Blogging is an art. It’s a medium for each person to express his views, experiences and findings uninhibited, through a story. A blog can be about any topic that you are familiar and comfortable with. It could be about technology, travel, lifestyle or even a blog about your most favourite food recipes. Unlike a social media app that just lets you post a picture or a status message, a blog helps you to write a detailed post on the message you want to convey. However the connect to a reader and an audience happens only based how well you tell the story.

Remember, a famous scene from the movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic.” The actress, who plays a role of a compulsive shopper, boils down a super complex financial process into a simple article equating it with shopping and importantly, easy enough for any layman to understand, with the pseudonym of “Girl in the Green Scarf.”

What do I blog about?

For someone who’s fresh off the Instagram boat and want to explore blogging, there are so many different niches that you can focus on.

• If its travel, your themes can be: luxury travel, solo/backpack travel, couple travellers, smart city itineraries
• If its fashion: fashion hacks, top brands you like, new collections in fashion, style statements
• If its food: places to eat in your city, top items to try in a specific city, recipes to make a dish
• If its technology: mobile reviews, hardware reviews, gaming reviews, AI
• Book Reviews, etc

Types of blogposts

Here are different options on the various blog post types:

• Listicles: A list of the top things to do in a certain place or even a compilation of the top brands for a category. With easy bulleted points, it scores high on the readability score as well.  Eg. Top 10 places to Visit in Paris. Top 5 Makeup Products. Top 4 Healthy Breakfast Recipes. 
• Factual: A detailed research piece on a specific event, place or health topic. Eg. Everything you need to know about Covid19, History behind the Taj Mahal in Agra.
• Personal Narrative: A personal experience of your recent tour or even something you want to share.  Eg. My experience of visiting XYZ salon. A review of the latest Amazon/Netflix movie.
• Guide:  A city guide (Belgium museum guide, 3 days in Switzerland guide) or a DIY guide to make authentic north Indian dishes, How to get flat abs in 30 days.
• Advice: A cautionary blog post. Something you advice your users to not do or do in a diferent way. Eg. How to protect yourself from Covid19.
• Story or a Photo essay: If you are a photo blogger, you can publish say 10 best pictures for a recent activity with good descriptions. Else you can write a story of any specific idea you have in mind. Stories work the best as the content will be unique and shares a unique perspective from your end.

Crafting a blogpost story

Let’s take an example of reviewing a mobile. Most people generally copy paste the technical specifications from the phone box and call it a “Mobile phone review.” But is it really a personal review?

Before writing about anything, ensure you have lived in that role, used the product or experienced a service. If it’s a phone review, use it for atleast 10 days before you start writing. List out every positive and negative you found while using the phone extensively.

Structure of the blogpost story

Keeping the phone review example in mind:

Problem Statement 

Why would the user need to upgrade to this phone? What is the problem the device is trying to solve. Eg. Photography lovers, but with a budget of only 15K, now can buy this Brand X mobile because it has Quad cameras inbuilt. People who face lagging interfaces can now buy this phone, as it comes with a Stock Android option etc.

Product Fit 

Why did the phone work for you? Budget with features or size of phone was good enough for your palm size. Any specific feature that you really wanted, which other phones in this price range lacked? Eg. I chose my current mobile because the mobile brand is known to last for 4-5 years easily.

Usage Experience

How was it using the phone say 12 hours a day? How many times did you have to charge the battery in between? How easy was it to multi task between 4-5 apps. Did the Bluetooth earphone connect seamlessly with the phone? Does it have a 3.5mm jack to connect to wired headsets? Was the fingerprint holder in the rear, side or front? How fast and accurate was the Face Unlock?

Drive to Action 

Where can you buy the product/avail the service, along with offers if available.

Key points to note while telling a story

• Your job is not to convince a user to buy.
• Your job is not to make a “promo” video of the phone for the brand.  

Your role is to “tell a story.” Not just a review, but a “personal experience” of using the product. This is when the audience gets to connect with you.  The audience subscribes to your posts/videos and waits for your next review. Your word is now their mantra. Your voice is their guide to buy. You now truly become an “influencer”.