What is in it for ME? Part 2 of the 6 W’s for Bloggers.

WIFM FM Radio …. I was taught this in a teaching class …. the Canadian Instructor was hilarious, and that is a story for later.

When you are blogging, or telling your story, there is always a “what.”

We think of “what we are writing about.” But, as bloggers, and are we not authors?, we must think of the radio channel, WIFM. Because that is “what” our readers are listening to and for.

“What is in it for me?”

We think it is about catchy titles. We think we want a hook, so we place the hook in the title:

Everything you wanted to know about SEX. And YES! That is a common technique among us.

But, THEN “what” do we DO?

We tell a sexy joke, and because we really don’t want to deal with a deep subject, we either skip to a different topic, or we do a comedy sketch about something sexy. Maybe we include sexy pictures.

But, our readership is still asking, “WIFM?” So, sexy pictures will help for a while. Humor will keep them listening for a while.

But, if we deliver the wrong hook, eventually, they will go elsewhere.

You know that. Because that is what you and I do ….

What does my reader want? He or she wants a good story. Study storytelling, writing, or public speaking and that quickly becomes the leading way to communicate …. tell a story.

There is a better way, tell a great joke. But, it is TERRIBLY difficult to blog your story with jokes. Joke telling humor is best done at a humorous rate of presentation: spoken ….. I studied humor, because it is one of my weak areas.

So, we go back to telling stories. But, like humor, we can present different kinds of stories. The style I am writing in is conversational …. like I was telling you a story …. Keep your prose lively. Tell your people a story ….

That takes me back to a good story about my Canadian Instructor friend in Dallas.

John was wearing a tan jacket over brown slacks that day. And he had a habit of smiling, laughing, and saying “a-boat” when he said “about.” And he was saying, “What would you do ‘a-boat’ an unruly student?”

The guy next to me said, “I would shoot him.”

I shook my head and thought, Only in Texas.

The instructor said, “No, really, what would you do about that student.”

The man said, “No, really, this is Texas.”

He opened his coat with his left hand and reached in with his right hand. I had recently left the US Army, and being an old Texan, I prepared to drop to my right and place my chair between us.

“I said, ‘I would just shoot him.’ Didn’t I?” He didn’t seem to raise his voice, but it sounded like he was yelling.

I felt safe, because all the action was to my left and in front of me. So, I looked to see what John was going to do.

I have never seen a chin drop that far, before or since. John’s knees began to knock. And you know it takes a lot to see knees shake in dress slacks – That is one of the reasons we wear slacks to present in, isn’t it?

I am leaning towards my right, I have a good hold on the chair’s little desk top. I look to my left.

And I started laughing.

He was pointing his finger as a gun …..

Humor, a story, and your attention …. what is in this for you?

Deliver something your readers will enjoy to read. That can change from day to day, or over time. Try not to mislead them with catchy titles ….

Do you have a good story?

What else is in our blogs for our readers?

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