Thanks to my good friend Buck from BuckDaddyBlog.com, I’m going to take a stab at re-writing the original Making the Most From a Short Blog Post to see if I can improve on the readability. PLEASE, check out both posts and drop a comment in either one to let me know which one was the better read. I’m aiming to keep the story the same, just a little better layout. Thanks for humoring me, and thanks to Buck for prodding me!

As bloggers, we often feel as though we have to pen the perfect rendition of a modern day War and Peace for each post. We slave and suffer over word selection, sentence structure, and word count. How long is the perfect post? Shouldn’t they always be over 500 words? I’m stuck… what do I do!?!

First, let me reassure you… every piece doesn’t have to be the perfect piece. They don’t have to be novella length dissertations and you’re not going to fail the class if you don’t get it just right. In fact, short blog posts can be very powerful and many readers will appreciate them. Lets face it, sometimes we’re asking our readers for a pretty hefty investment to read the post we slaved over… so most won’t.

When you need to make a blog post short, keep these key blog post elements in mind:

Define and declare your Main Point (a.k.a. your thesis)
This is the WHAT of your post. Define your point that your making quickly and clearly. Complex points are not good candidates for a short blog post, so break down a complex topic. The short form post needs to have a single topic and be able to articulate it in one sentence, preferably early on in the post. Extra points if you get it in the post title!

Make your argument
You’ve told your readers what (your main point), now tell them SO WHAT. Why is your main point important to them. Remember, you are writing to your reader, not your self. You have something to say and you want them to buy in… give them a good reason.

Elicit a Response
Make a solid call to action… your NOW WHAT part of your post. If you want your readers to leave a comment, ask them. If you want them to retweet your blog post, ask them. Oh, and don’t forget to make it easy for them. Asking them to subscribe to your newsletter is great… but don’t make them go looking for the link!

So, this is a pretty short post… at least for me, only 350 words so far (now a smidge over 500 with the edits). And hopefully I’ve been able to convey the what, so what, and now what of my main point. Oh, wait… I forgot the now what… sorry.

What’s your preference? Long thorough post? Short, to the point posts? Or something in between? Drop a comment below and let me know. And give some good reasons why, I’ll work those in to the next writing tips post!

If the writing tips help, share them with other people. Use the retweet, facebook or other links below to spread the word. I really appreciate it!

@jtrigsby

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