Yeah, yeah.
You’ve heard it before.
Add a splash of personality to your writing.
Because it helps you bond with your readers. And it makes you stand out in a grey ocean of me-too blogs.
The theory seems sound.
But what if you feel your life is boring and plain?
I lead an ordinary life
Married. No kids. No pets.
An end-of-terrace house in a small English town.
Nothing special. Nothing interesting.
Less than three years ago, I didn’t think I could start a blog. Honestly, I didn’t think I knew anything worth sharing. I’m not a party animal. I’ve never been popular at school. And I wasn’t a writer either.
Today, I’m still a little surprised you’re reading my blog.
And I don’t want to pretend I know the answer to the rather big question of How to be interesting.
But I can share a few tricks I’ve learned so far.
5 sure-fire methods to be drab
Don’t want to sound like a boring old fogey?
Start with avoiding the silly mistakes that make you sound yawn-inducingly bland:
- Writing for Google is a sure-fire path to blandness, because humans don’t like being addressed as automatic content processors.
Always write for humans first, optimize for crawling robots later.
- Don’t whine in public. Fire up for the occasional rant, but don’t bore us with an endless stream of petty complaints.
- Don’t hide your voice. Mindless content full of gobbledygook is boring.
- Sloppy editing wastes your reader’s time. You must cross out all wordiness to become engaging.
- Filling up space makes content drab. Only write when you have something to say.
Think you have nothing important to say?
Read on, because we all have something to say.
How to find something to say
When I started Enchanting Marketing, I wanted to learn how to write. I wanted to understand what makes writing riveting, and what makes it boring.
I followed my curiosity.
I devoured blogs about copywriting. I gobbled up book after book about copywriting. And along the way, I figured out that many others were as interested in learning how to write as I was.
I simply started sharing what I was learning.
Most of what I write about, I’ve learned in the past few years. I had questions I wanted to know the answer to. Or you asked me questions for which I desperately went looking for an answer.
You don’t need to be a thought leader before you start to blog.
You don’t even need to be an expert. Nurture your curiosity, and share what you’re learning.
When you force yourself to share valuable information each week, you build a huge base of knowledge. You turn yourself into an expert, while blogging.
But be careful – don’t simply rehash the same old tips you’re reading everywhere.
How to be different
Thousands of bloggers write about the same topics.
They regurgitate the same superficial garbage.
But you can be different:
- Use your own examples. New case studies or fresh examples can add a dimension to an existing story. Hundreds of blog posts have been written about, for instance, features and benefits, but hopefully my post made you smile, because of the examples I used.
- Come up with a tantalizing metaphor. Metaphors can make any boring subject interesting. Everyone shares tips about content marketing, but how many people use a puking tour leader as an analogy?
- Share your own struggles. We might have read hundreds of posts about becoming a better blogger. But we still find it interesting to hear about your challenges, and we’d love to know how you overcame your writing fears.
- Dig deeper. Regurgitated content is often superficial. Instead, make your blog posts more specific, and more in-depth. Instead of sharing generic copywriting tips, can you explain to people who hate selling how they can write a sales page?
And you know what’s most fun?
When you follow your curiosity, you learn more, you deepen your knowledge, and you have more ideas to share.
How to be yourself and be interesting
Average is boring.
But fortunately, none of us is average.
We’re all a little weird in our own ways.
In his book To Show and To Tell, Phillip Lopate talks about writing literary non-fiction–which seems quite similar to blogging:
The mistake many would-be essayists and memoirists make is to try so hard to be likable and nice, to fit in, that the reader, bored, begins craving stronger stuff.
Don’t try to blend in. Instead, be yourself. Find your quirks, and showcase them.
And write about yourself from a certain distance. Don’t take yourself too serious. Don’t brag, but don’t dislike yourself either. As Lopate suggests, be curious about oneself:
Such self-curiosity (…) can only grow out of that detachment or distance from oneself (…). I may be very tired of myself in everyday life, but once I start narrating a situation or set of ideas on the page, I begin to see my I in a comic light, and I maneuver him so that he will best amuse the reader.
I’m an intensely private person.
I hate sharing personal stuff on social media.
And I had been writing for a few months before I started using the word I in my blogs. Slowly I’ve become braver, talking more about myself. Not because I love talking about myself, but because I’ve noticed sharing my experiences can help you, and perhaps even inspire you.
