[tentblogger-vimeo 24054062]
[This is part of the Developing Great Blog Content Series.]
I’ve shared before in this epic post on focusing your content strategy that you want to create a blog that leverages fully your passions, strengths, and unique elements of value that only you have.
But, there’s an “X Factor” element that I have found that really helps people answer the question of what they should specifically write about for their blog or what particular niche they should target.
The element surrounds this idea of curiosity – those specific things in life that have continually kept you curious and wanting to know more about those things.
I have found that when people answer this question they can sometimes more effectively and quickly determine what they want to write about for their new blog than just answering the typical questions about “passion”; I mean, you’ve heard it tons of times:
What are you passionate about? You should write about that…!
You see, I just don’t see that question and the resulting answer to be the absolute best judge of what one should blog about.
As I share in the video above there are tons of things that we are all passionate about but most of them aren’t the best things to write about in our targeted blogs. I gave the example of frozen yogurt and I’m seriously passionate about that stuff – if I had the money I’d invest in every company that creates awesome frozen yogurt!
But it’s not what I need to be writing about and although I’m “passionate” about it I’m not necessarily curious about it, especially to the level that would qualify it really well for a focused blog!
Think long and hard about this idea surrounding curiosity and think about the things that you’ve been curious about historically throughout your life. I bet you’d find some interesting things to consider writing about! What’s nice about these things is that since you’ve been curious about them for quite some time the question of “sustainable interest” has already been answered!
And for those that have already decided their one or two things that they are going to really focus-fire on – perhaps you could take a moment and look at those topics through the rubric and grid of curiosity and see what you find.
Let me know how it goes, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
[This is part of the Developing Great Blog Content Series.]
There are LOTS of things that I am curious about. I think curiosity is part of the creative drive. Though I am curious about a LOT, I definitely don’t need to be blogging about most of it, haha!
This is a good question to be aware of though, because if you’re curious about something long enough, who knows what direction it may grow you in.
it’s the time ingredient that’s pretty important!
John, a bit off-topic, but related…what do you think about the art of the tease, as it relates to curiosity? So many bloggers seem to tease readers with clever headlines. In some cases, the headline is teasing, but our curiosity isn’t satisfied by the content of the blog post. It’s a bait and switch tactic that can leave us disappointed, even feeling fooled. It’s a bit off-topic because it’s an approach of curiosity from the reader’s point of view, not the writer/publisher’s. Thanks!
link bait is a strategy that works all the time. i think it can be done in good taste… at times, but if you do it too much without substance people will leave in droves.
The biggest thing for me as far as curiosity goes is Photography. I want to dive deeper into that and blog about it more. Can’t wait for your ProPhoto WordPress theme to come out to showcase some of my photography.
can’t wait to show you……. this week……!
I don’t have time for my curiosities. And it’s killing me.
sad story!
That’s a fantastic way to ask the question: “What are you curious about?”
What do I want to continue learning about? What pikes my interest? I only recently narrowed that down enough to focus my blog on it. To be 100% honest it may not be quite as narrowed as it could be, but I’ve gone as far as I can for awhile. =D
talk to me here… what is “narrow” to you? what did you come up with?
Great stuff! I am very passionate about the stuff I am writing about now (stuff on leadership and Christian life) and electric guitars!!!
did you read this post? it wasn’t about passion… it was about curiosity.
Alright, so I have come to realize this point in my short blogging career. (career is very loosely used) I have found it easy to write about things I am interested/passionate about but almost impossible to maintain highly motivated content on a regular basis.
Now, I’m struggling with the idea of changing my twitter and facebook handles/urls. Balancing the personal side with my blogging efforts is probably and ongoing effort. I guess much of it will come more automatically than planned. (?)
there’s a balance between plan and “luck” as i call it. mostly the latter.
What a great way to think about it! The sustainable content part really hit home with me. I’ve been doing some more digging into different aspects of a wabi-sabi lifestyle, and the more I learn, the more rabbit trails I uncover. Then its, “Hey, look, that could be a post or a series.” Curiosity really does drive a lot of my content. Thanks for adding to my awareness!
sure thing jen!
Wow, that’s a really good point. I think it highlights one of the things that you, John, do so well: be a knowledgeable authority while still humbly remaining a learner yourself.
loren,
i appreciate this. it’s tough… but i try not to forget where i came from… and, i have still much to learn.
heads-down and working hard!
I’ve been working through this thought with my blog. The content is fairly focused but the curiosity factor is where I think I plan to improve. Not my curiosity so much as my writing posts that other people are curious about!! See how we go.
send me a link to a post that does this well when it happens…..!
John,
I’m only repeating what others have said already but it’s true. What am I curious about and always have been? How can I turn my curiosity into fodder for a sustainable blogging material? Those are great questions to help focus my writing. Thanks for stirring the creative juices and putting another helpful tool into the hands of your readers (at times a scary thought).–Tom
sure thing tom! did you come up with anything?
