AdventureDad

Last week I wrote a few lines about how to attract readers to your blog.  My input was limited and instead pointed to Jay over at The Zero Boss  who had some great suggestions for anyone who has a blog or is thinking about starting one.  Due to popular demand, Jay is back with another write-up about blogging.  This time he looks more at writing posts based on news in his post Not Necessarily The News: Writing News-Based Blog Posts.  A couple of my favorites are relating the story to your personal life and leverage your own expertise.  Using personal examples can make a story much more interesting and give it another perspective.  Like my post on The Blogfathers about possibly killing severely damaged newborns which received this fantastic response from Vinnie.  Using your expertise can also be a great way to share what you know.  We are after all experts at something, aren't we?

Relate the story to your own life. What personal impact does a story about gay marriage, or bullying, or the trade deficit have on you? What life experiences have you had that make that story compelling? How will your life be changed by the story? How might a piece of proposed legislation effect your life? This is the same tip as above, just from a different angle. The underlying them? Make the story personal.

Leverage your own expertise. If you’re a professional in your field, your opinion on stories related to your profession is worth its weight in gold. If you’re a CPA, you obviously have an expert’s angle into a story on proposed changes to the tax laws. If you’re a doula, you can provide an informed rebuttal to a story that questions the safety of home births. Don’t be shy about sharing what you know. The “experts” quoted in newspaper stories aren’t any better or worse at their job than you are; they were simply in the right place at the right time.

Head on over to The Zero Boss and enjoy the complete post.

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