How to make your blog stand out

1. Tell your story with “The Hero’s Journey” model 

Tell your story by blending it in with your product or service. For example, are you a health professional who survived a heart attack?

Tell your story by making use of “The Hero’s Journey” model. Initially, there is a call to adventure but the hero (you) ignores it, until the call gets so loud the hero cannot refuse to hear it anymore. That’s when you face your deepest fears and take the plunge. You resurrect and return with the elixir.

Here’s my hero story. I started freelance writing back in 2010. That time, I had no connections in the industry. Heck, I didn’t even know I was going to delve into writing until the day I quit my IT job.

I dragged myself out of bed each morning to commute to work for nearly five and a half years, until finally, I stopped dismissing the urge.

So without clients, I started with a humble WordPress blog. I shared what I was learning as a writer, weaving it all together with my story. It was lame in many ways. My blog was a far cry from anything professional. But, people came. Gradually, I made connections with other bloggers because they connected with my story.

Without my story, I was a nobody. With it, I was someone with rich life experience.

My point? Bring YOU into the mix.

Want more articles like this? Check out the small business blogs section.

2. Showcase your uniqueness

What is your uniqueness? How can your prospects isolate you from competitors? When I think “cool online marketing” I think HubSpot. It’s a difficult position to hold and they do it well. It’s easy to isolate them from thousands of other similar competing blogs because they blend in humour with solid advice. You can do the same in your industry.

3. Pictures and text speak 10,000 words

If I asked you to taste the local baker’s strawberry mousse just once because it’s so fluffy and light and succulent, or I showed you a picture of the strawberry mousse; which one would get you drooling? The picture will win, hands down.

You may not be a great writer, but you can always combine your message with a simple visual. In the age of Big Data, no one spares more than eight seconds on your content, so you have to be darn good at it.

That’s eight seconds.

Visuals, on the other hand, are portable, snackable and shareable. And you don’t have to spend a fortune on graphic designers either. One example of a graphic design tool is Visme, a free app you can use to create marketing visuals such as Call To Action banners, presentations, infographics. Also, Canva is a great tool to create cool images with text overlays.

In a nutshell, sharing your story, celebrating uniqueness and including images are three excellent ways of ensuring your blog stands out from the crowd.

Is your head brimming with ideas? How are you going to implement the ones above? Share your thoughts in the comments.