Blogging 101 - The Content - Part 5

BLOGGING TIPS – The Content – Part 5


By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC May  2010

One of my greatest complaints about blogs and  . . . well any kind of written piece actually, is the language or terminology that is used.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not talking about foul (bad) language or disparaging remarks of any kind, I am talking about the frustratingly difficult terminology that some folk use to try and impress.

Quite frankly, I am the least impressed and all that they really achieve is bamboozle those that they are actually wanting to reach out to and they seriously confuse the rest of us.

What’s the deal anyway?  Why is it necessary to use big words that often don’t even mean what you want to convey, instead of just telling it like it is?  It becomes a whole ‘bullshit baffles brains’ (and we all know exactly what that means) kind of article.

What does it mean anyway, if I know big words and use them?  What have I proved at the end of the day?  Pretty much nothing hey!

Most likely, I have chased a whole lot of potential readers away.  Most probably, they will never return again and it’s very, very  likely that they will go elsewhere to feed their information requirements.

Using big words, when a little one explains so much more, just shows in my opinion, that you are perhaps just a little frightened of being . . .  well you.

Playing ‘devil’s advocate’ however, means that I get to share some of my favorite words that are no longer used much anymore in today’s terms.

Words like “umbrage” and “pontificate” have a sense of the dramatic and they conjure pictures of long lost days and ‘throwing down the gauntlet’ and honor amongst men (and women too) and . . .  see there I go again.

Using simple words that everyone can understand on a topic that you are passionate about in a field that you are the expert in (or that you have hopefully done the research on) is all that you really need to get the reader interested and sure to keep coming back.

So keep it simple!

See you next week, when we will look at some more issues around some of the content that should be on/in your blogs.

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za