autobiography, comedian George Carlin
discussed how his career went from performing at high-class clubs
with playful character comedy to a bizarre retro-hippy style in
which he discussed topics as banal as belly button lint. He
described the latter period as one of the worst in his career,
where people had essentially designated him as a historical
curiosity to be forgotten.
This isn't to say a blog should ignore topics of interest to the
blogger. If you aren't interested in your work, it will show and
the content will suffer. However, it is an admonition to pay
attention to your audience. Think about where the idea came from.
If the idea is genuinely your own, then do feel free to test it
out. However, don't ignore the reaction � if the interest is not
there, chalk it up as an experiment and move on. If the audience
does latch on, feel free to run with it.
Ideas that come from outside sources often are more interesting
to work with. Your own material is important, but connect it to
thoughts and concepts others are sharing. In short, build that
bridge between your thoughts and theirs, rather than trying to
bury them in your own disconnected speculations.
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Enzo F. Cesario is an online branding specialist
and co-founder of Brandsplat, a digital content
agency. Brandsplat creates blogs, articles, videos
and social media in the "voice" of our client's
brand. It makes sites more findable and brands more
recognizable. For the free Brandcasting Report go to
http://www.BrandSplat.com/ or visit our blog at
http://www.iBrandCasting.com/
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