The document provides tips and tricks for bloggers on how to craft effective blog posts. It discusses that blogging is a unique literary form that allows for different writing styles and global publishing. It recommends bloggers find their voice, keep posts concise while entertaining their audience, converse with readers through questions and calls to action, and promote posts on social media. The document also stresses the importance of communicating passion for the topic, making posts findable through tags and keywords, and ensuring posts have a clear purpose and benefit readers.

1. Blogcraft
or tips and tricks for bloggers
Andy Priestner, Cambridge Judge Business School

2. A unique
life form
 Blogging is a unique literary
form with its own rules and
techniques
 Latitude for different writing
styles, but generally more
informal and personal
 Immediate global
publishing, no barriers to entry
 Commentary from, and
interaction with, readers is key

3. Find
your
voice
 Imbue your posts with
personality and character
 Don’t be tempted to be
formal and dry (it can still be
professional)
 Think conversation rather
than broadcast
 Consider your audience at
all times

4. Short or long?
 Most say aim for concise and scannable
 But, sometimes it’s good (and right) to
explore in more depth
 Use subheadings to structure longer posts
 As long as its interesting, post length is
irrelevant

5. Entertain
your
audience
 Incorporate
humour, everyone wants to be
entertained
 Will help to show your
personality and build audience
 Makes your posts memorable

6. Converse
 Ask questions
 Employ ‘calls to action’
 Allow and respond to
comments
 It’s not just about you, make
it a conversation if you can

7. frequency
Time and
frequency
 Once you have an audience, seek
to retain them
 You can blog too much: “Hasn’t
he/she got anything better to do?”
 At least once a month, but ideally
more frequently
 Hit the zeitgeist!

8. Use hooks
 Craft a blogpost title that will make people
want to read it (it’s often the only thing that
will make people click through)
 The title should also convey the benefits of
reading the post and/or be the post in a
nutshell’
 Provoke controversy or debate
 Try a clever or compelling opening – a
quote, an anecdote, a statistic, a question
(think start of a great talk)

9. Make it
beautiful
 A picture paints a thousand words
 They forge emotional connections
 They grab attention
 Charts and diagrams add depth

10. Promote
your posts
 Allow readers to follow your blog
 Tweet your post
 Comment on other blogs
 Use internal links
 Write a follow-up post

11. Communicate
your passion
 ...for the subject matter
 Explain your point of view
 Care and others will care too

12. Make your
posts
findable
 Categorise your posts
 Use tags
 Think about the keywords you use

13. So what?
 Readers should not be able to
say ‘so what?’ in response to
your posts
 Consider your point carefully.
Do you have a goal for your
post?
 How does the post benefit
your readers?
 What impact does the post
make?
 What ambitions do you have
for your blog?

14. The more you blog the
better you will blog (fact)

15. All images sourced from Flickr Creative Commons
Credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jakebryant
http://www.flickr.com/photos/azrasta/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/danialvarezfotos/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/drakegoodman
http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_lightwave
http://www.flickr.com/photos/darwinbell
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mutantmandias
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuckincustoms
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dexxus
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nalbertini
http://www.flickr.com/photos/practicalowl
http://www.flickr.com/photos/minow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waltstoneburner
http://www.flickr.com/photos/antoniocha
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilouque

16. Happy blogpost
crafting!
Blog: libreaction.wordpress.com
Twitter: @PriestLib
Email: ap547@cam.ac.uk
LinkedIn: uk.linkedin.com/in/andypriestner/