Fine tune your blog: missions and writing styles
Author’s bio: Maria Nedeva is the blogger behind The Money Principle: a personal finance blog that will ‘make your head hurt and your wallet sing’. There she writes about money management, wealth and the changing rules of money.
There is no point beating around the bush: we bloggers want to be read.
In fact, it doesn’t matter whether we blog for fun, for love or for money – our writing is meaningful only when someone reads it.
Lately, people have little time to read and many sources to choose from. So every time we, bloggers, write and publish something we are in intense competition with each other, with journalists, with reality TV, with the movies and with a myriad other entertainments which temp our potential readers.
Recently I had a chat with a lady, a former journalist, who now works for a website in the UK. Our amicable chat became a friendly debate at the moment she shared her belief that within five to ten years all small personal finance bloggers will disappear – and let me tell you, compared to the site she works for we are all small – because they couldn’t compete on two counts: resources and professionalism.
She was saying that to dig up information is expensive and needs much work by many people; small players don’t have the resources to put behind this so people will stop finding them useful.
Her second point was about the quality of investigation and writing referring to the fact that top journalists are starting to work for major websites – how can ‘one man and his/her dog’ compete with that? How can hobbyist-bloggers reach the level of professionalism that trained and seasoned journalists have?
You have probably guessed I didn’t agree with that; I even insisted on splitting up the bill and paying my part (for a personal finance blogger this is sign of great upset, I think). But my argument was messy and my thinking fuzzy. I just found myself muttering lamely:
‘But I don’t compete on information. People read my blog because of other things…stuff…’
What these ‘other things’ are was left open; I don’t like unfinished business. So, trying to figure out why people read my blog, and any blogs at all, in preference or in parallel to large websites and on-line newspapers, I came up with the following.
Any blog can be described along three different dimensions: thematic niche, missions and style.
Identifying your niche and targeting your blog is important, there is no way around that. But so much has been written about it that I’ll leave it to you to learn about (if you already are not very knowledgeable about it).
Here I’ll do something that you have probably not heard so much about: I’ll tell you what the three possible missions of any blog are, how these match particular writing styles and what does this mean for your blog…and for long term survival of us bloggers.
What is your blog’s mission?
From what I’ve seen, generally blogs develop around a combination of three key missions, namely they aim to inform, educate and entertain.
- Inform: These are the blogs that offer predominantly information (facts) and arguing a position, discussion and/or analysis are secondary and come only after that (if at all). In personal finance, this mission (approach) is popular with some frugality/deals/couponing blogs, some investment blogs and really large sites. It’s worth mentioning though that the really large sites – like the MoneySavingExpert.com in the UK – can afford to have sections of mainly ‘facts’ and also include loads of analysis and discussion.
- Educate: These are the blogs the focus of which is on providing analysis, discussion and explanation of some aspect of life, work and ‘the universe’. Interestingly, the emphasis of these kind of blogs is not on new ‘facts’ but on offering new ‘interpretations’ or views of the world and human behaviour. Hence, the ‘personal’ and personal conviction matter immensely as does the clarity and distinctiveness of the message that the author aims to convey. Most personal development and personal finance blogs will fall under this category and particularly good examples here are FinancialSamurai and MrMoneyMustache. Both sites have a clear and distinctive message and do an exceptional job of presenting complex notions in understandable ways.
- Entertain: These blogs aim to entertain as much, or even more than, they aim to educate or inform. Their voice is distinctive and the author is irreplaceable (these are different to outsource and keep going without the initial author). They can be serious, they can be humorous but they are always very good value as entertainment. Examples are provided by two of my favourites: BudgetsAreSexy and LenPenzo.com.
I am yet to read a blog that has only one of these three mission and only informs, educates or entertains. I am not saying there are no such blogs; just that I don’t read them. And you probably don’t either.
This is all about emphasis and one thing that jumps out immediately is that if the emphasis of your blog is on information you are competing with journalists, embarrassingly large websites and online newspapers. Do you really want to do that?
What is your blog’s style?
No, this is not about the secrets of good writing; important as these are, they are not going to help you position and fine tune your blog.
This is about the three main writing styles that are used by blogs. These are:
- Academic style: Generally, this is a bit more ‘dry’ style of writing where frequent recourse to authority is made. Arguments are sustained and messages conveyed through logic; feelings and personal preferences are kept at bay.
