Whether you’re blogging for fun, for fame, for money, to get your thoughts on paper (err, i mean, on computer screens), because you’re a relationship geek, or for no particular reason. You probably want people to read your stuff!

Dave Olson wrote a really interesting list of ways you can write an outstanding post, the idea started from Liz at Successful-Blog, and she usually gets an incredible response from her readers, so she must be doing something right hehe, so i thought i could join in this “bloggy tag” :)

So how do you write an outstanding blog post?

We all have our own little ways of doing things (and please share your own “ways” with us!), so there’s no bulletproof way to write a good (or oustanding) post. But, me and Shane (zoomstart) agree that “yeah baby yeah” moments are awesome! (*Shane, i can’t believe the most relevant way i came up with to link to your post, was to use “yeah baby yeah” haha)

Brainstorming - Creative Zen

I must have at least 30 or 40 unpublished blog posts waiting in my wordpress admin, not because i don’t want to publish them, but because they’re not finished, they’re “raw” ideas. Best way to find ideas, i think, is brainstorming. Take a notepad or something, and just start writing (more infos about that in my creative zen post). Say you write for about half-an-hour, what are the chances you’ll come up with something interesting? What if you write for 2 hours? Ok, you get the idea, get your thoughts on paper, and then on to step 2.

Do Some Basic Research

Ok, so you have lots of material, and many things to write about, now what? Do some simple research on google with keywords related to what you wanna write. Another good tool is technorati (or even your own blogroll, or feed reader). Find other blog posts that are relevant to what you’re about to publish, and link to some of them with the right anchor text! It’s a win-win kinda thing! If you’re not too familiar with the topic of your next article, you might want to consider not writing it, or at least get to know the subject better, and do extensive research if needed.

Break It Down Into Manageable Pieces

You have your main post idea, you did some research, now you’re ready to write! Good! Take your “main topic”, and try to come up with some nice (sub)headlines. It’ll be easier for you to write the post, and it’ll be easier for your readers. People love lists, and organized posts. So give people just that! Break your post into sections. And then write one paragraph at a time.

Typos - Correct Those Little Mistakes

Typos and mistakes are things you want to avoid, so read your post 2 or 3 times before hitting the publish button. Sure you’ll find many typos and mispells on SWR, it’s normal, we’re human. But there’s a huge difference between “your” and “you’re”. So make sure you correct those before publishing your post.

Ask For Opinions

This is an “optional” step, but when in doubt, it’s better to have someone else read your post before you publish it. Especially if you’re about to publish something that is somewhat controversial, or could be considered as bashing. Better be safe than sorry. A fresh perspective is always good, and sometimes you just can’t be objective, since you’re the one who wrote the thing. Ask a friend, a co-worker, another blogger to read your post before you publish it.

You Know You Want To

Hit Publish! As simple as that, just hit that little “publish button” there, and voila! You’re done. Now wait for people to start commenting (if your blog doesn’t receive a lot of comments, i’d suggest you invite your readers to comment by asking ‘em questions) :)

Of course, those steps won’t help, if you don’t have passion or purpose. Like Dave wrote: live, feel, think, write, edit. I try to write like i talk, and I find it helps me a lot. In the end, a lot of people read a blog because of whos behind it.

So, how do YOU write an outstanding blog post? :)
Yeah Baby Yeah!