Remember, as a blogger, you’re in charge, and you decide what you want to share. You decide which parts of yourself you highlight. You can showcase your shiniest, funniest, or most authoritative YOU. It’s up to you.
The art of being interesting
Being interesting means being curious.
Ask questions about why things are the way they are, and look for answers. Dig deeper. Ask more questions.
Be interested in your readers.
Be interested in life, and in yourself.
Learn more.
And you’ll have more interesting ideas to share.
Special thanks to Bill Honnold and Mellie whose comments on my post How to Woo Clients With Your Online Personality inspired this post.
Recommended reading on being more interesting:
How to be unique even if you don’t feel special
A 5-step plan to become seriously influential online
4 ways to add pizzazz to dull and rehashed topics
Hey Henneke,
This is such a great post. I was at Starbucks and felt like browsing through some Enchantingness 🙂 seeing which headline struck my fancy. I wish I saw this post earlier, ahhh.
I really like this line-” You don’t need to be a thought leader before you start to blog.”
Question pls: If I were to start a blog and write about my curiosity, what position should I come from? From a place of knowing even though I learned whatever I’m writing about but haven’t necessarily done it? This is somewhat hard to explain.
Not sure if that makes sense. I’m pretty sure you get what I mean though (haha hopefully). Hope you have a great weekend.
Thanks,
Eric
Hi Eric
Nice to hear that I’ve been keeping you company at Starbucks 🙂
To answer your question, I’d say it depends. Say you’d like to become a social media expert and you’d like to coach small business owners how to use social media. You’d find it hard to sell your services unless you have experience and can speak with some authority.
But say you’d like to teach others how to build a lifestyle business. You could teach people by telling your own story, what you’re learning and which mistakes you’re making, so you could start pretty quickly and build up your authority slowly. The Groove HQ blog, for instance, targets other start-ups and they grew their blog by talking about their own start-up journey. This is (I think) their first blog post a year ago: http://www.groovehq.com/blog/100k
Hope this helps?
Hope you have a great weekend, too!
Hey Again,
Totally makes sense and helped a bunch. Wow that link opened up my world so much and a good framework to go off of. Thanks for that Henneke, woot woot!
It’s hard when first trying to start a blog. At least in terms of feeling like people will judge me saying “you’re no expert fool”. Even if I do know what I’m saying by reading a bunch of real books and learned from solid people.
Side Note: March can’t come fast enough. I know by then (probably sooner) I’ll have something picked out and on it’s way.
Thanks again. You’re always so nice and open with your knowledge 🙂
Eric
Hi Hennecke
Amazing post as usual and it’s kind of shocking to read that you were not a writer prior to starting your blog and that you are doing the exact same thing I have been doing the past six months, devour every blog /book on your niche. So that means there’s hope for us all….
On the sharing of content part, I have a question : How can I curate content and share it without sounding like a damn parrot. I mean I understand I can sprinkle in my personality and metaphor, what have you but is that all I should focus on? Should I think of angles the other writers didn’t cover (but that’s challenging for a rookie to do, you are learning and really don’t know what those angles are).
Is there a secret recipe?
If you could perhaps share it, I would greatly appreciate it.
I don’t know a lot about curating content, but I think you probably want to highlight the key points you find most interesting. On Twitter, for instance, rather than share the headline, you can share a quote from a post, and add a quick remark such as “love this”, “interesting”, or “indeed”. On Google Plus you can summarize the key points from a post and add your own comments. If you curate content in a blog post, try to do more than simply post links. I don’t think you always need to add a unique angle, but you can highlight what struck you most or what you found most interesting.
I hope this helps?
Hi Henneke
Yes, that helps indeed, thanks a lot.
Thank you, that really does help.
Hi Henneke!
Great post, as always! Words I really needed to hear. I’ve been dealing with so much personal stuff, that blogging has taken a back seat. Just the needed swift kick to ride that horse again! 😉
I know it’s tough when you have to deal with so much personal stuff.
I hope you’ll soon find time and energy to get back into blogging mode, Penelope.
Thanks for your kind words, Henneke! I’m off to write that post now. 😉
I always love reading your posts. You bring a ton of value. Thanks for keeping it real:)
That’s great to hear. Thank you, Somer.
