Why and how to blog

Why blog?

So needless to say I'm a fan of blogging, for a few very simple reasons. I like writing being one of them. However I also think that blogging is a great method to go directly to other people with expertise. And vice versa, it is easy to find really useful information in blogs. If you know something, learn something, or experience something that should be shared. Do!

I know what you're thinking, to be inspired by a blog it does need to be of a certain standard. We've all read really great ones that we will remember forever and really bad ones that were a waste of time. I think everybody can write an inspirational blog. Below I wrote down a few tips that really help me.

Tips for bloggers

General guidelines
Generally a blog is between 300-600 words. A blogpost has a more lasting value than a tweet or a facebook post. So think about a more lasting message than 'drinking a cappuccino'. The more clear the message the better. That means you are totally free to say exactly what you want your readers to do or think about. For example in your Worldsupporter blog you could end with saying: contact me to participate in my fundraising project.

Title
Take some time to think about your title and the difference between a title as 'Yummy recipe for Indian curry', 'The boy that never spoke' or 'Arrived in Africa'.
These are all very commonly used types of titles for Worldsupporter blogs. The first tells you exactly what the blog is about, the second probably makes you curious and the third doesn't really say much other than that the person writing it is in Africa. Experiment with different titles to see how you can make people curious about the content of your blog or make sure they can find what they want to read about in your blog.

Paragraphs
They make everything a better read. Headings that refer to the theme of the text are generally better than a diary style entry. For example, if you visited a school on day two to prepare for teaching English, the heading 'Day 2' sends a completely different message than 'How my Ugandan teacher showed me how to teach creative classes'.

Who are you writing for?
Before you start writing think about who you are writing for and what information they might already have or what they need to understand your message. Think about writing in English or Dutch and providing the necessary background information. Describe the situation or the person you're blogging about when needed.

Inspire
Your blog will be more inspiring and acquire more meaning when you don't only tell people about your experiences, but also what they taught you. You don't need to know everything but guide your reader through the process of how you formed your opinion and what you've learned. For example, have you seen how people collect bottles in the garbage and has that made you realise that there really is no such thing as waste? Use this experience to explain to people why you are now using the reiskringloopwinkel. Concrete tips and tricks are good! You can also inspire people with clever insights or posing questions that make them think. Invite others to share their opinion on a topic.

Most importantly don't forget to post links on your facebook page or other websites where people that should read your blog might be. And definitely make sure to have fun with it!

I hope to see some more inspiring blogs on wereldsupporter.nl soon