- Story telling: This is a much more ‘colourful’ writing style that not only allows, but welcomes feelings in. Messages are conveyed through stories but still there is a preference for the ‘universal’: the story isn’t directly an immediately about something you have experienced. Even when it is, the message is more general than the occurrence and it is clearly articulated through the story.
- Diary: This writing style works as a chronological and continuous record of daily events.
Each of these writing styles can work and there are examples of very successful blogs using them. However, the one to watch is the ‘diary’ style: this can easily drift into the trivially mundane if you don’t really live a super exciting life, are not a wonderfully exciting person or are not just using this as a style rather than a ‘faithful record’.
How to use missions and style to fine tune your blog?
Okay, here is the thing:
Different missions and writing styles have to fit together.
Let me show you what I mean.
| Inform | Educate | Entertain | |
| ‘Academic’ style | overlap | fit | |
| Storytelling | fit | overlap | overlap |
| Diary | fit | overlap |
This means that:
- If the primary mission of your blog is to inform you really have to get to grips with the ‘academic’ style of writing;
- ‘Academic’ writing style can be used when educating; as a side note, I am not convinced how effective this is;
- Storytelling is an appropriate writing style when you aim to educate and entertain; you can also convey information through storytelling but this is secondary, it is part of educating;
- ‘Diary’ writing is appropriate primarily when your aim is to entertain; it can be used to educate as well but it is not as effective as ‘story telling’;
- Finally, it is very hard, if not impossible, to entertain using ‘academic’ style and to inform using ‘diary’ writing style.
Any blog ought to, in different measures, inform, educate and entertain. We can get the ‘measure’ somewhat distorted though.
When I looked at The Money Principle, I realised that we mainly educate and entertain using storytelling and ‘academic’ writing style. If we’d like to become an universal destination rather than ‘just another blog’ we will have to do a bit more on the ‘informing’ side.
Finally….
You may have forgotten but this started because of a debate I had with a journalist about how small blogs can compete with the large sites and online publications. Here is my answer:
‘Blogs can compete by offering an unique blend of informing, educating and entertaining the reader. Bloggers will thrive when they find their own blend and match it with mastery of writing style.’
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I never thought I’d be able to quit my job in 2012 just three years after starting Financial Samurai. But by starting one financial crisis day in 2009, Financial Samurai actually makes more than my entire passive income total that took 15 years to build. If you enjoy writing, creating, connecting with people online, and enjoying more freedom, learn how you can set up a WordPress blog in 15 minutes like this one.
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Updated for 2017 and beyond.
Maria,
I’m totally on your side! The audacity of the journalist to say all of us bloggers will disappear because we can’t compete with the big publications! The reason why blogging has grown SO MUCH over the years is because there’s been a HUGE demand of people who want to read information from real people with OPINIONS! Who wants to read news that doesn’t entertain, by a journalist who just reports the news?
You hit it right on the head about the need to Educate, Inform, and Entertain. Professional journalists have been slaughtered over the past decade b/c the market is moving away from print and their style of reporting.
I’d much rather read financial information from someone who has decades of experience working in finance than financial information from a reporter whose expertise is in reporting.
In, “How Journalists And Bloggers Can Help Each Other Thrive,” I thought I came up with an idea to help both groups. But there was no love from journalists despite pinging probably 20 of them over e-mail and face to face. No wonder why their industry is dying. They are stuck in the past and too slow to change.
Sam
Thanks, Sam. Yes, journalists’ insisting on ‘maintaining professionalism’ may be over-rated and it stops them developing and a profession. Blogging, however, brings a different set of issues around trustworthiness and ethics. I am sure we’ll deal with these in the future.
Interesting how confident your journalism friend is about bloggers going away in 5 years. I don’t get my news from big media platforms anymore. I get the news from blogs.
Very intriguing perspectives and analysis! I’m not totally sure what my style is. A mixture of all three probably with more on the story telling and academic side of things. I hope I’m doing a fair job mixing the 3 missions around inform, educate, and entertain. It’s hard for me to be witty but I try and keep my posts light with some personal touches to make them interesting and easy to read. Great post!
