So, you have your blog set up, you've designed it the way you like, installed all of the plug-ins and features that you want to use, what's missing?

Readers, of course.

Unless you're writing a blog as just a diary for yourself you'll want to write for a particular audience.

The first thing you need to do is identify exactly who that audience is.  This is outside of the scope of this article, but unless you know your target, writing for them will be a near impossible task, so be sure to have a clear target audience in mind before you start to create posts.

Let's take the example of a home business blog.  So, our target audience is going to be people who already own, or who are looking to own their own home business.

Now that we have the market, let's try to niche down (try to be as specific as possible) by answering some of the following questions:

–                    What is my target market's age group?

–                    Are they mostly male or female?

–                    Are they single or married?

–                    What hobbies or interests do they have?

The number one key to writing good quality content that will draw readers back time and time again is to write for them, not just to them.

Okay, so let's assume we've now identified our target market very specifically.  In fact, the ideal thing to do (from my experience, anyway), is to picture one particular person (you can even give them a name, life etc, if you so desire).

Why?

Because if we know our audience, writing to them is simple.  Take for example, when you write a letter to someone.  It's very specific and personal, right?

That's exactly what you want your blog post to be.

So, now that you have your target audience (person), ask yourself, what are the biggest challenges in this person's life (relating to their business)?

Here are a few possibilities:

–                    They struggle to generate traffic

–                    They find it difficult to convert traffic into sales

–                    Identifying the difference between buyers and browsers

The list goes on.  The fact is that the more familiar you are with your niche, the more common problems you'll be aware of.  If you don't know what they are, do some research and find out.

This list will then become the basis of your first few blog posts.  By not only identifying these problems, but also offering advice and solutions, you will increase your own personal value to your readership.

What happens then?

Of course, the more valuable your information is, the more helpful it is.  This means that your target audience are going to take your ideas, opinions – and in time, your recommendations – very seriously because they've identified you as an expert in the field.

The result?

You will draw more and more people to you.  You blog will become a 'hub' for your target market – a place where they come, get valuable information, discuss, comment and ask questions.  This is when you've really made it!

You will have successfully turned yourself from another pest trying to sell products and drag people to your blog, to a welcome guest that has all the answers and helps people to get what they want.

The key is to make sure that your readers get to know you as a person to build that relationship with.

How do you achieve that?

It's simple actually.  Be you!

Don't try to be anything you're not.  Just give you honest opinion, be sure to include examples from your own life, and most important, be specific.

Remember that your audience, regardless of your target market will only buy from you if they buy you!