“Today, I’m still a little surprised you’re reading my blog.” I want to join Kitty with her request!
This is something that I am so interested in and is relevant to your post today: The gap between how we see ourselves and how others see us. I know so many people who hold back, don’t share opinions or thoughts in conversation, but when you give them a chance, have such interesting ideas and insights. But they don’t think so. They constantly underestimate themselves, their value, their contribution. Of course, there are others who overestimate the value of their contribution and how interested others are!
So I love that you write despite being surprised that anyone is interested. I would love to help people who lack the confidence, doubt themselves or are afraid to take steps to share their thoughts. I think the world could do with some perspective from all angles!
You hit the nail on the head, Alison.
I recognize so much in what you say – being nervous that people might think I’m silly or boring, and underestimating the value we can bring to conversations (and to our clients!).
I love your mission of helping people to share their thoughts. I hope you’re launching your blog soon! 🙂
Thanks for sharing that, so helpful. I am in the process of getting there, just doing some foundation work.
If you don’t mind, I would be interested in what helped you take the risk, despite the fear of how you would be perceived? You can clearly see how much value you provide by having the courage to make yourself vulnerable and, to steal from Brene Brown, “dare greatly”!
I started more safely – not talking much about myself. I found it easier to share tips rather than mention stuff about how I personally did things. But slowly I’ve found ways to incorporate more about myself in my blog posts. I’d recommend to find ways to take tiny steps rather than big leaps of faith. Sometimes it also helps considering what the consequence is of not doing something. I knew I didn’t want to go back to corporate life, and I had to get myself out there and raise my profile somehow.
The other thing that I’ve learned more recently, is to accept that fear is part of getting out of your comfort zone. When you feel fear, you’re doing something new, and you’re developing your skills. Pressing ahead will feel tremendously satisfying, rewarding. As Seth Godin says, learn to dance with fear. You might like this: https://plus.google.com/112999360652932707411/posts/L5vcTMe1SzA
Hi Henneke,
Great post! Being different, being yourself and being interesting are all keys to successful blogging.
If you sound the same as everyone else, you’ll bore readers.
If you try to mimic others instead of being yourself, your fakeness will shine through.
If you’re uninteresting…well, your readers won’t find you interesting. (I had a point there, but lost it. Haha.)
By the way: I have visited your site numerous times this week looking for your latest post. I wanted to congratulate you on your awesome article on Copyblogger. (Everyone, if you haven’t already, go read “No Blog Traffic? Here’s a Simple Strategy to Seduce Readers and Win Clients” at Copyblogger.com.)
However, each time I visited your site it would show your “29-Point Checklist” post as the latest. I would refresh the page. Nothing. So I would leave and try again a few hours later.
I checked for a new post as recently as yesterday evening with no success. But then, this morning, a new post displays! Hooray. And it already has 30 comments. “Henneke is super popular,” I think to myself.
And then I noticed the first of those comments is dated TWO DAYS ago.
Long story short (too late, I know): I wasn’t able to see this post of yours until two full days after you published it. And this was in spite of the fact I would refresh the page to clear out any cached versions.
Wanted to let you know in case anyone has had similar issues.
Hope you’re having an awesome day!
Yes, I heard from someone else who had exactly the same problem. I emptied the cache using W3 Total Cache (this morning your time), and that solved the issue.
I’m not sure why this problem arises, as I shouldn’t need to clear my cache each time I publish a post. I’ll check with my web host whether they have any recommendations. Thank you so much for letting me know!
I love your statement “If you’re uninteresting…well, your readers won’t find you interesting.” – so true 😉
Glad you enjoyed my post on Copyblogger – at least you caught one of my two Tuesday blog posts. 🙂
Quick question – which browser do you use? Was it Firefox?
Hi Henneke,
No, I use Google Chrome. And it’s funny… I had to hit refresh on this post TWICE in order to see your responses to my comment. (I knew they were there due to the email notifications I received.)
If it makes you feel any better (ha!), I occasionally experience the same issue on my blog. When I go to my homepage for the first time after publishing, I have to hit refresh. If I come back later, I have to refresh to see the updated comment number.
Like you, I use the W3 Total Cache. I also use Cloudflare, but I only have one of them caching/minifying (in order to SUPPOSEDLY eliminate conflict).
