What do Hot Cross Buns and Blog Posts Have in Common?

byMarkBa

2.1K followers

Updated 6 years ago

The answer to that question is...

EVERYTHING - when you put two and two together as I did this past week.

Perhaps you've experienced something similar yourself?

You take a bite of food that promises to taste amazing, only to be bitterly disappointed.

Instantly, dissatisfaction wells up inside you. You feel let down; angry that you've been deceived.

A couple of days ago I took a bite of a hot cross bun that promised to be fresh, full of fruit, spicy and delicious.

Instead, what I got was a mouthful of dry dough which I'm sure would have compared well with cardboard had I eaten that.

There were no more than three raisins to be seen in the whole bun and as for flavor, ....there was none. It was bland, dull and boring.

Let me say here that I am a self-proclaimed hot cross bun connoisseur. This is not for any reason other than I have eaten them all my life. An Easter tradition in all the countries I've lived.

I've also tasted some of the best, my mom and grandma's home baked versions to the top of the list!

But this was a supermarket hot cross bun.

Why did I even think it was going to be a wonderful experience?

Marketing!

The ads were catchy, packaging alluring, and copywriting brilliant. Plus which, when I peeped through the brown paper covering and cellophane window, they looked every bit as good as described.

So what does this have to do with blog posts? Everything.

Have you ever clicked on a blog post link because of it's captivating title, intriguing image and provocative subtitles, only to be just as disappointed when it came to reading the article?

I know I have.

In fact, I often come across content wrapped well from a marketing point of view but when you get to it, it's blah blah blah, the same as everything else.... YAWN! CLICK!

This hot cross bun experience has reminded me to take care with my own content.

I want to make sure that what I offer as my content is in complete alignment with the marketing promises.

Here are 10 ways I'll be doing this and which you may find helpful too.

1. Ensure people get what they expect when they type a keyword into Google and find your post. In other words it must be 100% relevant - to them, not to you.
2. Ensure your title delivers on the benefit it promises. Give them what you tell them you're going to give them. When you've finished writing your post check you've done that.
   
3. Don't set out to purposefully deceive readers with clever titles that don't match your content. Yes someone may click on your link once but they will never be back once they realize they've been tricked.
4. Ensure your first line and first paragraph is so intriguing that visitors want to read to the end. Of course the rest of your article must deliver too!
5. Aim to connect with just one other human being. Write conversationally as you would when writing to help one other person, like a friend.
6. Don't sit on the fence. Have opinions. State these boldly and stand by them. You're not writing to be liked by everybody.
7. Let your personality show through your writing. If someone else was to read your article without knowing who had written it, would they instantly know it was you who wrote it? How would they know?
8. Use analogy and personal stories to illustrate your points. This is what livens up dry facts and instructions.
9. Use emotive language in your writing which appeals to people's emotions and senses. You want to engage people's feelings that's when they are moved and become action takers.
10. Ensure every word you write conveys and supports the reason why you're in business. (Hint - your main reason is not to make money!)

In other words I want my posts to be as I like my hot cross buns - full of fruit, fragrant, flavorsome and satisfying.

By the way if you're not familiar with or don't like hot cross buns, substitiute with something that makes sense to you.

If your writing doesn't excite you when you read it then it's hardly likely it will excite anybody else.

Become the editor in chief of your own posts, not just checking for spelling, grammar and accuracy but for YOU in your writing.

Happy Writing and Happy Easter and Pesach to those of who observe these.