Foolproof Meta-Guide To Finding A Captivating Topic For Your Blog
A blank piece of paper is the mortal enemy of writers everywhere. But before you start to write, you must try to understand your audience: those buzzin’ human brains behind the screens: what makes them who they are, and what will resonate with them?
If this step sounds a little pedantic to you, start by remembering the first law of blog writing:
In search for the perfect topic, always keep your audience front-and-center in you mind!
What you know about your audience personas, worldviews and their interests + Your own quirks and identity as a blogger = Winning formula
So, let’s break down the formula into a few questions that you can ask. We’ll also include some tips on how to find the answers to these questions.
1) Where are my followers from? The 20-80 Rule in action.
Cultural and national identities are arguably top of the list when it comes to understanding your readers. This is an area where spending 20% of your time will yield 80% of your audience insight. Knowing the answer to this question will give you the best chance possible to create a piece of content that will intrigue, delight and resonate with your readers.
For example, although our blog has a wonderful global audience, we do have a BIG readership in US, Canada and the UK. As a result, you can expect a good chunk of our blog posts to reflect the interest and cultures of the Anglo-internet-sphere and the news & issues that they are interested in.
Fedica: that’s us – big in the Anglosphere!
2) How old are they – Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z, oh my.
Readers are the product of their time. Your millennial readers, generation Y readers and baby boomer readers lived through very different eras. As a result, these readers have different views on just about every single topic imaginable!
Understanding the life stage and experience of your readers will tell you a trove of valuable things to keep in mind when you write to them. Here’s a few ones to consider:
- Their comfort level with technology and the internet culture.
- Your average 50 year old baby boomer may need to be told what Meerkat is (It’s not actually a small carnivoran belonging to the mongoose family) while your 22 year old millennial reader won’t need to be told and will roll their eyes at you if you tried.
- How to approach a certain topic:
- Your Millennials readers who are looking to grow their blog/web start-up don’t need to be provided with information about this “new marketing paradigm called social media“. Most of them live and breath it and already have that down. You could, however, give them information about how to adjust their approach to social media from a more casual, fun one to a more personal-branding centric / networking-focused approach. That kind of adjustment on your part, is what separates you from the other blogs!
3) What are the topics everyone’s talking about these days anyway?
Here at Fedica, we have an unfair advantage. All we have to do is glance at the Action Report on our homegrown Fedica console and it will tell me just that: what’s happening and what’s trending, based on my regions of interest.
See: daily topics on demand. Sweeeet.
Putting it altogether – The Fool Proof Method
Let’s do it together with an illustrative example. This is what I came up with this morning:
1. Audience: North America, Australia, UK, Spain, Middle East (from Fedica mapping function). Tech-savvy net citizens. Variable range of age. CHECK
2. Topics du jour: Start-ups / Marketing (freshly gathered from our Action Report intelligence, see above). CHECK
1+2: Here it is: “Foolproof Guide To Finding A Captivating Topic For Your Blog”.
Oooh. You didn’t see that one coming, did ya.
That’s a wrap for Part I in our series. Did you like it? Are there ways you use to come up with captivating topics to write about? Comment and let us know!