1. Guidelines for Writing an Effective Blog

2. Blog Writing What is a Blog? How to Write An Effective And Compelling Blog Formatting Guidelines Summary

3. Blog Writing What is a Blog? It is a part of our social networking community It is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.

4. Blog WritingHow to Write An Effective And Compelling Blog Content Write about what you know The idea is establish your organization, yourself and your personal brand around a particular industry or specialty Choose subjects that current and readers are interested in If the information is compelling to visitors, they will share it with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

5. Blog WritingHow to Write An Effective And Compelling Blog Content Keep it to 500 words or less (this is not a doctorial thesis) Which implies that the content is keep at a high level and is, for lack of a better word, “dumbed down” Keep it fun Talk to your reader as if they were sitting in the room with you and you were having a conversation When appropriate, include links to other references, related articles, web sites, and media

6. Blog WritingHow to Write and Effective and Compelling Blog Visuals Incorporate images that are relevant to the content This keeps the reader from feeling overwhelmed when they visit the page Have information pertaining to the author A picture Short biography Contact information Has a series of definable categories that relate to its content

7. Blog WritingFormating Guidelines Title Should clearly articulate the topic of the blog Usually will ask a question, provide a list or give guidance on how to do something Examples: 5 Most Effective Sales Strategies How to Increase Membership During a Down Economy. Can I Deduct That?

8. Blog WritingFormating Guidelines Opening Paragraph Should be an attention grabber It identifies a problem or an issue Should be articulated in less than five sentences.

9. Blog WritingFormating Guidelines Body Should follow the format of your title. So if we are talking about the 5 Most Effective Sales Strategies, list them, give an example of why it is a good strategy and tell your reader how to implement it Again, keep it high level

10. Blog WritingFormatting Guildlines Closing paragraph or summary Summarizes the main points of the blog Closes in three sentences or less.

11. Blog WritingSummary Remember Write about what you know Keep it simple Engage your readers by offering relevant and simple to understand topics Before you know it, you will be know as one of the leading industry experts of Chicago