The baby is not quite four months old. (A.R. Grandpa Duane, this is India.) Everything is interesting and new, but nothing holds her attention for very long.
Nothing until this train.
Our kids came to visit from Denver, and we had spent the better part of a day hiking in the Coronado National Forest.
India is very portable. Coming back down to the desert floor in Green Valley, AZ, we stopped at the RR Crossing.
India strained at her car seat restraints to see the train. Daddy loosened the buckle and lifted her out and up so that she could see better.
The train was nearly a mile long. India's attention stayed with the train until the last car rumbled into the distance. That's the kind of attention you and I as bloggers want to inspire in our readers.
To do that consistently in a blog, two things have to happen.
- You'll have to look at the world from your intended reader's perspective. This is not intuitive, but it's also not hard.
From our earliest years, we're focused on the world as WE see it. As business people, we concentrate on OUR business. Early blogging efforts often try to educate. It's the wrong approach. INTEREST your world of readers, and they'll come back.
Stories captivate interest, but only if the story touches the reader. (It's why the Chicken Soup for the Soul series has sold so well.)
- You'll have to paint a story in your reader's mind with your words.
The palette? Your blog.
The paintbrushes? Your keyboard.
The paints? Short sentences and action words. Action words are verbs. These are the vivid colors that will capture attention. Everything else is background.
Blogging Improvement Action Plan:
- Find 10 bloggers here in the RAIN whose content and presentation makes you want to stay and read. (Some of the very best writers are here on the Active Rain Real Estate Network.)
- Subscribe to those bloggers, and go back in their archives.
- Spend time READING, and decide what you like about an individual's style. When you can articulate WHY you like a certain style, you'll begin to use elements of that style. You'll find your own voice here in the Rain.
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, Arizona mortgage lender.
Think of me as your local expert.
photo copyright Jenah Johnson, Denver, CO
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There are variations for "interesting," too. Life interesting is one, and real estate interesting is another.