Blogging is a lot like giving a performance onstage. You get up there. You deliver your best material. And then, you want to see people react.
You want to see the audience burst into applause. You want to see comments and likes and hearts and bookmarks and shares. You want to see people laugh and cry and feel spurred into action. You want to feel like you’re serving your audience—inspiring them, delighting them, and holding their attention, not boring them!
But in order to serve your audience, first, you need to understand what the people in your audience want and need. How can you figure this out? It’s not actually that difficult. Just ask!
Reach out to (at least) five current clients or people who feel like an “ideal client” or “dream client” for you. Ask questions. Find out what they’re struggling with right now. Listen attentively. Take notes. Then, create blog posts that are tailored to their needs.
You can ask questions like:
– What are your top three challenges right now when it comes to [topic]?
– If you could wave a magic wand and change anything about your [life / business / financial situation / home / relationship / health / whatever topic], what would it be?
– What would feel like a miracle for you right now?
– What’s something you’ve been dreaming about, something you’d really love to have?
– Is there anything you’ve been curious to know about [topic]?
– What keeps you up at night?
You can ask a couple of these questions on the phone, face to face, or you can do it online. Go to SurveyMonkey.com and set up a quick two or three question survey to send to your clients. You can also share your survey on social media or include a link in your next email newsletter. Or post it right on your blog. Keep the survey short and sweet. It shouldn’t take more than five minutes to complete.
Even if you only get a handful of responses, that’s still a good start! That will give you a little bit of information to work with. See if you notice any recurring themes that keep coming up, over and over. That’s what you ought to be blogging about—because that’s what your people want most.
For example, if twenty people complete your survey and over half of them mention something like this:
“I’m having major financial anxiety and it keeps me up at night. It’s really messing with my sleep and it’s impacting my health, too.”
Then you could write a blog post called something like this:
Stressed about money? 10 bedtime meditations for deep sleep and less anxiety.
In your post, you could include some words of comfort and reassurance, plus a curated collection of links to 10 free audio meditations that your blog readers will love.
Or, if several people say:
“I need to build a brand but I have almost no time and no budget. I’m just starting out. I have big goals but I’m broke AF.”
Then you could write a post called:
How to build an iconic brand in 15 hours with $500 dollars or less.
You get the idea. Listen closely to what your clients, customers, and readers need, want, and feel worried about. Then whip out blog posts that are custom-tailored to meet those exact needs. Your readers will love this. They’ll feel like, “Oh my gosh, you are reading my mind! You get me! You’re so helpful and this is exactly what I needed!”
This is how you’ll build a strong, loyal fan base for your blog. It’s all about listening—then serving up the goods on a silver platter.
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