I recently finished “Born to Blog” by Mark W. Schaefer and Stanford A. Smith. Born to Blog is an excellent resource for both the beginning and advanced blogger. It covers topics as diverse as how to run a successful business blog to how to best approach a personal blog.
One of the most useful things I got from Born to Blog was a section about how to choose a blogging style, based on your own personality, strengths and weaknesses. It was an eye opener of sorts, because I’ve personally used every one of these blogging styles, but am definitely better at some than others.
Jump Ahead to a Specific Section:
Dreamer
It’s easiest to attribute the dreamer blogging style to artists and other creatives. A dreamer visualizes things and shares their thoughts with their followers.
A dreamer is similar to a storyteller, but there’s not always a clear end to their thought process, like with storytelling.
Most personal blogs contain elements of the dreamer style. To give an example, there’s an entire blogging collective of runners in Chicago (where I live). The bloggers document their journey to a fitness goal – a dream they hope to achieve!
Storyteller
You may assume that a Storyteller blogging style would be most appropriate for a personal blog, but often it’s a missing element in business blogs. Everyone appreciates writing with a human element. Nobody wants to read overly-technical writing devoid of emotion.
If Storytelling is not a strength of yours… try blogging from one of the other four blogging styles. Additional resources to help make corporate writing more interesting include the following two books:
Persuader
When I think about the Persuader blogging style, I think about blogs that make product recommendations or feature reviews. If you work with different brands and want to monetize your blog, you’ll have to become proficient and embrace this blogging style. I’ve found that having a Sales or Marketing background lends well to being an efficient Persuader.
Examples of Persuader blogs:
”If you work with different brands and want to monetize, you'll have to become a persuader. ”
Maddy Osman Tweet
Examples of Persuader blogs:
- CNET Technology Reviews, or any technology review site
- Fashion blogs persuade you to adopt new styles
- Mommy blogs persuade you to use certain products that pass their tests
Teacher
If you’re a Teacher, you like showing people how to do something. Being a Teacher allows you to share knowledge you’ve gained in a way that helps establish yourself as an expert in the field.
Did you know that “how to” is the most searched phrase on Google? Obviously then, by implementing this blogging style, your SEO is bound to be affected… in a good way!
”How to is the most searched phrase on Google.”
Maddy Osman Tweet
Examples of Teacher blogs:
- Tutsplus: a website that teaches different technical skills in tutorial form
- Budget Bytes: a recipe blog
- Cupcakes and Cashmere: a blog that shares DIY and homemaking tips
Curator
Being a Curator means not always creating fresh content, but instead, creating a collection that follows a certain theme and features other content creators. There is a certain skill level associated with being a great curator, so don’t think you can just randomly group things together and call it a day.
Examples of Curation:
- Tumblr, as an entire platform
- Pinterest Boards
Final Thoughts: How to Choose a Blogging Style that Works for You
All of your favorite piece likely present the best version of yourself. So if you really want to make your blog remarkable as you, choose your style and stick to it.
Now that you know how to choose a blogging style, which one resonates most with you? Share your thoughts and link to your blog in the comments!
Kemya, I’m very similar to you! I like to teach, especially because it helps reinforce the knowledge in my own brain. I think it’s more important to be conversational than a storyteller, so you’ve got something good going. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
Maddy
I’m definitely a Teacher first, Storyteller second. As a business blogger I focus on the what-to-do’s and how-to’s. It’s not easy for me to be a storyteller, but I try to write in a conversational tone so readers can get a feel for my personality.