Llama wrangling, pirate blogs, and fish bonkers

A cryptic headline… a shocking comment… an air of mystery and reckless abandon - mix it all up with some certifiably INSANE pronouncements on your blog and what do you get?

… A stream of people wondering what the heck you’re talking about!

And that’s exactly what you WANT.

Your blog posts need to be informative, entertaining, and utterly unique. When you say the same thing everyone else is saying, no one’s going to listen.

You need to capture your readers’ attention. Yes, capture. Like with a big net.

The best blog posts have a headline that stops you in your tracks. And they follow it up with something that makes you curious to read more. It’s just like fishing - after you get the fish in the net, you need to bonk it on the head with a stick so it doesn’t go anywhere.

Flush conventional wisdom down the toilet and offer a revolutionary insight! Say something perfectly preposterous, like how blogging is like wrangling llamas, that you can then support with a real story or case study.

Share one of your secret opinions and then - here’s the key - ask your readers to either prove you’re wrong or chime in with stories of how you’re right.

Starting a conversation is easy on a blog, and it’s a well-known fact that people on the Internet LOVE to share their opinions with others. Ask a question, like, "who would make a better blogger, Han Solo or Captain Jack Sparrow?" (Personally, I don’t think either of them would post regularly, and Han Solo would exaggerate more, but at least he’d be sober.)

Asking for your readers’ opinions and genuinely caring about their responses shows respect for your readers, and I guarantee they’ll return that respect with comments.

So what’s your favorite blog or blogging strategy?