Hmmm. All quite confusing. I’m not sure why this is happening at once.
To be investigated ….
Thank you for your input! 🙂
‘Today, I’m still a little surprised you’re reading my blog. ‘
Can your next blog be all about this? Pretty please?
A special request?
Yep, I could probably write a post about it. Perhaps in a couple of weeks?
Why do you find this statement intriguing?
Because it will be about you and your inner motives. And fears. Etc.
I’m not sure I know my inner motives, but yes, can write again about fears some time.
Henneke, first of all congrats on being acknowledged in “How the World Sees You.” I really enjoyed learning more about how to fascinate and look forward to putting her tips into practice.
Secondly, your point about asking questions is so on point for me right now because of a new project I’m designing. As part of my research, I am reading a book by Warren Berger entitled “A More Beautiful Question: The Power of Inquiry to Spark Breakthrough Ideas” that is fascinating me. It’s a wonderful read for anyone interested in the art and science of inquiry.
Warm wishes to you and yours from famously hot Columbia South Carolina.
Thank you, Anita. I was chuffed to see that Sally Hogshead thanked me for my “enchanting words” 🙂
The book of Warren Berger sounds really really interesting. I’m going to add it to my wish list straightaway. Thank you.
I hope you’re coping okay with the heat. Always good to “see” you here 🙂
Henneke, your blogs are always informative and inspirational! Read some of mine on my website sometime. And, if you ever want a guest blogger here, please email me.
Best,
T
Thank you. Glad you’re enjoying it.
I’m sorry, but I’m not planning on accepting any guest posts for the time being.
Hi Henneke
Another enjoyable post. You tell the reader a little bit about yourself in most of your posts and that certainly helps the reader to get to know you. It’s relatable, like opening up a friendship, and I believe that “warms” a post and makes it more readable.
“How to be interesting is a big question”. At the moment I’m writing a very comprehensive “How to” series with step by step screen shots etc. I make that interesting by explaining it as though the person was sitting next to me and I’m gently walking them through it – otherwise it would be very bland.
Interesting that to you, as a reader, feel I tell “a little bit” about myself. As a private person, I feel I’ve been telling a LOT about myself in my recent posts 😉
Adding pictures also helps a lot to make a comprehensive tutorial more interesting, and I like it that you want to give your reader the feeling that you’re looking over their shoulders helping them and guiding them gently.
Thank you for stopping by again, Mark.
Hi Henneke
A really good question that I often ask myself! For some reason I felt more confident in my private (not client-facing) blog. I get bogged down by the notion of content marketing and the perceived need to write about topics in a ‘professional’ way. And I was writing about food and life, possibly more interesting than marketing?!
Being professional doesn’t mean you can’t show your personality.
Especially as small businesses and freelancers, we win our clients because of our personality, because of who we are. That’s what makes us stand out.
You can still be professional and show your love of food. You’ll find many references to food on this blog, giving readers a feeling of who I am – more than just a copywriter.
LOVE this post! I started out as a food blogger where I could let rip with my personality, and my readers egged me on. Now I’m all – ahem – serious and copywritery, I’m struggling to find my voice a little. This has inspired me to try a little harder. So happy I ‘found’ you today, it’s so rare to read an authentic voice in my Twitter feed 🙂 (I clicked through to your copyblogger article).
Welcome, Mel 🙂
Why was it easier to infuse your food blog with personality? Is there something you did then, you can still do?
By the way, seriousness is not a bad thing per se. Only boring is bad. You can write about serious topics, and still be fascinating.
Henneke,
“Don’t want to sound like a boring old fogey?” Nope! Not me. No way. No fogey stuff at my house. So we dumped the stodgy sounding, ” Lightkeepers Journal” and now call it “Poets Love Birds.”
Yeah, we went through the worry, worry, oh golly gee, it’s your Brand, honk, honk. Etc. But, what happened? A bingo. That’s what happened. The response was great to our name change. More people found us. I guess “Lightkeepers Journal” sounded like father time in the slow lane.
P.S. Over the years I’ve noticed an interesting thing about so called introverts. They make really killer writers. One of the best writers I have ever read was so shy she would scracly look at you when she spoke.