Thanks, Untemplater, glad you find the post useful. I suppose any blog has a specific emphasis and not all of them aim to entertain. Have to say though that your blog combines all three I believe and admirably so :).
Great post! This is a topic I’ve thought a lot about recently…what is my focus and my niche in the personal finance blog world. It helped me to write my own value proposition which is basically a statement (thesis) as to why people should read your blog. I learned about that exercise by reading this website (click “About Yakezie” at top of this webpage to find an article containing a link to the Yakezie Value Proposition). That is an exercise I would highly recommend for all bloggers.
I don’t see small time bloggers going away. The attraction I have to reading others is to see how they implement personal finance theory into their own lives. We all have such unique experiences that our readers can learn from. Plus, we connect on a much deeper emotional level through our conversations with one another. I don’t get that when I visit a big time publication and it’s a big turnoff.
Brian, figuring out – and telling people clearly – what is the value you bring to their lives is important I agree. Here, the emphasis is more on how you deliver this value.
I don’t think that lady knows what she is talking about! Taking you as an example, Maria: do you realise that the amount of time you have been blogging about personal finance automatically makes you more “experienced” than a large number of personal finance journalists out there?
I’d also like to point out that when I write for national publications, I am paid more per word as a blogger than I ever was as a freelance journalist.
There is room for everyone. The way things are going at the moment, it’s the journalists who don’t have the technical skills who are going to lose out in the long run.
Good data point on making more per word as a blogger than as a freelance journalist!
Couple of really good points: a) being paid more as a blogger than a free-lance journalist; and b) the way the economy and the publishing industry is going journalists should be concerned and re-skilling. Thanks!
I personally do NOT read big financial sites. The style they’re written is pretty boring and most don’t provide the quality information they claim to. I’d rather read a personal finance blog, written by a real ‘person’, someone who’s struggling the same way I do and is usually more objective than the normal media. I’ve worked in the radio business for 10 years and know how alliances are being forged between the media outlets and various corporations, so I’d rather get a sincere account for someone like me, than just some promotional crap ‘approved’ by the paper’s bosses and ‘friends’.
It’s really because of the writers they employ. They employ a pump and dump strategy just to churn out as much news as possible. Not interesting, given you can get all the news onliners on Twitter nowadays. News organizations don’t break the news, Twitter does now.
Good points.For some time now, I have believed that the world is generally moving away from ‘information’ towards ‘knowledge’ (this is information, interpretation and conditions for use). This may be one of the things that distinguishes blogs and makes them valuable – they (the good ones) offer knowledge rather than dry, dispassionate information.
I have learned so much more because of blogs. I just cannot stand that academic writing style. I do not think that academic writing outside of an academic setting will last much longer considering we are now in a Facebook and Twitter world where everything is written as prose.
Oh, I think it will; just that it will have to be regularly complemeted by the other styles. Also, do you think that Twitter and FB type communication is the whole future? Having said that, I former student of mine Tweeted a whole philosophical system as a dare :).
Erm – I am a blogger who also writes for a National Newspaper – employed because the “voice” I have resonates with their readership ………… also because they don’t want to employ a squad of researchers – so I am a much cheaper proposition. Their policy is to move to smaller contributors – the “big office,lots of researchers” model is on the way out.
As for me – diary style for sure – plenty of tutorials and a good smattering of “here’s how” ……. nuts and bolts practicality and storytelling makes all the difference.
It’s the professional-amateur bias and exists across all niches. Martha Stewart recently angered a lot of food bloggers when she said that food bloggers weren’t qualified to create or write about recipes.
Ha, ha, Edward. In the UK we traditionally go with the amateur.
My first foray into personal finance was from reading blogs. Big sites like Yahoo and cnbc have some decent info, but even they are trying to look more like blogs and less like news sites.
Being a newbie blogger myself, I am still trying to find my way around sounding too academic, since this is the way I have always written. It’s been a journey but I feel with every post I’m learning more and more. The PF blogger community is great and people will learn a heck of a lot more about finance from them then some “guru” with a 30 second spot on fox business. Thanks for the awesome post.
“a former journalist, who now works for a website in the UK” Sounds like this lady made a transition herself. I’m sure traditional newspaper people might be game for a scoff or two at her expense.
