What Bill Gates Can Teach You About Writing Great Content

How to Write Great Content
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“If you can’t make good, at least make it look good”.

No doubt, the first image floating in your mind would be of Bill Gates. Though I appreciate that you figured out that there’s no direct link between blogging and Bill Gates, I must confess. That there’s nothing common between the two. Indeed, indirectly his quotes can teach you one of the golden chapters of blogging.

Err, you must have been wondering what can one of the world’s richest men has a connection with blogging. Well, along with you there are thousands more wondering about this. There are people who will see him as the ‘World’s richest man’, some others might think of ‘Founder of Microsoft’. But to learn more, we will cut off the talks of his personality and moreover discuss over his quote.

Let me re-quote the statement (from a blogger’s view):

“If you can’t write great posts, at least make it look like one”.

By now, you might have cleared some of your doubts (though the quote, later on, is quite self-explanatory). There’s no doubt that not all of us can become an overnight blogging sensation such as Jon Morrow. It would certainly take time, probably years to learn the skill. But in the current race of Blogging, time seems to be a lacking feature for all of us. So what to do? This has been one of the burning questions asked by many (including me).

This is when the fundamental of this quote comes in. After the end of this post, you would be guided on how to utilize your minimum time and how to get MORE from the LESS.

Get MORE from the LESS
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Let us stick to the quote once again.

“If you can’t make it good,”

There are two ways of how we can’t produce great content. Either lack of time or you literally suck at writing (don’t worry everyone does at a stage of life). Some might have only one reason, whereas some might have both. But luckily for you and we have got a common solution for you.

“At least make it look good”

“If you don’t have an iPhone, you don’t have an iPhone’

Similarly, Look at your post from the advertising and branding point of view. A great advertising campaign always comes with a great tagline. But here in the blogosphere, a tagline is no more than our own headline. You can make your visitors go crazy just with the power of the headline.

Making it look good simply means scripting an awesome headline.

Headline automatically makes the impression in the visitor’s mind. That’s why we are focusing upon the headline part.

If the Headline is Good, then Content ought to be good

This is the mindset of all visitors. Always keep this in the mind.

Let me put forward the case study of Copyblogger.

On average, 8 out of 10 people will read headline copy, but only 2 out of 10 will read the rest. This is the secret to the power of the headline, and why it so highly determines the effectiveness of the entire piece.’

Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger always emphasize on the headlines of each post. If you look at the archive of posts from Copyblogger, right from 2006 to 2014 every headline has been carefully crafted to attract. He knew the power of headlines and thus he has been able to grow a blog from scratch to one of the most popular blogs in the world. Even Jon Morrow said that if you spend 3 hours compiling the post, spend 1/2 hour to compile the headline. This goes well for those who have got sufficient time.

Now you must be wondering how can one write great headlines?

Simply, Just Copy.

Here is one of the greatest work from Jon Morrow, compiling all the 52 ways of proven headline structures. In this great report, he indexes some of the surefire headline formulas which will surely bring you success. Just check out which headline does your topic fits in and just be sure you copy the structure. If you have more than sufficient time, you can even try to mix up some headline formulas and make another one!

Remember, Successful Bloggers don’t do hard work, they do Smart work. So don’t be ashamed of copying, as it’s one of the greatest tactics in the blogosphere. Even Jon become so successful copying works of Stephen King. But, copying doesn’t mean copying entire text. It means analyzing their style and structure of writing and implementing in your posts.

But what if one hasn’t got sufficient time?

Here you have to use the mantra of time management. Say you have got 30 minutes to write a post. Utilize your first 10-15 minutes compiling the headline. Browse through different examples and formulas and choose the best one for your post.

Now, you have got at least 15 minutes to write the main content. The best way is just to write straightforward. Without going crap, mention the problem and the solution alongside. As there is no much time for re-editing, try to wrap up all the content in less than 300 words. As it will be quite easy to have an overlook over the post. This strategy works for both type of folks: those with less time and those who are new to blogging. Though the folks new to blogging might have got more time than usual, still it’s better you stick to this.

But, you have got a con too. If you are spending less time at writing, there are chances that you might not be able to produce great story. Don’t worry. Because on the other hand, we are utilizing the time crafting a precious headline. Thus, ensuring that the time isn’t going waste. Though you may lose some of your fans (looking story-wise), still you can make lots in turn of it. It’s the best way to make the most out of the least by spending your time on the headline.

NO MATTER WHAT YOU EXCUSE BE, DON’T COMPROMISE WITH YOUR HEADLINE!

BONUS TIP

Along with a great headline, you can also create anticipation with the help of images. Especially on social networking websites such as Pinterest, images matter a lot. As it can drive tons of traffic to your blog. Also to add, Images also work as a mirror between your post and visitors. So always try to choose an innovative image which suits your post! If you are wondering where to find images for your blog, look at this and this resource.

Well, to stand out of the crowd, you need to be creative and more result-driven. For your blog, the above tip will ensure that your blog will not only stand out, but people would love to share your content on social media. You can also take advantage of these 4 powerful words in your Post title, to make it extraordinary and remarkable.

Don’t forget to add your view and share this article with your blogger’s friend. You can also join ShoutMeLoud on Facebook for more similar updates.

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Authored By
Sayantan Mahato is a fun-loving freelance writer, who blindly believes that Pens are more powerful than Nukes. He has been working with many top-notch blogs which includes EliteDaily, LifeHack & ShoutMeLoud and is eager to write for your blog!

3 thoughts on “What Bill Gates Can Teach You About Writing Great Content”

    1. Harsh Agrawal

      @Avadhut
      Thanks for great addition 🙂

  1. Haroon Ansar

    It was a really great article and eespecially it is a very useful starter guide for novice bloggers . and thanks for introducing Jon Morrow .

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