Re-Energize Your Blog: 10 Tips You Didn’t See Coming

A member of my RISE marketing community felt a bit stuck after blogging for a year. It occurred to me that I had not written about basic writing tips for many years, so let’s do that today.

Blogging still plays an important role in the digital marketing ecosystem, and it’s also a lot of fun. Here are some tips to re-energize your blog. Some are refreshers, some will be new to you …

1. Write “upside down,” meaning, tell the reader immediately what this story is about. Don’t make them work or they will leave. This is a non-obvious blogging tip because it is the opposite of what we’ve been taught in school — start with the introduction and work your way to the conclusion. Start your blog with the conclusion first.
2. Remove every word and sentence that doesn’t move the story along. Mark Twain famously quipped, “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Remove the fluff!
3. Read it aloud. If your post doesn’t sound like your natural voice when you read it out loud, re-write it.
4. Add your own story. This is a noisy world (and AI is making it worse!) To stand out, you have to be original, and to be original, you really have just one choice: Add your own story, perspective, and passion to the post. There’s only one you. If you have the courage to show your heart, you’ll stand out.
5. Be spiky. Publish something that can be challenged. Don’t be controversial for the sake of it, but offer an opinion that’s debatable. I wrote about this in detail here. There is no better to re-energize your blog than stirring up a little sh@t.
6. Help, don’t sell. I know some gurus encourage you to have a call to action in every post, but I disagree. Why would I subscribe to content that just sells me something every time? Serve the reader.
7. Double down on quality. You can trick somebody into clicking a link, but you can’t trick them into reading it or subscribing. If you ask any creator what drives subscriptions, they’ll respond, “quality.” I don’t use AI to create my posts, but if you’re not a natural writer, use AI to brighten your content through better editing, tone, and style.
8. Don’t overlook headlines. The most important part of your content isn’t the content—it’s the headline. People will decide to click or not based on their first impression. Don’t make it an afterthought.
9. Stick to a lane. Determine the content that best supports your personal brand and your learning journey and focus there or you will confuse the reader.
10. There’s no great writing, only great re-writing.

Re-energize your blog and don’t quit

In my Personal Branding Master Class, I take participants on a deep dive into the role of content and the importance of consistency and patience. I thought I would end my post today with my favorite quote about blogging success.

Sisters Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman started the “A Beautiful Mess” blog in 2007. The blog covers home decor, crafts, recipes, and lifestyle tips. Today, they oversee a profitable media empire.

But their success never would have happened if they had not started the blog and kept going. This is the quote from Elsie Larson that I love:

“I built a readership over the course of many years. I focused on quality posts that take a lot of time to write and develop, being consistent (I’ve been posting almost every day for several years), and being myself. The blog evolves as I evolve; it’s slow and steady. Nothing happened overnight. I have never paid a penny to advertise ‘A Beautiful Mess;’ I just kept doing my best and a readership developed over the years. It’s the product of hard work, constant evaluation, and lots of love.”

That sums it up, folks. Quality, consistency, slow and steady. The winning formula to re-energize your blog.

I appreciate you and the time you took out of your day to read this! You can find more articles like this from me on the top-rated {grow} blog and while you’re there, take a look at my Marketing Companion podcast and my keynote speaking page. For news and insights find me on Twitter at @markwschaefer, to see what I do when I’m not working, follow me on Instagram, and discover my RISE community here.

Illustration courtesy MidJourney