Written by:
2009/10/16 09:40 AM 

People blog for many reasons. Some blog professionally while others just do it for the fun of it. But whatever the reason, make sure your blog is actually useful to others who are and will be reading it. If your blog is not solving a problem or fulfilling a need or desire amongst your readers then you’re unlikely to see them return.

Now the needs and desires don’t have to be enormous or earth shattering. If you’re just meeting a single need, or answering a simple question you will not only be making their day a whole lot better, but you will also be building a community.

This post is inspired much by a conversation I had with a good friend, Mike Cliff Jones. On his blog Mike’s Life from a post entitled Should you go down the membership site route? There Mike talks about membership sites. One of my comments was that the site has to be useful. People won’t pay for rubbish. It has to meet a need. But then I read another post from Darren Rowse about a blog being useful, and it got me thinking. Not only should pay sites be useful but all blogs should be useful.

Don’t have a blog that is full of useless dribble and thousands of meaningless words that are thrown together without passion or direction. If that is your blog, then people will not want to read it let alone stay, come back for more or even tell their friends about it.

How can a blog be useful.

Their are many ways to make a blog useful. Here are just a few thoughts to ponder upon.

Educate. People desire knowledge. Nobody knows everything. Your blog can educate people. You have a skill, you have knowledge. Let that loose on the world. Write tutorials, answer questions, solve problems.

Inform. People want to now what the latest news is, or what the latest trend is. What’s hot and what’s not.

Entertain. Sometimes there are too many serious things going on in the world around you. Many want to sit back and relax and be entertained. People want to laugh, and cry. They want to know what the latest gossip is. They seek adventure.

Thought Provoking. People want their minds challenged. They want to exercise their intellect. They want to be exposed to new points of view.

Debateable. Nothing draws people to a topic than a good solid debate. People want to engage. They want to voice their opinion. They want to argue. A controversial and informative post will stir up a nice debate. Get people talking.

Build a community. No man is an island. People don’t like to be alone, They seek company. They desire to be with friends who share the same thoughts and interests. People have a strong desire to belong. Belong to something that is worthwhile. Your blog can build up such a community.

Is your blog useful?

I suppose this is a question we should all be asking ourselves. Whether you are a seasoned blogger or just a beginner, you have to ask the question every time you write a post. If you cant answer that question positively, then throw the post away and start over. Have each post enhance someone's life in some way. Reach out to people and change their life. Become a part of their journey.

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