Nice analysis Maria. I firmly believe that all news is about the story and I also believe that first person renditions are the most interesting and believable. Blogs tend to render those first person versions more frequently than major news outlets. Blogs are here to stay.
Thank you for the post! As a newbie, I’m still trying to find my footing, and with 9 years in academia, I still have a writing style that is a little more formal than I would like (although I’m crazy awesome with grammar). I’m still finding my niche and voice, so this is going to go a long way in helping me. And, I don’t think the big companies will overtake the independent bloggers, because people like people, not corporations. Thanks again!
Ryan, there is still hope for you :); I’ve been in academia for well over twenty years and my spelling is really bad. But…I still keep my first posts and reading them makes me feel good – because they so obviously tell me how much I’ve learned and changed. It still seeps in sometimes but academic writing can be/is so boring.
I think we’re moving into a new era, one in which people feel more trust for other people as opposed to huge online magazines, companies, etc. Person to person marketing is becoming more and more desired and that’s something that a blogger can provide to their readers.
Second, the internet connects us all worldwide so each blog has the capacity to reach a large number of people. (Maybe not millions of viewers, but even thousands is an achievement on its own) To think that all people worldwide would only be interesting in a handful of websites is thinking on a very limited scope.
Third, with all due respect to professional journalists, I myself don’t have a degree in the field, but it was not difficult to work in the field. I worked as a military journalist when I was younger, I have published works in magazine and newspapers, and I’m only a blogger! So it works both ways – bloggers become journalists, journalists become bloggers.
I like the mission/style grid and where there is a fit vs an overlap. I also agree with the majority of people on here that the “big” finance websites simply water down any personal finance articles as to either educate a 5th grader or insult the intelligence of the readers looking for legitimate information.
This is where bloggers can fill a huge gap. While there are many sites that have very basic budgeting and thrifty advice, there are just as many that speak to complex options trading and legal structures for multiple businesses (hence the niche you mention). I don’t ever see Yahoo or CNN getting into niche areas of personal finance and provide real life examples and stories along the way.
Interesting take on the topic of blogging Maria! Bloggers write for many different reasons just as readers read for many different reasons. That is why there are so many successful blogs out there and I believe will continue to be. The key is to find a niche and style you are comfortable with and stick with it!
I would definitely say your friend is mistaken… I think blogs are becoming more and more widespread, not less. Great points about writing for a specific audience… it is true what they say, if you try to make your blog appeal to everyone, it will appeal to nobody.
I know this is a late response to this post but I don’t agree with the idea that PF bloggers will go away. I hate the news and I don’t read news websites. I will forever trust and read smaller bloggers with good quality content over corporate news stations filled with journalist who just want to scare people into submission.
I’m always looking for a great story with personal finance and I don’t think we get that with big publications, I feel like it’s averages and percentages being thrown in our faces. Give me something personal and real.
Your 3 key missions remind me of the purpose behind any play, which is either to educate or entertain (love how my theater minor is at work here!). I’m not sure I see a difference between inform and educate, but nonetheless, the point is clear that it’s important to have your writing style correlate with your mission.
Although a bit of an old post, I’d still like to comment. As a fairly new personal finance blogger in the UK, I have had tremendous success with mainstream publications. For a journalist to say that all personal finance bloggers will have disappeared within 5 years is crazy talk. If anything, I feel in the UK the PF niche will become larger and more popular. Especially when you compare the earning potential to that of a mommy/daddy blogger.
From my perspective; in the 12 months since starting my blog, I’ve landed commissions in national newspapers, been given regular columns in a local newspaper and in the personal finance magazine Moneywise. The feedback I’ve had from the editors is that my style of writing is fresh, engaging and doesn’t have the constraints of a time-served journalists.
I really think personal finance bloggers, especially in the UK, are here to stay.
Hope so. It’s a growing and huge niche here in America!
I’ve struggled with this since I began blogging: I wanted to teach but I also wanted to entertain. Coming from an academic background, I knew how ineffective academic writing is. But it’s such a fine line between really passing on knowledge and just making everything shits and giggles. I think storytelling is a powerful way to connect serious lessons with a bit of an easier way to transmit ideas to readers. It is hard to sometimes combining academic style presentation with stories and entertainment, but when it can all be fused together, it’s a really powerful way to present ideas.