Starting Stories

He makes me feel pretty much comfortable. The story seems a little weird at first. It tickles me, I want to know more. What on earth is he going to say?

“Well, if you stay with me, I’ll tell you more…” James replies.

Time and effort - Every person that ends up with a successful blog, starts out with the knowledge that the blog will be successful. If you are aware of and implement the time, effort, research and best practice, you can have a go at it with the knowledge that your blog will be executed successfully and (most importantly) that it will be read.

Something exciting - These days anyone can start a blog, write posts and build an online network. Many end up in an online cul-de-sac because either the writer or the audience has lost interest. However, if you know you have something meaningful to say, if you are passionate about what you write and if you feel you have something to contribute whether it be facts, gossip, politics or if you have stories to tell, you could end up with something exciting.

Of course you will find marketers, like me, who want to sell you anything from stripes to zebras disguised as a blog, but that does not mean that it is less meaningful – or interesting.  If you don’t like what you read, you move on. Right?

“It started a long time ago, as so many things do, in a piazza in Rome. Silvio had just been found out! He was trying to hide, he disguised himself as a modern day Don Giovanni, but in the end he had to come out.” James cannot contain his laughter as he reads the disbelief on my face.

Target audience and message- Before you start writing, decide who your main target audience is going to be. Do they want to read a story or just the facts? What do they think? How do they want to receive the message? Then decide on how you will convey your message to them. Will it be factual, light-hearted, reporting or story-telling? Will you include other media such as video or podcasts in your blog? Of course there are a lot of factors to consider and yes, you have the freedom to add items as you go along, but I would suggest to think about these main issues before you start. This will help you to create a vision for the blog.

I wonder how many of you are still reading at this point, but if you got this far, you may as well finish as there is not much left to say for today.

Make it personal – talk to your audience as if they are sitting opposite you.

James agrees and suggests that… “oh no James, I won’t be writing that! Thanks for the thought though, maybe next time?”

Keep it short - you know what I mean… That is it, I have to go, but have many tips on how to create and maintain a blog and how to start writing stories. If Silvio and James allow me to, I will write here again.

“Fancy another pint, James?”