BLOGGING 101 – The Content – Part 1

BLOGGING TIPS – The Content – Part 1


By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting CC April 2010

Over the next few weeks we will have a look at the type of content that you can blog with.  I will use some of my clients (their names will be changed) to illustrate what kind of information can be used when blogging.

Now remember I am a bit of a technophobe, so some of the stuff that I tell you about, I don’t actually use – well because I don’t know how to . . . !  It is however, on the list of things to do, so once I find a few minutes to sit with my very patient IT gurus, it will be added to my own blogs to enrich them and therefore enhance the output to my readers.

Whatever the business though, your blog needs to put you apart, so your content and the issues that you write about must create visions in the minds of the people that read them – no-one is going to read boring stuff, you have to capture the readers interest.  For example on a Friday my blogs are HR related.  I often take actual CCMA cases and turn them into stories of things that can and in fact do happen, not only to big Corporations but also to the one or two man businesses at the bottom of the ladder.

Now believe me, reading actual CCMA cases has got to be one of the most boring stuff ever to cross my desk and I can guarantee you that if I had to post it on the blog as I get it, no-one would be reading it and in fact many people would make the decision not to read any more of my blogs, going forward.  What is great though is that the content of what transpired at the CCMA is what is important and I have the ability to turn that information, through putting it into a story with protagonists that we can all relate to, into something that makes sense and is easy to read.  That is what makes it different and that is what makes it powerful and that is what makes the information readable and valuable to my readers – they can relate to the people in the story and in many instances they have been in similar circumstances and now they know exactly what to do.  That is one of the things that makes my content stand out from the rest.

One of the other tools that I use all the time is simply, simplicity.  I don’t use big words that have people rushing to dust off the dictionary.  My posts are in simple to understand language that most people can read and process, irrespective of whether they have a basic education or the CEO of a large Corporation with a string of degrees.  I know that if I get frustrated when reading something because the language gets too technical or the author has become over indulgent with his/her use of language, the article usually gets put down in favour of something that is easier to read and understand.

Most of all, my articles are also usually written with my own special brand of humour.  I know for a fact that most people don’t always ‘get’ my humour, but here’s the thing – I love to laugh at life!  I have fun with it and the truth is that if I don’t have fun writing the article, then what am I doing it for?  If I don’t have fun writing the article, then I will probably procrastinate to such an extent that the article will never get written – there goes my blog, my marketing and to some extent my Networking.  So always remember the ‘why’ you are doing this and always, always, always have fun.

See you next week!

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