5 Tips for Beefing Up a Short Blog Post

This is a guest post by Linda Dessau of ContentMasteryGuide.com

In How to Be a Weekly Blogger, I remove the pressure of having to write a feature article for your blog every week.

Instead, I suggest that you aim to write one feature article per MONTH, and then in the weeks in between you can play off that topic with connective content.

Connective content combines your expertise and opinion with something that's already been created; whether that's a post on your own blog or someone else's, or a movie, book, website, product or story that relates to the topic of that month's feature article.

How to turn a blog post into an article

The funny thing about relieving pressure is that it can really open a channel for creativity. You may produce some wonderful content this way, and you may decide that it deserves a bigger audience - whether that's via an article directory or as a guest post on another blog.

But since connecting posts tend to be shorter than feature articles (I recommend 250 words as a broad guideline), you may need to make some alterations before you can share this content in other settings. Some article directories, for instance, require a minimum of 500 words.

Here are five tips for how to beef up your blog post and turn it into an article:

1. Show as you tell - Provide an example that supports what you've written, such as a personal story, a client story, or something about a well-known public figure. Note: If you have (or want) a global audience, be sure to provide enough context that the story is relatable even if the reader hasn't heard of the person.
2. Set the stage - Introduce your article with some standalone text such as a quote or a powerful question. Or use your opening paragraph to get your readers' attention and compel them to keep reading. What's in it for them if they do? Why is this an important topic for their particular situation?
3. Work them up - As they finish reading your article, inspire your readers to take an action or make a change. Give them hope that if they do, they will see better results in their business or personal lives (depending on who is your ideal client).
4. Sprinkle in some stats - Support your main point by sharing numbers and facts (charts and graphs are powerful as well, but won't do anything to add to your word count). You can also reference other bloggers, authors and experts and describe their findings or opinions.
5. Mine your mountain - Look to your own collection of content for phrases, sentences or even entire paragraphs that you can bring over into the post. Freshen them up and rework them for this new setting. This reinforces the core message of your blog, plus it's likely these new audiences missed it the first time around. 

If you've written a blog post you love, there's no need to keep it hidden on your blog just because of a low word count. Try beefing it up with these tips and get it in front of some new eyes.

Linda Dessau, CPCC, is the author of Write Your Way to More Clients Online and the founder of ContentMasteryGuide.com. She'll be delving into how to create powerful openers and closers for your blog posts in the free training webinar, How to Write a Blog Post. Click here for the details.

Do you have any short blog posts you've wanted to share in other settings? How might you apply these suggestions?

Comments

[jody stagg]

Love these tips, as always.

[Linda Dessau]

Thanks, Jody!

[David Newby]

Nice tips Linda. Thanks for this post.

[Linda Dessau]

Thanks for your comment, David. I'm glad you enjoyed the article.

[CF Winn]

Thanks for the timely tips. Been working on a blog (only in my head so far) all day long.These will come in handy since I'm about to start writing.

[Scarlettimage]

This is great advice. I could easily split up and expand the fashion and shopping tips I put into my posts.
Thank you

[Linda Dessau]

Thanks, Scarlett, that's great to hear.

[Cindy Schulson]

Great tips Linda! Thank you. I'm all about creating leverage and helping my clients create leverage in their business.

Regarding tip #5, you're so right that people won't mind at all if you take some material from other posts/articles/products and add it there. In fact, I think people really appreciate it when you help them connect the dots and pull all the pieces together in an easy to follow guide.

[Linda Dessau]

Thanks, Cindy! I think I was surprised by that one initially, but as I've been applying it for myself and for clients I can see how well it works.

[Extreme John]

I think that would be a great idea to write one feature article per month. It is very great to read great articles from here. Thank you very much for sharing this thoughtful advice.