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What’s Your Blog’s Take-Away?

By Joe Pulizzi | Published: December 9, 2009

Thanks to Sacha Cohen for this Junta42 guest post.  As you’ll read, Sacha’s background in traditional journalism pays dividends regarding social media.  Read on.

In traditional print publishing, there is a specific style called  “service journalism”, which essentially means that that an article is filled with actionable tips and advice—what editors refer to as “take-aways.” Pick up any copy of Good Housekeeping, Self, or U.S. News & World Report and you’ll find “service” articles such as “Five Stress-Fighting Superfoods” and “Three Holiday Gifts That Keep on Giving”.

To write a great service journalism piece, one must think first and foremost about the audience. Consider the following questions:

  • What information can you offer that isn’t available elsewhere?
  • How can you make the subject easy to understand and accessible?
  • What research should you include?
  • What experts will provide the best insights?

These days, the most popular blog posts often take a page from services journalism. Whether it’s How to Go Green: Wine or Six Greener Ways to Get Around Town, service sells.

When advising clients about content strategy, start with the value proposition first. What’s the take-away? What makes this client’s perspective different than another? And how can you combine those two elements into one must-read post?

Each client has something special to offer, a point-of-view that can be turned into a take-away with a real benefit.

The types of take-aways you might want to consider include:

  • Checklists
  • Quizzes
  • Lists (best and worst, top 10, etc)
  • To dos
  • Round ups (Five healthy, road-trip friendly snacks)

Of course, this post wouldn’t be complete with a take-away of its own. Here’s a checklist of items that every blog post should include:

  • Descriptive, SEO-friendly headline.
  • Keywords throughout the copy, aiming for a combination of head and tail terms.
  • Metatags (title tag, keywords, and description).
  • External links to relevant content using descriptive keywords within the link.

Sacha Cohen is the founder of grassfed media. Reach her at sacha[at]grassfedmediadc.com or twitter.com/grassfedmedia.

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  • http://www.contentfactor.com Paul McKeon

    Giving readers a take-away is the new requirement for social media. Why are any of us on the web, reading copy, except to learn something of value? Give us a take-away and we will remember you–and your company, and what you’re selling.
    It so happens I can offer the white paper “The 10 Hallmarks of Great Web Content” not only as an example, but for more on the same topic. http://www.contentfactor.com/library/content/10-hallmarks-great-web-content

  • Carl Phelps

    It seems like the concept of “service journalism” and “giving a takeaway” really comes down to engagement.
    As in all social media, you have to be engaging and interacting with your readers. There is just too much other great content out there.
    Whenever we finish drafting a blog post I always ask two questions:
    1. What is the overall message you are trying to convey?
    2. Does the reader know what to do next to follow your advice?

  • http://blogideas.alejandrobustos.com Alejandro Bustos

    In any blogging practice the most important thing is to offer to the visitors fresh content every day or every week.

  • amolpatil2k

    We might be missing the point altogether. Everything in media is about leverage. Traditional Journalism thrived on leverage due to high entry barriers. Even though the Net brought those down, Traditional Journalism never suffered nearly as much as it should have because the entire purpose of leverage was not so much profit as censorship. Till date, all the money and all the spins are in the radio and TV worlds because censorship is so profitable.