Chances are as you write more blog posts, you will do more digging on the web to find good ideas. For most bloggers, that means reading other people’s blogs and writing similar blog posts. Chances are people do the same thing to your blog and write similar blog posts. I have a blog post called 10 Ways To Get More Twitter Followers, but I am sure that there are numerous blog posts that are similar. Performing a Google search on this phrase leads to many results.
An additional problem is that as we read enough content, we start to like some of the writers. Then, we write content just like those writers without putting our own personalities into our content. It is important to look up to writers for idea, but it is also important to put who you are into your content. Other writers are here to give you ideas, but in the end, you need to express your inner voice.
There are hundreds of blogs like yours. I’d even take it a step further and say that there are thousands of blogs like yours, and that also applies for blog posts on the web that are similar to yours. The answer isn’t to accuse the other bloggers of plagiarism. The answer is you. To be more specific, your personality is the answer.
The key to expressing your personality is by writing something that no one else could have (or had the guts to) write. Mike Michalowicz does a fantastic job at expressing his personality in his blog posts. Here was one of his blog posts he used to promote his book Profit First. You’ll either get a good kick out of the blog post or wonder why I even decided to mention it in the first place. That’s Mike’s personality, and he is not afraid to show it.
The point of this blog post is not for you to rave about yourself. The point of this blog post is that it is okay to show your personality. This blog post isn’t going to destroy Mike Michalowicz’s reputation. In fact, most of the people in his audience probably liked the blog post. They respect the honesty in sharing a personal perspective (and some of us also appreciated the laughter).
Be who you are. Don’t act as one person at home and act as another person through your content. Then how are you going to act when you speak at the podium? The best thing to do is to read your content out loud as if you were having a conversation with someone, and they wanted you to recite one of your blog posts. Then, think of side comments you would have said if you were having a conversation with your friends. Then, add those side comments into the exact location of your content in which the mock conversation was taking place.
Show off your personality so people know who you are. Act as the same person in everything you do.
Every post, article, and page that you write should show a little bit of your personality. This is your voice and it is important in writing, any kind of writing. Developing a voice also adds to the “brand” of your website, which I think is crucial.
You should never be afraid to show your personality. When you have websites, developing a voice will even add trust. It shows your readers that you are a real person and you are being real with them.
I could not agree more. Many bloggers are so focused on providing methods and tactics that they forget to include a little bit of themselves in their writing.
This is fantastic Marc, love your blogs!
Thank you. I am glad to hear that you enjoy the articles.