I so recognize this worrying about changing things. I can be umming and ahhing forever, too. And then the result is that either everyone loves it, or thinks it’s no big deal. I like your new name.
And regarding introverts – I guess it helps that introverts don’t mind working on their own?
Inspiring as always, thank you
Glad to hear that, Roxanne. Thank you. 🙂
The best blogposts are about topics you are struggling with at that particular moment when a newsletter comes in. Thanks for this one, Henneke. From tomorrow, I’ll start sharing my curiosity more 😉
Yay! Sounds good 🙂
You are luring us out of our caves, aren’t you?
To show ourselves as we are.
I find it very scary but I am up for the challenge.
“Nurture your curiosity, and share what you’re learning” speaks to me. I can use it to answer my why I blog.
It just feels like you wrote this blog for me, thank you 🙂
Yep, I’m luring you out of your cave.
Because I’d love to read more about what you think and what you’re learning. Understanding what inspires artists like you is fascinating. 🙂
By the way – the one luring me out of my cave step by step is purple-haired Henrietta. She’s like my alter ego, the person I’d like to be – braver, bolder, more creative, and more outgoing than I am. She tells me to keep pushing forward.
Hi Henneke,
I got a real kick when I saw your email. Your blog posts (and Jon Morrow) always inspires me. I’m starting to open my posts just the way you do yours. One thing I noticed is that you don’t use keywords in your title? Unless I’m missing them. The SEO Pundits say to have your keyword in the first sentence of the first paragraph etc., but I’ve been moving away from that and I don’t even focus on keywords as much anymore. Even my handy dandy SEO plugin scores my post very low.
Anyway, I’m loving your artwork. I came across this great site where you can buy really cute cartoons. There are a great alternative to stock photos. Here’s the link in case any of your readers are interested.
http://www.andertoons.com/
Thanks
Your comment inspired this post. Thank you, Mellie. I could relate to “feeling boring” and I guessed that if you and I felt that way, there’d be more people like us.
I don’t optimize all my posts for SEO. Perhaps about 1 in 3 posts targets a key phrase, and in that case I’d try to use the phrase in the first 50 characters of my headline, somewhere in the opening, and in a subheading. But I only do this if it works – I don’t want it to sound like “optimized content”.
Thanks for the link to Andertoons – smart business model 🙂
Great article Henneke. I love this line: “Don’t try to blend in. Instead, be yourself. Find your quirks, and showcase them.”
I finally feel it’s okay to be myself. I think what helped me was getting on YouTube and “performing” photo tutorials in front of strangers. I do get negative comments about my appearance on my videos, and I admit that does jolt me a tad. But I try to stay focused on the people that respond positively to my teaching, and there are a lot more of them!
Oooooh, I’m not ready yet to perform tutorials on YouTube. I guess, I’m still in the process of learning to be okay with myself. I find blogging and recording audio already challenging enough.
I agree with you, it’s best to stay focused on the people that respond positively. That’s what I try to do as well. And I don’t understand why people feel the need to share negative comments about someone’s appearance. Why is the world so rude?
Thank you for stopping by again, Marlene. 🙂
For me it’s easier to talk than to write, so YouTube suits me better as a medium. (And that’s why I read so many writing blogs.) I never really got into audio for some reason, probably because I’m more of a visual learner, which turned me into a visual teacher.
p.s. If you need any help with YouTube, give me a shout. I’ve made all the mistakes, so I can save you some grief.
I find talking more difficult, because when I write, I can easily edit myself. I don’t always have enough time to think when I’m talking.
And even when I can edit because it’s a recording, I often feel too self-conscious. How does my voice sound? What do people think of my accent? It’s all nonsense of course.
And yes, I’ll let you know when I’m ready to jump on YouTube 🙂
Thank you, Marlene.
Like you, I’m a relatively private person although many people think I’m quite gregarious.
I mean, who wants to know about what I’m up to?
Actually, I believe people do like to have an insight into the personal side of the writer – I know I do.
So, I’m going to try and do this on our Blog – be more open about struggles/feelings and see what happens.
Another great post!
Yes, I agree.
We don’t like perfect people. We want to understand what people are struggling with, and how they solve their problems – especially if these are related to the topic you’re writing about, but also occasionally when they’re outside the topic as it gives us a better feel who a blogger is.
And we want to get to know each other, even online, don’t we?