Content Marketing with Blogs: Who Are You Blogging For?

Who’s the Target Visitor you're aiming for when you're writing on your blog?

The "who" of your blog matters more than "what" your blog is all about.

It’s bigger than when or where or how, too. Here's an excerpt of a recent article by Easton Ellsworth of Visionary Blogging: How to Create Blog Content That Rewards Your Business Forever

Knowing why you’re blogging and who you’re blogging for is more fundamental than deciding anything else about your blog, including what to blog about.

When you’re birthing a blog, the why and who are the head and shoulders. After those emerge, the what and how come out quickly.

I've often said this to my clients and beginning bloggers who - with a gush of enthusiasm and passion - just want to start writing on a new blog before doing the preparation work. You've got to know the purpose of your blog AND who you're writing to.

Here's more from Easton:

Try to imagine the perfect visitor to your blog. 

• What is she like?
• What does she want that your blog can give her? 
• What problems does she have that you can solve through your blog?

For example, if your blog’s purpose is to help you sell ear plugs and your topic is going to be how awesome your custom made ear plugs are, then perhaps your ideal audience is a person who works at a busy airport or in a loud machine shop or at a shooting range. 

Maybe that person suffers from hearing loss or headaches because of their loud environment and they want to know where they can find good ear plugs that fit their ears just right and keep all the noise out.

A Bunch of Ways to Figure Out Who On Earth Your Blog Should Be For

• Observe carefully. Pay close attention to details. Pay extra close attention to the blogs and people whose examples you want to follow. Hang onto their every pixel and word.

• Experiment. The only way to know if a seed will grow into a tree is to plant it. If it grows, it’s a good seed. If not, either it’s a bad seed or its growing conditions are too poor. Similarly, you should have the courage to try things out on your blog and in your blogging routine. If they work, keep doing them. If they don’t, stop and consider changing your approach or replacing your idea.

• Imagine the future. Think of the possibilities and probabilities involved. Should your blog become a company? Depends in part on how many gray hairs or wrinkles you think that would give you.

• Remember the past. What to write about? Well, what worked before? That’s one good approach.

• Think about needs. For instance, what does your blog’s target audience need?

• Gather things together. It’s much easier to compare, say, possible blog niches if you’ve assembled a list of them in one spot.

• Narrow your field. Of vision, that is. Limit the options to make the right choice easier to discern. For example, instead of wondering which of a billion post ideas is best right now, you could force yourself to choose from among just three.

• Ask for help. Maybe someone in your blog audience, in your email contact list or in your apartment building has a better sense of discernment on a particular matter than you do. Maybe they’ve got access to a light source that you don’t. Or maybe they’re just positioned at a better angle.

• Write everything down. Well, not everything. But if you’re stuck in the discernment process, having a written collection of thoughts can help you begin to get clarity.

• Refresh your focus. Sometimes you lack discernment because you’re distracted.

If this makes sense to you, if it sounds like something that provides rich and meaningful insights for your blogging efforts, I highly recommend you click on over to the Visionary Blogging program by Easton Ellsworth.

He's got a membership program that will give you personal attention and professional guidance to get the most out of your business blog. I'm enrolled, and for $47/month, get really valuable tips - and I'm what most consider to already be an expert blogger!

His program is also about using social media. In the time I've been working with Easton (only a month), I've finished 3 informational products that will soon hit the market, grown my marketing database list, and been hired by new clients.

Of course, I've been doing the work too, and a lot of it. That's important. You can't join any training or mentoring program and expect it all to rub off on you. You've got to do the work. But that's fun when you see results! Hard work only hurts when it doesn't pay off.

I don't get any affiliate commission for this recommendation. I'm doing it because you, as readers of my blog, deserve to know about valuable resources when I find them. The Web is full of programs that promise get-rich-quick scams. You need to know about the ones that will make you money, the real way, the content marketing way, and programs that will deliver than they cost. Visionary Blogging is one of the best. Join now, before it gets too crowded!

Comments

[Jenny Pilley]

I think people fall in the trap of blogging because it's 'the thing to do' rather than providing informative content that focuses on their target audience. These tips are great Patsi, thanks.
I'll also be taking a look at the link that you've provided to help me out with my own blogging.

[Lydia, Clueless Crafter]

I think I've forgotten the power of pen and paper, of removing myself from the forum where I work so that I can brainstorm freely.

I want to get there again, to be closer to shaping the bigger plan for my blog that the everyday "house keeping" things that keep me from growing there.