Yes, I have. It’s percolating right now, not ready to write much less publish. In the meantime,I’m focused in my blogging and you’ve given me two specifics to work on–curiosity and controversy. I don’t want to just be curious or controversial for their own sakes but I do recognize those two things stimulate me when I read someone else’s blog, oh, let’s say, someone’s like, well, yours. Can anyone say blogroll?
haha! have you seen my thoughts on blogrolls?
http://tentblogger.com/blogrolls/
Why, yes, I have. Have you read my comment on your thoughts on blogrolls? Why,yes, you have. =D
hah!
Love your Blog, John!
I’ve been curious from early age on about the power and manifest presence of God and his kingdom released on the earth through normal people. It’s one of these things that you’re never done learning about. Even after I saw over a thousand people saved in my town, I’m still having so many questions
I actually just started a WP Blog about the topic of revival lifestyle, but am still in the the design/set up phase.
Have a question off topic: How did you manage to assign your blog-categories to specific pages? Couldn’t figure it out yet and hope it’s doable without html coding…
Daniel
Love your Blog, John! It’s helped me a lot so far!
I’ve been curious from early age on about the power and manifest presence of God and his kingdom released on the earth through normal people. It’s one of these things that you’re never done learning about. Even after I saw over a thousand people saved in my town, I’m still having so many questions
I actually just started a WP Blog about the topic of revival lifestyle, but am still in the the design/set up phase.
Have a question off topic: How did you manage to assign your blog-categories to specific pages? Couldn’t figure it out yet and hope it’s doable without html coding…
Daniel
my theme does that for the most part…
http://tentblogger.com/standard-theme/
Thanks for your reply!
I’ve already purchased a theme, that fits perfectly to my brand design: http://themeforest.net/item/magnifizine-magazine-business-wordpress-theme/81920
How much would it cost me to get somebody to fix that in my theme?
Are you doing custom work like that?
depends. themeforest themes can sometimes be really broken.
Daniel,
When I started a blog a few months ago, I picked up a premium theme based on the design. I made a few minor modifications myself like changing background colors and fonts.
The problem was that the theme was messed up. It was slow loading and it was buggy. When I dug around in the code, I found that it was pretty sloppy and there were a lot of work-arounds that were really suboptimal.
Now, I’ve moved over to the Standard theme (actually within the last two or three weeks). I would strongly recommend you choosing a theme based on its functionality, load time, and code tightness.
It’s real easy to adjust the look of a theme that you chose because it was coded well. Not so easy to clean up the code of a theme you chose because it looked nice.
Guess you guys are right.
I thought any theme would have a basic functionality like assigning specific blog-categories to specific blog-pages…
That’s really the only thing I’m missing on the one I have right now.
a little code would do it… but that depends on how comfortable you are!
ah, thanks loren!
Hi John,
It is very important to write about what we know best. I have written a series “How to convert your hobby to business” , where I talked about how a hobby can be converted to a business. It exactly rhymes with your post here.
The art lies in converting the things we feel passionately about and somehow turning them into viable businesses.
I write about entrepreneurship because I feel passionate about it.
Great post.
Thanks
Ashvini
love that! what is the link?
Here
Regards,
Ashvini
thanks ashvini! looks like a great series!
Thanks John. Asking this ‘new’ question has really got me thinking. And areas I might have ignored I’m paying more attention to.
sure thing kyle!
Great point John. I think you hit it on the head by saying that something you are curious about tends to be the subject that you have magazines stacked up in the corner of the room on. Or the thing you find yourself reading when you have a little down-time. For me… that subject as also become technology as it pertains to the web-space. That said… I am also deeply curious about a lot of other technological categories. As you know, the internet is full of these sorts of blogs. It seems the hard part sometimes is that the blog I would like to start has already been started.
i think we talked about this at story last year… right?
also… how are things with you?
Yes I think we may have touched on this at Story. I’ve been working on my re-focus and wrote this post last night after reading this post. http://www.gbrenna.com/tagline/
Thank you for such a great video. It really clarfied some thing I’ve experienced just this week. It is that power of the X factor and literally building a blog from community first instead of SEO first.
This is the first blog I’ve written with a strong intetionality from the structure of the site to the content on it. It is cool to see people resonating with it.I think it is because I have been able to get really clear on who the blog is for and what I want to be doing with it.
Of course the community I have been working with is a large part of my current success.
http://www.scoop.it/t/sits-31dbbb?tag=Day02-List-Post
All amazing posts!
susan,
great stuff! blog for people… not for search engines!
I’ve been a little overwhelmed with the work I have to do thus far from this series, but this one was encouraging because I realized that’s exactly what I was doing, capitalizing on my curiosity. The Christian community talks a lot about WHAT God’s design is for sex, but I have always wanted to know more on WHY he designed things the way he did. And why the other options are so appealing. Sometimes though I get the feeling that I’m answering questions that no one else is asking. Do you ever feel that way when you write from curiosity?
yes. but never feel you’re alone. as we odd as that might be, there are others wrestling with very same things.