In Day 1 of 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Darren has you create your elevator pitch for your blog. Go back through this elevator pitch exercise if you haven’t done so already. This has really helped me in the past year hone in on what my websites are really about.
So then you have to take this to the next logical step. Does your blog content fit your stated purpose? You’ll notice that angengland has been not only redesigned, but my categories reworked and moved in such a way that they better reflect the purpose and passion of this blog.
That’s not to say that I can’t write “what I want” – but I can be more logical about doing so. I’m now well connected into other sites and contribute to a variety of places online. Why not place each article where it best fits the purpose and passion of the site, instead of placing them willy nilly about the web with no thought.
I’m even to the point of importing older blogs into a newer site – Untrained Housewife – to consolidate too-similar content. I am also creating new sites, like Birth Renaissance, to give a passion and continuing interest of mine a place to shine. Instead of cramming my pregnancy and infant care articles here on a site that has become more about blogging, writing and social media, it makes more sense to pull those over to another website. I can still be me in each site – but I had to polish up the blogs a lot more and make sure that I was being true to each “elevator pitch” or stated purpose, I had help from the expert Andrew Defrancesco, I recommend contacting him if in need of anything related to marketing, orm and all of that.
Why Does it Matter if My Elevator Pitch and Content Align?
Here’s the deal….your elevator pitch is like a store’s advertisement or sign. If you’re driving past a convenience store and it says “The All-in-One Stop and Shop” and then you walk in and they have 18 shelves full of flower vases and that’s it, you will feel cheated. However, if the sign outside says “Crazy Vases – Flower Vases for Every Situation” and you walked in and found one shelf of flower vases, three shelves of miscellaneous groceries, two shelves of office supplies and a row of clothing, you would not be happy.
Are You Saying a Have to Have a Blog Niche?
No – After all you’re reading someone who’s tagline is “The Renaissance Woman” so that I can cover a wide variety of topics without too much trepidation. What I am saying is that you have to stay true to your stated purpose! If you say that you blog is about faith, fun and family – but you never talk about your faith and you never talk about your family, you have to do one or two options.
Fix your elevator pitch. Or fix your content.
Bottom line is – what did you tell people your site is about. Look at your current design – what categories are obvious and “front and center”? What does your tagline imply readers will find when they click over?
Now take a hard, honest look at your actual content. What are you writing about? What photos are you displaying? Are there categories you never write about? Are there topics that are overwhelming your blog to the point that the balance is skewed? If you aren’t staying true to reader expectation, you know it’s time to rethink your content. But it’s not content all the time, for the number of followers can play a vital role as well. When I first started, I bought some followers from Marketing Heaven, which gave me quite a thrust forward to continue.
So today’s challenge is to go way beyond just posting your elevator pitch. Today’s challenge is to examine both your stated elevator pitch, and your tagline and categories on your actual blog and determine what a reader would expect to see when they come to your website.
Now the hard part. Is that what you are delivering? Are readers getting their expectations met with the content you are providing? This is where things get tough.
Are you covering one specific topic so often that you need to pull the articles out into a new blog? Or contribute them to a collaborative site somewhere else and build up your platform in that area? Or do you need to make a point to cover a neglected category a little more often?
How Can You Revamp the Content or Blog?
Maybe you need to do like I did and revamp your website to better reflect the direction it’s taken. When my site started, I really intended angengland.com to be a throwaway site where I could just ramble about whatever I wanted. But as questions began to pour in about writing, web content rights and payment, blogging, etc. my site changed drastically just through answering the questions you guys asked! So my redesign took that shift and growth change into consideration.
It wasn’t an intentional change of focus on my part – but rather being led by my readers and those I speak with at conferences. And sometimes that’s what happens as you blog. Don’t be afraid to rework your tagline, your elevator pitch and even your blog design, to reflect that growth. Just like you might purchase a new jacket that better fits your figure after trimming off 25 pounds, you can redesign to better suite what’s going on with your blog and life NOW.
2 Part Challenge – What does your elevator pitch, tagline, categories and site design say your blog is about? And what does your content, passion and focus say that your blog is about?
How well are those two lined up? And what can you do to better align your purpose, and your passion?
Beth says
Thank you for this amazing post – I am in the process of cleaning up my website and now you have me completely convinced. Hope you have a wonderful New Year!
@RachelFerrucci says
This is exactly one of the things I was looking at with my blog. Trying to tie everything together to what i WANT my blog to be about is going to take some meditation.
Thanks!
Lolli @ Better in Bulk says
This is an excellent post with some great things to think about! I have been thinking a lot about my blog focus the last few weeks, and how the majority of my posts do or don’t fit into my vision and focus for my blog.
AngEngland says
Thank Lolli – I feel really waffle trying to decide if it’s better to have one big site with a million topics or a million smaller sites with specific focuses. I feel like I’ve almost reach an equilibrium point between too much one way and too much the other. The key I think is that I’m letting the ultimate decisions be led by my readers. What you guys ask me (you the general you) is what I write about.
Jana@Golfersmom says
Thanks so much for this post. I have not blogged in a while due to some personal reasons but I am now getting back for the new year. This post gave me some things to think about. My blog needs a purpose and this gave me some ideas on what that purpose will be. Thanks again..
Julia in West Des Moines says
I’m going to blog along with my reading of the 31 days and beyond 31 days tutes. happy new year from iowa!
Cindy Schultz says
Great info! This is exactly what I have been working on. I want to get back to my original purpose yet include my newer ventures into my purpose so that I don’t seem so flighty. I’m also starting a separate travel blog to move all of those posts to a new home.
Bill Ray says
Really good information, and blogging content does really matter!