Archive for July, 2009

We’re told that publishing a blog is a great way to market our freelance businesses. That’s easier to say than it is to do. The hardest thing about blogging, for me, is finding topics that interest me enough to spend the time, AND that other people want to read. A blog is not a press release, after all, so traditional PR/marketing language just doesn’t cut it.

What makes a good blog topic?

According to Andy Sernovitz of SmartBlogs.com, the three major characteristing of a good blog topic are:

1. Emotion. Share stuff that you feel strongly about, especially stuff that makes you happy.
2. Brevity. A blog topic should be portable. Your main point should be dramatic and pithy. It should fit on a t-shirt or in a Twitter tweet. Seriously. Seth Godin has made an international reputation as a marketing guru with blog posts that are, at most, three short paragraphs. Yes, he could write a book on it. In fact, he probably has. But he doesn’t (at least, not in his blog).
3. Quotable. Your blog topic should be understandable and easy to remember. You want your readers to pass it on to others (with your name attached, of course). As Sernovitz says: “If someone has to make an effort to remember what to say, they won’t say anything.”

See more of Andy Sernovitz’ blogging and social media tips at:

SmartBlog On Social Media: The 3 characteristics of a great word of mouth topic.