Saturday 28 November 2015

5 Basic Tips for Creating a Unique Voice


One thing about being a blogger is that there are thousands of other bloggers out there doing the same thing you are; it opens you up to a greater community.
With that you will find that they are writing about the same things you are, may it be Parenting, Cooking, Lifestyle, Home Improvements, Beauty or Travel the list just goes on.

The problem is that everything has been written in that particular field and with that you may find it difficult to make your unique mark.
So, if someone asked you what kind of blogger you are, what would you say?

What if I said within that answer you can’t say something generic like “A Parent blogger” but requested that you were more specific?
I have always said that I am quite versatile in my blogging; with the Title being “Inside Martyn’s Thoughts” I could literally write about anything.

Although I have been blogging for 5 years now, I only started the Parent Blogging back in September 2014 and kept my other blog separate.
Somewhere through blogging and sharing the odd post on Twitter I was introduced to all of you and I started getting comments, my statistics started rising, I was taking part in Linky’s and I became friends with many of you.

The problem I found was that I spent far too long this year concentrating on the wrong things: I have watched my stats, analysed which posts were doing better and with that I came to the conclusion that people really weren’t that interested in Home Schooling.
It has even been suggested that I’m limiting my readership by specialising posts in something such as Home Education.

I have learnt over the last few months how wrong this is!
I love that we Home School. I know that it is a personal choice and that it isn’t for everybody but actually it depends on how you see it.

From our cooking lessons there is now a regular feature called “My Little Chef” where I showcase William’s interest in Cooking and Baking; which people come and read for the recipes that children can join in on. I have also written posts around fun and creative crafts that we, as a family, have been doing. These posts, although not directly Home School themed, have all blossomed from it; being read by home schoolers or not! 
Since then I have had lots of different people reference me:

“Am looking for a Dad blogger who writes about……” and people will suggest me; subsequently showing that I have a unique voice in with topic umbrella.
From this I have learnt a few things:


Stay Grounded
It is quite easy to get caught up with the hype of blogging. With Reviews, contributing posts, Linky’s and tagged posts you end up focusing more on these subjects and less on what you were writing for originally. Just remember that at the beginning people came and read your blog to see your unique voice; so try to remember what that was and why you were writing in the first place.

Stick to what you know!
Don’t be deceived by others comments or by stats. By sticking to your passions you may lose a few generic followers but will build a really engaged audience.  This will ultimately help find you “community tribe” within the larger area.

Honesty
Blogging only really works when it's authentic as that's what makes the connections and enables the great content to be written. It's easy to get caught up in doing stuff because it's popular or copying what looks like a successful formula. But where's the value or fun in that?! Who wants to be like everyone else when you can be you! Some of my most viewed and commented posts are ones when I feel like I’m failing or when I’ve opened up about my Mental Health issues; people relate to honesty.

Be more than a Title
Write about the things you enjoy not something that spiked your interest a little from reading Joe and Jenny Parent bloggers post; everyone has their own interests. I think it can take a while to find your voice and actually I think we all have a few inside us but mix that up with varied and wide interests and suddenly you have a non-specific blog with readers who are trying to connect with YOU not because you’ve given 5 tips on choosing Nappies, again.

Doesn’t mean a big change
Doing this doesn’t mean that writing about other parts like Parenting or joining in with Linky’s will stop! It is just helping to create the blog, and you, as a unique selling point that is also part of the community that writes about other aspects.

I would say I've learned more about refining my voice in the last 5 months slowly than I did in the previous 5 years. Narrowing the focus has allowed me, and others I know, to hone their unique voice both in terms of content but also in terms of tone and style.

If you then couple these ideas with some of a previous post 8 Basic Blogging Tips your blog and yourself will make your individual mark.

So do you know your unique voice on your blog?

Do you have any tips on honing or finding it?

8 comments:

helloarchie.blue said...

Great tips and so true, it can be really important to have a niche with your blog as it can be easy to get lost on a blog that does everything whereas others will remember a blog that does one particular thing, expecially if it's what they're interested in too. #blogstorm

Vicky Charles said...

Brilliant tips, and so true. I think a lot of people don't want to narrow their niche because they feel like that would limit them and they want to appeal to "everyone" but in reality when you do that people are just a bit "meh" about whether they read your posts. Better to have fewer people who are really into your blog and what you're posting about.
I love reading your posts about home schooling, even though I don't intend to home school S - because you show how I can do fun activities with S that can also be educational. I've personally recommended your blog to more than one person who was thinking about home schooling too!

Tubbs said...

So true! It's easy to forget that what makes your blog unique is you. And blogging is like anything else, - better with people who are genuinely interested than not so much. Pinning for when I need a big kick in the blogging pants

Random Musings said...

Fab advice! It is easy to lose your way in this crazy blogging world! I have no idea what answer I would give to that question - my opinions on stuff doesn't really cut it does it haha! I must say, I'm not even a parent and I enjoy your home school posts - simply because it's different and not something I hear about everyday :) Thanks for hosting #blogstorm
Debbie

Martyn Kitney said...

Exactly it. It's important to try and find your own identity rather than being a duplicate.

Martyn Kitney said...

I agree. I have a good following of regular readers on different topics. But again, within a niche that I know is good for them. I'd hate to think I'd get lost between other bloggers.

Thank you, that's fab. And exactly why I enjoy writing about it!

Martyn Kitney said...

Thanks Mrs Tubbs. I totally agree with you. It helps connect with unique users.

Martyn Kitney said...

I think though that you're like me. Your title suggests more than one topic but within that you have readers who enjoy certain posts that you do. It's far better than churning out a "7 things Parents do" blah blah and knowing that others have done exactly the same thing.
Thank you. I enjoy writing them. But it also gives me a unique voice as I'm rare even in the home school bloggers for being a guy!